Future Leaders was an exciting project which worked exclusively with Year 10 learners of black heritage across five schools in Nottinghamshire. A total of 45 learners took part in the project which ran over three days, taking place at The Nottingham Playhouse and at the University of Nottingham Park Campus.
The Project
Over the three days the learners took part in various activities including; building resilience and confidence, breaking down barriers, and visualising themselves as Future Leaders. The delivery was largely facilitated by GRIT Breakthrough Programmes who used a team of Black facilitators throughout. It was important to DANCOP to ensure representation was respected throughout, which is why we used a third party who were able to provide facilitators representative of the learners partaking in the project, this was also the case when we took the learners to the University of Nottingham.
The initial two days of the project took place on 8th & 9th June 2023 at Nottingham Playhouse. The follow-up event took place six weeks later on 19th July 2023, at The University of Nottingham Park Campus. The first two days of the project saw learners taking part in workshops where they were encouraged to think about themselves, their education journey to date and their heritage. The final day of the project brought learners back together to celebrate their journey, their teachers and parents/carers were also invited to celebrate the participation of their young people on the programme. The learners and their teachers had a tour of the university campus as well as a guest talk from a member of staff from the outreach team. The day culminated with learners being presented with a certificate of participation and a copy of Alison Hammond’s “Black In Time”, celebrating black identity and history.
Thank you to the schools involved; Farnborough Spencer Academy, Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham Girls’ Academy, and The Dukeries Academy.
Feedback
Learner Feedback
The learners on the project were asked how they felt after the project. Here are some of the responses:
| I am proud of: | I am: | Plans for the future? |
|---|---|---|
| “Me” | “Strong” | “Successful job” |
| “My achievements” | “Me” | “University” |
| “Amazing” | “Apprenticeship” |
Teacher Feedback
“The learners came back with lots of ideas and confidence in how to talk to people in large numbers. This helped students in recent prefect applications. Some students have enjoyed talking to their peers in school about their experience”
“All scholars became positively engaged at looking for work experience, as a result they became more confident”
“It is amazing that the programme is run with the workshops as a safe space for learners”
Parent/Carer Feedback
“The benefits of the programme are indisputable so far. The programme should be a continuous programme”
“X really enjoyed this project. She also made some new friends and feels more confident in herself”
“X would encourage this programme to potential students. She enjoyed it a lot and looks forward to a better future”
Next Steps
DANCOP plan to run this project again in Nottinghamshire in the 2023-24 academic year. As the initial project was a pilot we were fortunate to be able to gather feedback from practitioners as well as parents/carers and most importantly the learners, to ensure the project grows and is as successful as it can possibly be.