Flying High Programme

We were delighted to welcome Elena Setchfield to Oakwood to talk to some of our Year 9 and 10 students. Elena is studying for a degree in Computer Science at The University of Birmingham and is currently working for GSK in London on her year in industry. She was able to tell our students about higher education, making the most of every opportunity you can and what possible career routes there are within Computer Science. We all felt hugely inspired by Elena and her drive and passion for her subject. Thank you for coming and sharing your experience with us.

We were delighted to host the ex CEO of ASOS Nick Beighton at The Oakwood Academy, thanks to the charity Futures for All. He spoke with students about his own personal career journey and early life in Nottingham, to running the multi billion pound company ASOS. Nick had some important messages for our students to inspire them in their futures. He told them to 'be brave, be creative, be disciplined and always keep working on yourself to get better'. Through examples of his own life, he showed how you have to never give up, sometimes take risks and change tack and to always show up as the best version of yourself. These are all attributes of an Oakwood Student too.

We were inspired by what we heard and want to thank Nick for his time. 

On Thursday, 13^th November, Lisa Williamson had an inspiring session with Year 7 and 8 students as part of the Flying High Programme. She engaged the students with motivating stories and practical advice to help them reach their full potential. The students left feeling inspired and motivated to aim high in their academic and personal goals. A fantastic day of learning and encouragement!

Lucy is also the patron of reading for the Trust, and we are happy to announce that she will be coming back to visit us again!

https://www.lisawilliamsonauthor.com/

We were delighted to attend the annual Women in STEM day in honour of Ada Lovelace, a local Nottingham woman who was a pioneer in computing and mathematics. At the event at Medi City, on the Boots campus, fourteen year 9 girls from the Flying High Programme had the chance to experience workshops with various local Bioscience and technology companies, as well as Nottingham Trent University. The students had a go at coding a mini robot, building models to demonstrate how a 3D printer works, building polymers out of sweets similar to those used in the human body and using micro pipettes to create art. We were also inspired by the many careers and opportunities we heard about, all here in Nottingham. We look forward to attending again next year and perhaps see our students become scientists of the future!

Mrs Lloyd