Our year nine learners had their second 'Creating my Future' mentoring session, which focused on their development over the last four months along with their employability skills. 

As they consider their GCSE subjects and embark a step further on their career pathway, the College ensures that our learners are fully supported. With the generous input of mentors from our four main sponsors - Skanska, Thames Water, Ramboll and Costain – we offer the opportunity to benefit from the skills, experience and knowledge of leading professionals. 

Learners reflected on their progress from their first session. They reflected on their development of the following skills: communication, listening, adaptability/resilience, problem solving, time management, positive attitude, leadership and collaboration/ teamwork. Learners evidenced their progress by recording their employer engagement experiences and discussing them with their mentors. From these discussions, learners were able to better articulate and understand the value and benefits of their experiences during employer engagement sessions. 

Learners were also required to fill out an 'ideal timeline,’ helping them to articulate the career and role they hope to have in the future. With the support of their mentors, learners were able to better understand what practical steps they can take to achieve their ideal timeline.

'I learned about the roles of a civil engineer and architect and the differences between them,' – Hannah, Year 9 learner. 

'My mentor gave me a better idea of what to consider when I choose my GCSE's so that I have a good balance for the future,' - Raphaela, Year 9 learner

As our year nine learners share their aspirations, we strive to facilitate and support them with the practical advice they need to turn their hopes into reality. At the end of year 10, our learners will use the mentoring workbooks to create their very first CV to be used interviews.

‘Mentors are people who are active in the working community and want to give back to young people so they can gain insight and knowledge into the real work environment. Our sector mentoring is an important addition to our career programme, which is focused on our learners making the connection between their sponsor company and their education at LDE UTC. 

“I would like to thank Mary Law from Ramboll (Tideway Group), Emmanuel Watmon from Skanska, Lenka Pristrom from Costain and Sandra Riches from Thames Water for their continued support with the mentoring programme. A special thanks to Leigh Maxfield from Thames Water for making the ‘Creating my Future’ mentoring workbook,’ - Janice Tricks, Careers and Employer Engagement Lead.