Connecting with Bell Baxter …
How do youngsters find work these days? Many-a-programme has come and gone over the years. Today, Bell Baxter High School has a dedicated member of their team with a sole focus to help those leaving education to find employment. We caught up with Daniel Halsall, the school’s DYW (Developing Young Workforce) Employability Officer to discover more …
Daniel met us at the top of the school steps and walked us to the Rector’s office where we discussed his role. He explained: “This is a new position created to give more time to developing business relationships and supporting employability programmes. I have no teaching responsibilities so can focus 100% of my time on Developing the Young Workforce.”
A member of C Squadron of the Scottish and Northern Irish Yeomanry in Cupar, you may have spied Daniel by the cenotaph at the last Remembrance Service. His previous role was in administration but he is “delighted” to have moved into his new role, saying: “I am really keen to get involved with local businesses. Not only does it provide opportunities for our young people it can help ground them in reality.”
Reaching out …
Currently, he is trying to build relationships with local businesses and says that “great progress” is being made, adding: “Our main focus in the coming years is the new Fife-wide online work experience system that will provide more flexible work experience options to employers.” The new service aims to lower the workload for schools and employers and will act as a middleman. The ‘middleman’ is the local authority and will support the process of signing on a new employer.
Daniel explains: “In the first year of the programme we aim to carry out targeted work experience. This is to ensure the young people and work experience providers have as much support as possible.” He adds: “At this moment, we are putting together a calendar and plan for the next year. We aim to share this as widely as possible in the near future.”
Bell Baxter’s Catchment …
He is looking to engage with any businesses within the catchment area of Bell Baxter. He says that their ability to provide transport can be limited at times but adds: “If a business wants to engage, I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
The work experience system will launch after summer: from there, employers can register interest in the system. More information for employers can be found via this link.
Parents of young people who may be interested in prompting their youngsters to seek a work placement can find more information via this link.
November Careers Event
Bell Baxter High School plan “a broad careers event in November” as well as “a STEM-focused event in March 2025“. Daniel adds: “The main careers event in November will be the first ‘in person’ careers fair the school has run for a long time. We are really keen to make this a great event for young people, parents, and businesses.” The STEM event builds on what was delivered earlier this year utilising the experience of pupils’ parents.
The school wants to provide more opportunities to its young people. Daniel says: “We want to give young people more experience in the real world. Experience in a workplace is invaluable to young people more than ever. We also want to provide more visibility for businesses in the local area. Many young people will go off to university or jobs outside of Cupar. We want to give them more reason to stay – and more options to do that.”
Positive destinations …
Daniel explains that his main aim is to support “positive destinations” for young people, saying: “Some young people have disengaged with school but thrive in the work place. We’ve seen young people really come out of their shell and get stuck in with some of the events and experience we have run. Through, engaging with local businesses, it allows us to broaden horizons in the local area.”
Need more?
The school will be sharing more information when it becomes available and, through CuparNow’s channels, we will be happy to share the same – so watch this space.
For information on the work experience system WorkIt there is dedicated web page via this link.
For those looking for more information on how the school wants to use this system to engage with employers, you are asked to email Daniel via this link.
Thanks for reading.
