Students from across the Trust’s four sixth forms joined together at the University of the West of England (UWE, Bristol) Business School, on 22 May 2024, for the Lighthouse Schools Partnerships (LSP) Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Day. The aim of the event was to aid our students in learning new leadership skills, enhancing existing strengths and inspiring one another.

With 90 students from Churchill, Gordano, Chew Valley and Backwell Sixth Forms in attendance, the day started with inspiring talks from alumni and Student Ambassadors, before splitting into breakout sessions, focused on Team Entrepreneurship and Student Networking, as well as a tour of the facilities at UWE Bristol’s Business School.

Pete Marlow, who works within the Widening Access Team at UWE was hosting the day and gave the LSP students a warm welcome, said: “Days like these give young people a powerful insight into what their futures could look like. It is a great opportunity for them to meet our students, who are only a few years older than them, and a few steps ahead in their studies and career planning.”

Samuel, a Year 12 Student at Chew Valley Sixth Form said: “Today has been a really good opportunity to see what it is like at a university and see how what we have been learning at school could be built on and developed in the future. This is the first time I have visited a university, and it has been a interesting experience to see the size of the site and the facilities they have.” Colston, also studying at Chew Valley Sixth Form, agrees, “To physically see what a university looks like, and how you feel about it, has been really interesting – it is all on such a big scale. I am hoping to attend a local university to study accountancy, so this has been a great day for me.”

Charlotte Ball, Careers Advisor at Backwell School commented, “Enrichment opportunities such as this visit are really important for our students. For those studying business this is a great opportunity to further develop what they have been learning in the classroom, including key skills such as networking and developing ideas. It has been great encouraging their creativity with expert input from the university staff. Entrepreneurship is really important for them, as they look to their future which could include working for a new startup company, or starting their own businesses.”

A huge thank you to BromCom and Purgo for sponsoring transport for the event, and to BromCom also for supplying the attending students pens and notebooks.