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6th July 2017

St Brendan’s had two teams of students taking part in Bristol’s Community-Apprentice this year.

This inter-school competition is a bit like The Apprentice on television.  Young people have to develop, and crucially demonstrate, skills and personal qualities whilst managing their own projects. In this case, however, young people compete to benefit the community, rather than make the most profit.

Our teams have worked really hard since September researching problems, identifying an issue, planning what to do about it and overcoming a range of problems to make it happen. On Thursday 29th June the Mayor invited all 21 teams taking part across Bristol to City Hall to celebrate their graduation from the programme. Collectively this year the teams have volunteered over 7,000 hours to help their communities. Addressing the students in our Boardroom Final film Mayor Marvin Rees said (watch the full video here: http://bit.ly/2tE1YwG):

The good new is that you have all achieved...You have all demonstrated the kinds of qualities I look for in city leaders, the kind of people I want working alongside me.

Marvin Rees
Team Inner Peace

Team Inner Peace

Taking action to benefit others

Team Inner Peace delivered workshops to over 150 students in a local secondary school on mental health issues, challenging the stigma that surrounds such issues and advising people on how to get help. Team Blame Changers created a podcast and poster campaign for schools across the city on victim blaming. You can watch a short three minute film about their projects here http://bit.ly/2r9r8yi and here http://bit.ly/2r61oHN.

Due to their impressive skills development on the programme both teams were nominated for awards at the Graduation event; Blame Changers for Resilience and Problem Solving and Team Inner Peace for Communication. Natasha Parker was also nominated for the Outstanding Individual Contribution for her commitment to the programme.

Evidencing employability skills

The teams have been supported by mentors from Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club and their Envision Co-ordinator to develop the confidence and competencies they need to succeed in life over the course of the programme. Envision asked all the young Community-Apprentices on the programme to tell them how they felt they had develop, these were the results:

  • 98% feel more confident as a result of being on the programme
  • 96% feel that they are better communicators
  • 95% feel that they have become better at team working
  • 94% say that they feel able to demonstrate the skills that employers are looking for
  • 96% intend to put Envision on their CV or UCAS form
  • 97% now believe that their actions can make a difference

Each student who graduated received a personalised reference written by their business mentors detailing the skills they had developed on the programme. Roger Bick from Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club said:

“The young people really benefitted from our business mentoring sessions, they learnt how to communicate and work with others - an essential skill that will inevitably improve their ability to present themselves at future interviews.”

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