Our RISE (Revealing the Industry to Secondary Education) Mentoring Programme in conjunction with Barclays has continued with regular workshops and meetings with mentors. Sessions have covered a number of topics, all designed to engage, equip and encourage young people with the skills and confidence they need to excel post-secondary education
Role Models and Mentors
The group were asked to think about what people inspire them, what values they have, and what a positive role model should be. Many were surprised to learn how many successful people had mentors to guide them, not just young people but business leaders, politicians, entertainers such as Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey.
The key messages were:
- Success is different for everybody, thinking about what you want to achieve is key.
- Don’t be afraid to buck the trend.
- Be aware of the opportunities available to you.
- Failure is inevitable, learn how to deal with failure and not allow it to make us afraid of being ambitious
- Think about your strengths, and work as a team, together you can achieve more and learn from each other.
- Don’t let other people’s opinions stop you from achieving. Perseverance is key.
Social Media
In this session, mentees were given a presentation by Andrew Davis, a media consultant and former BBC 1xtra producer to understand and use social media. Drawing from his life experiences, including his work with several giants in the contemporary music industry such as Jay – Z and Kanye West, Andrew was able to educate and the inspire the students.
The students were asked to rebrand their school using social media in a few sentences. This pushed them to be brief and to be clear. To be able to get their points across with brevity and clarity are useful life skills whose application extends way beyond social media.
Communication Skills
The presentation on communication skills was given by Dinesh who works on the Barclays Pingit software. The students were told to think:
- What needs to be communicated
- Who do you communicate with
- How, what method is best
- When, choose the best time for your message
For effective personal communication, 7% spoken words, 38% voice tone 55% body language. So it’s important to consider facial expression, gestures, proximity, touch, body language, eye contact, tone and your appearance.
Student Feedback
Prizes awarded to students
I will now be able to find a clearer path towards my future and also be able to advertise more confidently.
Gemma Aged 14yrs[/quote]