What is covered?

We cover four topics : 

1) Basic internet Savvy

This is a set of lessons on what not to do on the internet – it would be great for employers or universities to know that pupils coming out from World Class Schools would not make certain kinds of mistakes whilst on the internet, purely from ignorance. It also makes sure that there is some awareness of the terminology which is used around the world of the internet, with basic explanations of what the internet landscape looks like.

This is an Awareness level course: its purpose is to make sure that some of the most common mistakes encountered by companies when young people start work in small companies or larger organisations are avoided by pupils coming out of your school. This link to a folder gives you more information about what it contains. This is not for putting straight to students; it has no questions or quizzes to test knowledge.  

Course costs £15 per course, per school.  The class (if it has computer and projection facilities) can see it on screen, and have the teacher selecting the pages which have NOT been covered by other means.

2) ‘Get your CV in front of a human’

This course is designed to help you get your CV in front of the decision maker, and not be rejected by a bank of algorithms. Think of your CV going on a journey – where does it end up and why?

What happens to the typical CV, once it leaves your desk? I found that young people who were looking for jobs with larger organisations didn’t know the actual selection process, which got the CV in front of the hiring manager.  This unit is not so much about ‘what to put in your CV’ which I think is covered by most good schools already, but more about ‘what happens to it inside an organisation, [and so what can I do, to help it stand out, amongst many.]’

There is also guidance on what to take notes on, while the student is on an internship – this extracts the greatest benefit from a volunteering internship, for young people taking that first step into any workplace.

Teachers at World Class schools, (these are typically schools which are already in a good position with connections and placements into local companies), will be able to usefully extract information to impart to students as they start to apply for internships.  This one is again designed without any questions or quizzes embedded in the teaching pages.  There is a separate section with a few questions.

Course cost: £15

3) Every workplace

Think of your young person at the workplace: what can they expect? Is it okay to ask questions as they work? What might the rest of the company look like? Where should they go, to find out?

Our course, Every Workplace, is a general guide for giving that talk by teachers, based on hands-on experience of the course maker.

How can Teachers use it?  Here are some of the course topics:

• What is significant
• Taking notes
• Question time
• Cross checking
• Stories 

Course cost: £10

4) How the world works

Most young people don’t have a context in which to think of themselves earning a living.

This is a course on how different companies make money, so they can see in what kind of establishment they might fit in. 

There are three traditional business models, and three internet business models, with one model which is in transition.  Shown on the right is one of the internet business models – platforms.

What this course does is create context.  We are asking these young people to go out into a less confined working world, where they will join other people in their endeavours to earn, and keep themselves.  But we never so far have told them how this working world actually works.

I have included a combination of businesses – some of them will be familiar, (supermarkets, chemists) and some of them won’t – including businesses which sell goods and services to other businesses.  

Course cost: £25

How can I access these courses?

These courses are housed in a secure platform hosted through the course making software company I use.

Just ask – I will talk you through how to upload these courses on a centrally-located computer, which will best serve the needs of your students, given timetabling and other constraints. Each upload incurs a separate cost.

I will arrange for payment after which you can log in. I will let you have a log in permission, and a password for each course which you purchase.

Free resources for World Class schools

Use this link to access a free audio and presentation to use as a classroom resource to support careers education on the transition from education to the workplace: https://www.lifeskillsnetwork.org.uk/resources-page/ 

Contact me by email: sreela@lifeskillsnetwork.org.uk

Here is the page on my website, which gives you a bit more context as to who I am and what I do.  At the moment, as you see, I am writing a book about paying attention, which is the core life skill we all learn to some measure. Look at the rest of the site, if you have the time. Just click on the words ‘Life Skills Network, at the top.  As a teacher, you might find some of my blog posts useful for discussions with older year-groups students.