Future Ready

Overview

Why have a Future Ready programme?

‘The difference between school and life is that in school you are taught a lesson and then given a test. In life you are given a test that teaches you a lesson’. (Tom Bodett - Novelist)

Microsoft and The Future Laboratory published a report which stated that 65% of today’s students will be doing jobs that don’t exist yet. The Royal School’s Future Ready Programme will help answer the increasingly pertinent question:

‘How can we prepare a generation of students for their future careers when we have no idea what those careers might be?

Objectives of the Future Ready Programme

To provide opportunities beyond the traditional curriculum to develop future skills. Not what to think, how to think. To teach pupils how to understand, control and create technology the right way and to develop the whole person by teaching pupils about self-awareness.

Behaviours

Our Future Ready Programme instils the following reflective mindsets and behaviours to help pupils make choices and develop behaviours to improve their wellbeing and to cope when the unexpected and challenging occurs.

Tenacity

I think of solutions when I meet a problem
I keep going when tasks are difficult
I ask myself ‘What shall I try next?’

Initiative

I see the bigger picture
I express ideas imaginatively
I value originality and produce original work

Reflection

I respond to my teachers’ feedback
I use understanding of myself to help me progress
I empathise with others which helps my understanding

Collaboration

I work effectively with any given person
I can be a leader or a team player
I offer and adapt my contributions to help reach a common goal

Creativity

I do things without being asked
I look ahead to see what I can do next
I suggest ideas to help improve outcomes

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Curriculum

The Future Ready programme is an exciting, dynamic entity that is ever evolving based on new technology and trends, as well as feedback from pupils and parents. Below we have provided a snapshot insight into one of the modules for each year group.

Spotlight on Year 7

Year 7 - NHS

Pupils have their first introduction to careers at The Royal through Future Ready. With more than 350 potential careers pupils discover a multitude of jobs and understand one thoroughly. They produce a job advertisement highlighting the research completed and skills/qualifications/experience the job requires and are entered into the national competition.
Spotlight on Year 8

Year 8 - First Aid

Pupils are introduced to some core first aid principles which will make them future ready for all environments. Pupils are taught through videos and demonstrations, as well as practical scenarios that they are most likely to face in day to day life.
Spotlight on Year 9

Year 9 - Escape Rooms

Recently, Ben in Year 9 received an academic distinction for his incredible piece of work. He had the whole class fully engaged with his interactive computer programme which he coded himself from scratch. Fortunately, with the pressure on, the class managed to escape within the timeframe! Here are some of the intellectual obstacles that Ben put in our way, would you be able to get the key?!
Spotlight on Year 10

Year 10 - Dragon's Den

Pupils are given a business challenge. The brief is as follows: your team is tasked with creating a future proof product/business that is customer centric and inclusive. It must be pitched to Dragons with a view to making your idea happen. Financial costing will need to be considered and justified.

Pupils are tasked with research and idea development. Where will they draw inspiration from, can they solve a long existing day to day issue with a simple creation?

Once they have their vision, pupils need to consider how it can be created, timeframes, associated costs, the market that they are looking to target and how they would advertise it. How will you look to ‘sell’ your product to the Dragons? How will you present it? Perhaps through an advert utilising the school's TV studio? And of course, what will it be called...?!
Spotlight on Year 11

Year 11 - Morrisby and Careers Workbook

Having completed the Morrisby online tool, which has been created to help pupils make choices around potential subjects to study moving forward, courses that could be worth pursuing and where might be a good place to study them, pupils have recently been completing a careers workbook. This workbook has a series of small tasks and useful information to help the Year 11s with the decisions and choices they will soon be having to make. It is a 30 page bespoke document by our Careers Advisor, Mrs Fry.
Spotlight on Year 12

Year 12 - University Life

Pupils in Year 12 have been looking at all things University. How can a Student Union support and add value to University life, what clubs and societies are on offer and how can I access them? As well as budgeting, including healthy eating.
Spotlight on Year 13

Year 13 - Car Maintenance

A new addition to the Future Ready offering this academic year was the car maintenance module. With a good number of pupils now able to drive, this improved pupils' confidence and knowledge as regards what to do if you were unfortunate enough to break down. This was delivered through lesson based scenarios, as well as practical hands on experience with pupils investigating the workings of their own vehicles or a school vehicle. After covering car maintenance before Christmas, two pupils returned from the holidays saying they had to put their new found knowledge to the test unfortunately, but at least were in a better place to do so.

Impact

After each module, pupils complete a reflection form. This helps us continue to develop and refine the Future Ready programme to ensure it is fit for purpose and helps us see the impact it can have, as demonstrated below:

Izzi talks about a Future Ready project to encourage creativity and increased social awareness of the range of roles within the NHS. “I have enjoyed being creative with clay and the computer. I used my initiative to find information on medical information for my game. I have always wanted to be a doctor and this has helped me discover what I need to know and what to do to fulfil my dreams.”

Year 7 pupil

India in Year 8 has recently completed the Design Challenge. This module enables pupils to show their creative skills whilst being directed by a project manager. Ensuring the team is working collaboratively, meeting deadlines and being able to present the ideas back are terrific project management skills to take forward. India was her team's Project Manager and talks about her experience: "My favourite aspect of the Design Challenge was using different resources to create things. I was proud of making my team work together and being productive throughout. The Future Ready values we used were collaboration, creativity and initiative."

Year 8 pupil

A Year 9 pupil highlights how she enjoyed the time the year group have been given in Future Ready lessons to look at a range of careers as they started deciding on their Options ready for their Year 10 GCSE programme of study. “I think personally, the task of researching my career helped me with my self-reflection and initiative specifically. I say this because researching what I want to do with my life, something I have been thinking about quite a bit lately, has given me time to reflect on myself.”

Year 9 pupil