Social action call
The #iwill campaign is encouraging schools to embrace social action with their students, including campaigning, fundraising and volunteering. Research shows that 40 per cent of 10 to 20-year-olds have taken part in meaningful social action and #iwill wants to increase that figure, especially among disadvantaged young people. #iwill is being led by the social action charity Step Up To Serve and the campaign’s education website offers best practice examples. Visit: www.education.iwill.org.uk
Career webs
We should no longer think about the “career ladder”, but prepare students for the “career web” instead, new research has concluded. The study from Barclays’ LifeSkills programme includes data showing that 18 to 24-year-olds have already moved three times on average during their working career, the same as the national average across all ages.
STEM support
A new STEM initiative is to target “diverse and underprivileged” A level students to give them the guidance and skills they will need for a future in STEM industries. Called Future Talent, the programme is being run by the new SThree Foundation and Generating Genius, two organisations dedicated to helping poorer students succeed in STEM subjects. Visit: www.sthree.com/sthreefoundation and www.generatinggenius.org.uk
Bereavement
A website has been set-up offering crucial support to bereaved young people. The #Help2MakeSense campaign is being run by child bereavement charity Winston’s Wish and a new website is aiming to make bereavement advice, support and information more accessible. The charity has also published a video highlighting the difficulty faced by young people after a close bereavement. Visit: http://help2makesense.org/
Now Teach
A new teacher training charity has been launched targeting high-flying career-changers who are tempted by life in the classroom. Now Teach has been developed by the Ark education charity. Now Teach’s training will be school-based and it is to work with Ark Teacher Training to place candidates in teacher training roles. Visit: http://nowteach.org.uk/
Drama award
Education platform TrueTube has won a Children’s BAFTA for its short film Refugee – the first time an online channel has won in the drama category of the awards. TrueTube is a charity funded online resource for schools that offers short films about religious, moral and social issues. Refugee follows the life of a young girl in an unknown land and tells the story of how she and her family came to be there, far away from home. Head of TrueTube Bob Ayres said: “Refugee is, in the end, about those small moments of kindness that make us all human.” Visit: www.truetube.co.uk