EDT hosted Industrial Cadets Week 2020, a virtual event offering young people the exciting opportunity to experience high-quality interactions with businesses and educators across the UK. Taking place during 23-27 November, the jam-packed week provided students information on STEM education, a sneak peek into the exciting world of work and unique access to established professionals and emerging young talent across a wide range of sectors.
Industrial Cadets Week coincided with the UK Prime Minister’s announcement for a Green Industrial Revolution and a ten-point plan to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled environmental focused jobs covering clean energy, transport, nature and innovative technologies. The event was therefore a prime opportunity to introduce young people to the exciting new opportunities that EDT and partners are offering.
Industrial Cadets Week took place virtually and welcomed over 16,000 young people with the support of some amazing industry partners including General Electric (GE), GFG Foundation and GFG Alliance, GSK, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and De Montfort University. The sessions aimed to give older students, who are at an important stage of their life, insight into the various industries and routes into a career within STEM. Thanks to our partners GFG Foundation and TCS, we were also able to provide resource packs for 11-14 year olds (Digital Design resources by TCS and Sustainability & the Environment resources by GFG Foundation). These packs are flexible, ready-made activities that fit easily into the school day where students can continue to work on them at home.
Each day was focused on a specific theme and led by a selected partner;
Day 1: GFG Foundation and GFG Alliance - Sustainable Industry
Day 2: General Electric (GE) – Building a world that works
Day 3: De Montfort University – Social Engineering & Cyber Security
Day 4: GSK – Do more, feel better, live longer
Day 5: EDT & Industrial Cadets - Inspiring STEM futures through virtual work experience
Throughout each day, teachers and students tuned in to gain an insight into each business and industry and hear from professionals, placement students, apprentices and graduates. They also had the chance to engage with STEM experts and ask live questions. The level of engagement was high and we had some great questions asked from students and teachers.
Julie Feest, EDT Chief Executive Officer, says:
“Our mission as a charity is to connect young people and industry together to inspire students about STEM careers. Our focus of the week was the social impact young people could make by working across these broad companies. We have introduced the environmental focused themes to excite students about the variety of industries and roles they could work in by giving them an insight into these various industries. We hope it has been valuable for students to understand that there are companies out there that will be interested in them and their ideas.”
Some inspiring quotes from our apprentices and graduates from the week:
“Never be afraid to try something new”
“You have your whole life to work, take your time to decide what you want to do”
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions, that’s how you learn and develop”
“See work experience as a fast track to opportunity”
Thank you to all our partners, supporters, and panel guests for making Industrial Cadets Week 2020 a success. Without your support, we could not have delivered such an insightful and invaluable experience.
The career focused sessions will be uploaded onto our Youtube channel so you can watch these sessions in the future.
EDT is an educational charity and we need your help to connect young people with industry & inspiring STEM futures: check out our website to find out how you can change a young person’s life today.