We interviewed Cassie Cramer Programme Manager, Real World Learning at School 21.

What is School 21?
 
School 21 is a pioneering school in Stratford, East London with a mission to prepare students for success in the twenty-first century. We strive to develop interesting and thoughtful problem solvers, who are creative innovators and confident communicators. We believe that if we are to equip young people with the skills and experience they need to truly succeed in later life, we must do things differently.
 
Part of doing things differently means focusing on developing and nurturing the whole child. We believe that school should be a true balance of head (academics), heart (character and well-being) and hand (generating ideas, problem solving and making). Through a bespoke academic curriculum, coaching programmes and project based learning we aim to support our students to become changemakers of the future.
 
Tell us more about you, your role, and the Real-World Learning Programme.

I work in partnerships at School 21, with a focus on managing the Real World Learning Programme. Our innovative Real World Learning Programme is School 21’s take on work experience and provides both students and their host workplace with something that is more meaningful and authentic than traditional work experience. Over a number of weeks, every student in Year 10 and 12 will spend half a day each week developing employability skills, meeting professionals and working to solve real problems for real organisations.

Real World Learning at School 21 brings students and the professional world together in a way that allows both students and our partners to grow, develop and innovate. Our students have the chance to use their skills and have their voices heard, while our partner organisations benefit from the fresh perspectives of young people from the country’s most diverse borough. Developing partnerships and projects that are mutually beneficial is the best part of what I do.

How is Flint supporting School 21?

Flint Global has provided some really great opportunities for our students in a year that has been tumultuous and difficult for our school community. In the fall term we worked with Flint to provide students with a variety of talks, assemblies and Q&A sessions with professionals as part of our ‘Professional Encounters’ strand of Real World Learning. Students heard from Roos van Gent, Charlotte Chase, Patricia Pinto E Filipe and Joe Jones on Business Consultancy, Dame Sue Owen on careers in the Civil Service, and Beatrice Kilroy-Nolan on International Trade. They heard about careers they’d never considered, and had the chance to speak to professionals from Flint Global about their career journeys.

This term a group of our Year 12 students are working with Flint Global on a Real World Learning project. Students are helping Flint to understand how policy changes in the Government’s recent Obesity Strategy could impact businesses. Students are acting as consultants and their final product will be a policy report which will be presented to Flint’s managing partners at the end of the programme. Through their placement with Flint, students will learn how to tackle a new policy and gain first hand experience of how firms like Flint advise other leading companies.

We really look forward to seeing what our students accomplish in their time working with Flint Global. We are confident that this experience will help shape the students of School 21 and provide them with transferable skills and knowledge that will allow them to flourish in the real world, regardless of the professional path they take. It’s been wonderful working with Flint, and I hope many more School 21 students will have the opportunity to learn from the professionals in the Flint network.

Thank you very much for your time Cassie.

If you would like to get involved with Shcool21's Real-World Learning Programme, please reach out to Cassie Cramer - ccramer@school21.org.uk.