If you have read a newspaper recently, watched the news or play an active part in the world of employment in the United Kingdom, then you will have an awareness of how complex the world of work is in 2020.
Before arriving in this ever-changing and fast paced world though, our future workforce need to navigate, succeed at, celebrate and document; their journey through education in order to break through the walls to their future vocation and to showcase themselves.
As a teacher, writing this in a school jam packed with unique and talented pupils and staff, I feel the amount of personal growth occurring daily or even hourly, is staggering. This growth is not simply a matter of becoming more academically capable term by term in a particular subject area, but something much more granular and all encompassing.
At Park View, education and development of pupils as a whole, is a rich tapestry, where pupils begin a journey from joining the school as transitional visitors in Year 5 and 6. From this moment forward, pupils begin to find their talents, develop their own character and discover what the world has to offer them. Our pupils, in the North East of England, are proud of their heritage, are well rounded, passionate and characterful individuals.
At Park View, pupils have the opportunity to develop and grow in many different ways, some of which is incredibly unique to our school.
At our North Lodge site, pupils take part in a character development curriculum know as the PiXL Edge program of study, where opportunities to harness Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication skills are introduced. The PiXL Edge program of study, follows pupils up through the school and facilitates them to build character in both a practical and academic sense. Many extra curricular activities and clubs fill the day and time after school, by allowing pupils to pursue everything from Vex Robotics through to Science, Languages, STEM opportunities and many sporting activities. All pupils take part in the Idea Award; developing digital and vocational skills and aim to gain the Silver Certification by the time they reach Year 9. Pupils at both our upper and lower school are allocated a House group and have the opportunity to develop and run fundraising events, participate in competitions and compete against one another in various aspects of school life, including sports days, attendance and attitude to learning grades. Members of our school have many opportunities to take part in visits, externally ran competitions and even foreign travel trips where independence and exploration of new cultures is fostered.
Pupils at Park View have talents that overlap home and school life, such as musicianship and acting. These culminate in shows, musical performances, such as extraordinary showcase events at our region’s prestigious music venue; The Sage, Gateshead. It is somewhat mind-boggling to think that the discussion above, is only a small amount of Park View life. In this mid-sized blog article, it would be difficult to also discuss all clubs, extra qualifications, competitions, community ventures, drop-down days, employer encounters, peer support groups and other active initiatives that make our school such a melting pot of skill and enthusiasm.
By the end of Year 13, for most pupils, this journey is nearing an end and this will usually mean breaking from our educational provision and heading on towards Higher Education, Apprenticeships, Employment or other next stages in their life and route to their vocation.
Park View School is proud to have ensured for years, that every pupil leaves us with a record of achievement, a written CV, and academic & vocational qualifications. However, we have recently took this concept of preparation and idea of showcasing the talent and experiences of our pupils to a new stage. This has come about, by a new and exciting partnership with a platform provided by an organisation called Global Bridge. The Global Bridge platform allows our pupils to show their talents, experiences and skills, so that life opportunities can be grasped.
We have begun a process of providing every pupil in our care, with their own digital portfolio, multimedia CV and safe platform to showcase and interface with training providers, employers and other academic establishments. This means that the members of our school can record and reflect upon their successes, challenges, achievements, talents, hobbies, sporting accomplishments, character developments and so much more from their earliest stages of school life.
Although this is a brilliant way of sharing a detailed insight into the capabilities of our pupils, this also allows them to explore advice from industry experts, take online courses and explore webinars with employers and other countrywide experts.
If luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, then those in our care at Park View, are creating their own luck at an impressive pace and we could not be more excited.
Pupils and Alumni of Park View are some of the most well rounded, talented and promising individuals in the North East and indeed, in our country. We are incredibly proud that we can offer ways of showcasing these talents, skills and unique individuals, alongside a record of their journey, experiences and encounters from their school and sixth form lives.
As our School Community continues to grow and embraces the new ways of recording experiences, showcasing talent and matching skills and passions to opportunities available, we will undoubtedly have many more reasons to blog about the developments and successes of our pupils both in and outside of the classroom environment.
If luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, then those in our care at Park View, are creating their own luck at an impressive pace and we could not be more excited.
Proud to be Park View. Mr C Hobbs. BA (Hons) MSc. - Enterprise Coordinator, Park View School
You can read more about Park View's Careers and Enterprise provisions by clicking here