Lift Schools has announced an exciting new partnership with the DHL UK Foundation that will connect our students with DHL, one of the world’s largest employers, providing them with valuable, firsthand insights into the world of work.
The partnership is a result of Lift Schools successfully bidding for a grant with the DHL UK Foundation to partner on their GoTeach initiative, which supports young people from disadvantaged communities across the UK access decent employment and thrive in their careers.
This three-year programme sees the DHL UK Foundation team up with charities and trusts like ours to help students develop vital skills for future employment. Through this programme, Lift Schools and the DHL UK Foundation will develop workshops to teach crucial employability skills to hundreds of students in KS4 and KS5. DHL employees will lead classroom-based activities at selected schools and offer site visits, helping young people experience the world of work.
“We are thrilled to be working in partnership with DHL to design and deliver sector-leading employer encounters at scale. Encompassing a range of in-person, hybrid and virtual learning opportunities across key stages 3, 4 and 5, the GoTeach programme will enable us to deeply connect the world of work to the classroom curriculum, furnishing our young people with transformational knowledge, employability skills and experiences.” - Deborah McCarthy, Head of Curriculum at Lift Schools.
Sam Robinson, Head of Pathways at Lift Schools - “At Lift, we are committed to ensuring that we set every pupil on the path to a successful future. Part of this is ensuring that pupils understand the world of work, providing them with engaging opportunities and experiences and helping them to develop the skills that employers really value.
"The partnership between Lift Schools and the DHL UK Foundation offers a powerful and exciting new way for schools and employers to collaborate in a sustained way. The DHL UK Foundation x Lift GoTeach programme will provide education and industry expertise to create exceptional learning experiences that will give our pupils a leading edge in the world beyond school."
This news coincided with Lift School's CEO Becks Boomer-Clark outlining how the trust is addressing social mobility across its network of schools during a House of Lords Select Committee. The select committee recognised the sector-leading work being done by Lift Schools to tackle inequality and regional disparities in outcomes for young people.
In her evidence, Becks spoke about how our schools actively identify students at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) and take steps to provide early intervention and support. The trust's focus on opening career pathways and enhancing employment opportunities includes innovative programmes like this partnership which collaborate with businesses to connect schools directly with employers.
Lift Schools CEO Becks Boomer-Clark - "Lift School's whole focus is to provide an excellent education to every child, every day. Part of that commitment is to provide young people with opportunities to engage directly with high-quality employers. Through our partnership with DHL UK Foundation, hundreds of students will experience just that; developing employability skills and accessing great work experience opportunities in their local community.”
