Enrichment Day for Year 12 students at Number 10 Downing Street
Ark Globe Academy has set its mission to prepare its students for university and to be leaders in their community. In order to put this mission into practice, the academy developed a bespoke enrichment and careers exposure programme, designed to give every student at least one chance to have a meaningful face-to-face interaction with a professional, which has proven successful on every occasion.
A component of this programme is termly Enrichment Days, when the whole secondary school freezes the regular timetable and students have the opportunity to take part in a variety of trips, specifically tailored workshops and talks by a range of professionals from industries such as sports, politics, media, construction, and finance. Each of the Enrichment Days is organised around a specific theme. The theme of the latest one was ‘Futures and Professionalism’.
Ark Globe’s Year 12 students visited a variety of government buildings and had discussions on the functions of Parliament and the Civil Service. Year 11 students focused on stress relief and mindfulness with seminars by expert organisations such as USO, particularly exploring techniques for managing stress and time pressure in exams. Year 10’s had a session with UniHack, and developed a response to the EU referendum results, the Brexit process, and tackling cyber-bullying.
The strong culture and value system at Ark Globe Academy
Other sessions at Ernst and Young with the EY Foundation and Brands2Life introduced Ark Globe’s students to the world of work, to employers, and the skills and attitudes employers are looking for.
While the academy is celebrating its Principal Matt Jones’s 5th year in post at Ark Globe Academy, results are above the national averages at all key stages, and are continuing to improve. The school celebrated its first student to receive an Oxbridge offer this year, after the Sixth Form opened only 2 years ago.
The academy has strong partnerships with businesses and organisations such as Brands2Life, Wandle Housing Association, Lendlease, Fulham FC, London Marathon Events, Sports on Screen, and Arma Partners. These partners help the academy prepare students for work readiness as well as offering apprenticeship, internship, mentorship and work placement opportunities. Any encounter with the academy’s students, even via sharing experiences at a 30 minute talk has proven to make big differences in young people’s lives, as well as being extremely rewarding for the professionals.
Jesse McDonald of Wandle Housing Association, after leading a workshop with some of Ark Globe’s Year 9 students, said, “It’s been one of the most enjoyable and worthwhile projects I’ve been involved with.”
Any business or organisation which would like to help develop the next generation of business leaders and build successful working lives can get in touch with the academy’s Vice Principal Business and Community, Jo Watts at J.Watts@globeacademy.org.
Ark Globe Academy
Harper Road
SE1 6AF
t: 020 7407 6877
w: arkglobeacademy.org
e: info@globeacademy.org
