We are very excited to be able to take you on a journey to find out about the work we’ve been doing behind the scenes - enhancing our encounter type offer on our F4S platform for all educators using our services.

So what’s changed?

Well, we have looked closely at the different encounter types we were offering to our English and Scottish educators and thought that there were improvements that could be made to make it simpler and more in alignment with some of our key partners as well as trends in the career education market.

As a result, we have streamlined the different encounter types into a clearer offering that we hope will make it easier for educators to choose the most appropriate event format for their students. In addition, the work we have done has brought us more into line with the way key partners such as Skills Development Scotland and the Careers & Enterprise Company talk about their career education activities. So in essence, the themes stay the same but we hope the choice between the different encounter types has been made clearer.

Take a look at our new encounter types & create your own event

We are also launching two new encounters soon. One that focuses on Apprenticeships, a career option that Founders4Schools believe more young people should be aware of as it is still a pathway many students are not aware of or do not fully understand. Apprenticeships have substantially changed over the past years and it is important to us at F4S that students learn all about them and about the organisations that offer these. It can be the right career path for many young people. We’re currently talking to our business volunteers to find those who have the appropriate background to talk about apprenticeship pathways in their company/industry or to share their personal experience of being an apprentice with students so that we can easily identify them on our platform for you to choose from.

We are also developing a new encounter type called Career Management Skills and will be updating you soon on how it can help you achieve your Gatsby Benchmarks.

The Encounter Types in a Nutshell

We’ve given you a quick overview here of what each of the encounter types offer educators however if you’d like more information about the event formats and how they map to the curriculum, click on the individual links.

Encounter Type

Applying for Jobs

An employability encounter that helps students learn the practical skills they need to get a job like CV writing or mock interviews.

Careers and Jobs Events

A flexible encounter type that gives students the opportunity to hear the career stories of our business role models

Challenges or Competitions

A fitting way to end a project by setting students a real-world project that business volunteers help judge.

Mentoring

This encounter allows you to invite business volunteers to support small student groups to discuss their career options.

Sector Awareness

Invite speakers to give students information on the skills, knowledge, and qualifications needed by different sectors/industries.

Skills Development

Focus on the vital soft skills needed by young people to be successful in the workplace and the wider community.

Routes and Pathways

Help provide students with knowledge about the different pathways they can take on the way to their future careers.

Teacher CPD

An opportunity for educators to upskill their industry/job knowledge to better support their students.

Maths4Girls

One of our most popular event types. It’s not just for girls but it helps demystify maths and shows how it’s used in the world of work.

Coming soon - Apprenticeship & Career Management Skills encounters - New to the F4S Platform, these encounters will be launched soon

Booking an Event on the F4S Platform

It’s still a quick and easy way to invite volunteers from the world of work into your classroom, whether that’s as part of an online webinar or an in school encounter.

1. Click on create an event.
2. Choose whether you want a webinar or in school encounter (although please follow current government & education guidelines on whether or not in school encounters are appropriate)
3. Choose from our new & refreshed list of encounters - to find out more about each encounter click on the i for a description.
   1. If you are booking an online webinar, you have the option to choose between speakers local to your school or speakers from across the UK.
   2. You can still choose our zoom platform or the platform you use at your school.
4. Everything else in the journey is the same.

Why not book an event now?

Would a little support in booking the encounter would make you feel more at ease?

Why not join us at one of our educator training sessions. You can book your space today and we take you through the process from A-Z.