Do you work in the Tech Sector in Scotland? Do you want to help bridge the skills gap, form a valuable relationship with a local school, help and inspire young people to pursue a career in tech?
Following a successful pilot scheme in Glasgow, we are now accepting Industry Mentors for Cohort 2 of the Critical Friends Programme! As part of Cohort 2 you will be partnered with one of 60 secondary schools in Lanarkshire.
Background
We know a large part of the reason the skills gap in our industry exists is because of the drop of rates throughout school of young people taking the subject. Critical Friends aims to encourage and inspire young people to study computing science and pursue a career in tech while helping industry form relationships with secondary schools.
How does the Critical Friends Programme work?
ScotlandIS will match you with a secondary school for 12 months. You will spend time sharing your knowledge and experiences of industry with the teachers delivering computing science. You will help build their knowledge of industry current practice and emerging tech, and how this can be shared with the students.
Connecting with your mentee is flexible, and could take place via video call, email or over coffee. You could invite your teacher to visit your workplace, allowing them to observe your team(s) and provide an insight into the type of projects you are engaged in. You may also find a visit to the school valuable, gaining a deeper understanding of how classes are taught, the materials that are available to teachers and students, and how computing science is delivered.
This is your opportunity to find out the challenges and opportunities your partnership represents and engage in discussions about the current curriculum and industry practices, which can then feed directly into the teaching and learning within the school.
It is so important to ensure that more and more young people of all backgrounds have the knowledge, aspirations and opportunities to embark upon careers in computing and STEM subjects. It’s our end mission to roll out the Critical Friends programme nationwide, to help achieve this goal.
Get involved
If you are interested in taking part, or just want to find out more, contact nicola.taylor@scotlandis.com