Bournville School 2009/10 Focus Group: Year 11 Girls Raising Aspirations Charlotte Cross AHT Bournville School. Ruth Taylor AST Collegiate

Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination. Fitzhugh Dodson

So what is the programme? Who? So why those students? What?Will they be doing? Where?Will they go? When?Will this take place? Why?Do it at all? Does it work?

Pre Planning Selection of the group Assessment of need Funding Staffing Liaising with other appropriate colleagues and external bodies Questionnaires Conference packs

Day 1 4 th The Jury’s Inn Hotel The aim of the day is to build the community and team building. To also take some time out of the curriculum for the girls to consider what choices are open to them post-16 and to gain some idea of what skills and qualifications they might need to pursue different career paths. It is crucial this takes place in a business setting.

Day 2 19 th Aston University Aston University a day out in January where students get to see what life as a university student might be like. Conference packs geared towards revision. Keynote speaker: From an appropriate role model.

Day 3: World of Work 24 th The Beeches The aim of this day is spend some time chatting to successful women from a range of careers and backgrounds to open the girls’ eyes to all the exciting possibilities and opportunities that are out there. A chance for the cohort to reflect on their own skills and attributes and to create an action plan for themselves and their future.

Holistic Approach. Mentoring Raffle tickets Regular meetings Staff communication Displays Newsletters In school...

So what can you do... ? Talk to your daughter about school and support her in making sure she knows what choices are out there Visit another city and look at the university/college there Help her to broaden her outlook Getting Parents involved...

Cohort 1: 2007/8 To work harder, because even if you get some GCSEs to go to college you might need more for university I learnt that I have more choices in life and I should go for it Helped me think about what I want to do How to choose the right path

Cohort 2: 2008/9 That never let a goal go always believe in ME It was good to see what the campus is like Talking to other business women and being able to ask questions helped me a lot Learnt that I have potential and that I can go far, feeling comfortable on how to dress

Cohort 3.. ‘I learnt about team work and what colours and clothes suit me’ ‘It was awesome’ ‘I learnt how to reach my goal’ ‘I now need to revise and work harder’ ‘The day was full of tips on how to be presentable and how to go the right way to be successful’

Costings... £6000 per cohort £200 per student – all students in cohort 2 achieved half a grade higher than girls not involved. All but 2 carried on to Higher Education.

Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars.. Les Brown

Top Tips... Choose your cohort carefully Every year will be different One size does not fit all Go for it – take a risk Get out of your comfort zone! And do the same for them! This is 3 years in the making – a scaled down version would be a good place to start

Any Questions?

Advice!