Science Oxford wins national award for work to support young people into careers
July 5, 2018
Science Oxford, the part of the Trust that delivers our education programmes, has been recognised for its work supporting careers education and helping young people into the world of work by being announced as Provider of the Year by the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC.) The award is in recognition of our STEM World of Work programme.
The CEC Annual Awards 2018 recognise and celebrate inspirational work being done by schools and colleges, employers, volunteers and careers professionals around England.
Our World of Work programme encourages and supports young people to explore options for a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths.) Working closely with local science and technology companies, the World of Work team develop and deliver engaging, hand-on activities that provide students with an insight into STEM skills and careers. These activities include work experience weeks, careers days and workplace visits. In 2017–18 the programme reached over 2000 secondary school students.
Karen Bell, our STEM Projects Manager and lead on the World of Work programme, says, “We are delighted to have been given this prestigious award from the CEC. The World of Work programme has reached over 2000 secondary school students in the past year and that number is growing day by day. It’s been wonderful to watch our students engage with people working in STEM businesses across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and to hear how much they’ve enjoyed the experience. “
She adds, “We are so grateful to all the businesses who volunteer their time and people to the programme and hope that this is just the beginning of a valuable partnership with the CEC.”
A record number of over 200 nominations were submitted for this year’s nine award categories, which were decided by panel of independent expert judges.
The CEC was established by government in 2015 to help schools and colleges, employers, funders and careers programme providers to create high impact careers and enterprise support for young people. They aim to inspire and prepare young people for the fast-changing world of work. The Company’s 2000+ Enterprise Adviser Network of business volunteers currently works in over half of the country’s secondary schools and colleges
Claudia Harris, Chief Executive of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said: “Preparing young people for the fast-changing world of work has never been more important. There is incredible work going on in schools, colleges, employers and more across the country. We hope these awards are a small way to say thank you and shine a light on this amazing work.”
Judge Nick Bowen, Principal at Horizon Community College and who sits on The Careers & Enterprise Company’s Headteacher Advisory Group, said: “This year we had a record number of entries. It was a real challenge to pick the winners because of the amazing quality of entries. This is a testament to the increasing excellence of careers provision and partnership across the country. Projects/schools/colleges /businesses/individuals like this are helping thousands of young people to fulfil their futures. They should be very proud of themselves.”
We are proud of our World of Work team too!
