I  wanted to share some of the highlights whilst we have been working with Newcastle Academy of the last 12 months.

During that time we have helped to inspire and collaborate with a variety of students in various ways:

–          Mentoring Programme: we are now in our 2^nd year of mentoring support with the Yr 10/ 11 students. Each week a team of 10 managers from across the business attends a group session designed to talk through the essential skills young people need to be prepared for, as they journey into their own world of work IMG 0060 IMG 0047 IMG 0241 School 3 school 2

–          Training days/ Support sessions: in order to support the more challenging subjects such as interpersonal skills and self-awareness, we have run an array of workshops with students of all ages. Tailored to the age range and learning needs of the group, they are always interactive, engaging and require lots of participation, energy, and involvement from the students. IMG0103

–          CV Writing sessions: Rebecca Jones and Chris Perkin have also been working closely with some of the students in the school to develop and construct their CV’s – often a daunting process for a student that has not even left school yet! The success of this support has meant that they have returned to school on a number of occasions to meet new students, and one particular student went onto apply for a job immediately after receiving support – an excellent measure of success!

–          Assessment Days – from time to time, and to challenge the students by bringing them out of their comfort zone, we invite a group to attend an in-house mock assessment day. This gives the students an opportunity to ‘test the waters’ in relation to the world of work and what can be expected when applying for a job. Group activities, roleplays and one-to-one’s are the main components of the day, with students receiving individual feedback on their successes from the day.

–          Aspirations Assembly – a variety of our Davies people have attended assemblies to inspire and engage with the widest of audiences, from full year groups to a full school! From senior managers to our apprentices, they have shared their own personal journeys of both work and their Davies journey in terms of how their career has been shaped over the months/ years.

–          Business Proposals – a group of students have been working hard alongside a school-led business proposal project, very similar to Dragons’ Den! Our disruptive thinking candidates (Rich Adams – Finalist and Danielle Marshall – Winner) will be providing support and an empathetic view on how to present and engage a panel of judges!

–          And….robots! a team of students are going to be embracing the exciting project of traveling to America as part of their reward for winning a robot building competition. The team have been invited in to spend time with our own in-house specialists from our IT Development and Business Change team to get further insight into how business use and develop technology like this

We look forward to continuing this partnership and implementing a variety of new initiatives.

Kelly Williams, HR Director – Claims Solutions