The careers morning ran over two days with over 100 students in attendance. The event comprised of a tour of Aico’s facilities as well as fun, interactive job-related activities for the students to take part in throughout the morning. The careers morning provided an opportunity for students to learn more about the world of work, hearing from Aico colleagues about the various job roles within a business, taking part in hands-on challenges relating to different roles and taking on team building activities.
Students also heard from Aico’s Managing Director, Neal Hooper, who talked to the students about employability skills and what employers are looking for in people. Neal also relayed the importance of values, behaviours and attitude in the workplace.
An integral part of Aico’s Corporate Responsibility Programme is supporting education. They work with multiple schools and colleges in supporting careers guidance programmes, providing advice on apprenticeships and offering an insight into the world of work. It has been a difficult eighteen months for schools, with students missing out on vital work experience opportunities due to the pandemic, and Aico realise the importance of offering alternative ways in which students can be supported.
During the Belvidere School career activity week, Aico provided resources for the school to run an Enterprise Challenge Day, where students could create their own businesses. Working in teams, their challenge was to design a life safety product and plan how they could launch this into the market. This gave students the opportunity to develop creativity, team development and presentation skills.
Megan Revell, Assistant Head (Personal Development) at Belvidere School commented of the visit “On behalf of all the staff and Year 10 students at Belvidere School, I would like to thank Aico for providing us with such a valuable and insightful experience! Students hugely enjoyed learning about the inner workings of the business, the building tour had the ‘wow factor’ and students were engaged and enjoyed all of the activities throughout the day. They were perfectly pitched and accessible for all abilities. Aico have been supportive, flexible and welcoming throughout, we look forward to future careers and aspirations support from Aico. The team at Aico inspired, enthused, educated and entertained – the impact of our visit will be long-lasting.”
As part of the career activity week, Aico’s National Technical Manager, Andy Speake also attended the school’s Interview Day, where students had the opportunity to take part in mock interviews with employers, helping to develop key skills to benefit their futures. Andy said “It was great to be a part of the Interview Day, the students were really engaged. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to gain real-world experience and feedback on interview skills. At Aico, we are keen to support young people in our community with their future careers, helping to advise and inspire.”
Aico look forward to continuing their educational support to students at Belvidere School in the next academic year.
