LOOKING BACK ON 2019-2020

What a year it’s been for DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian & East Lothian. The start of the new financial year gives us an opportunity to look back on some of the brilliant activities from across the region over the last 12 months.

Our industry partners from every sector have pulled out all the stops to inform and inspire young people across the region. From April 2019 to March 2020 there were over 160,000 employer interactions with young people. There are so many amazing examples of industry and education coming together to support young peoples’ learning that we couldn’t possibly list them all.

This was a year of many ‘firsts’ with a broad range of new initiatives launched including the Hospitality Takeover Day where local hospitality employers joined forces with Edinburgh College to provide a hands-on industry experience for secondary pupils. Similarly, a group of engineering and construction industry partners came together for the first ever Midlothian Construction and Engineering Industry Insight Event. In January, our region’s fantastic tourism industry came together for "A Day in Edinburgh" programme to provide an industry experience for almost 200 S2’s.

This year was also an exciting time for DYW in primary schools with several new and innovative primary initiatives taking off. In May 2019 over 1,300 Primary 5 pupils from East Lothian descended on Queen Margaret University for Jobs Kingdom Live, the first event of its kind in Scotland and an incredible two days of hands-on, interactive workshops showcasing the world of work. Primary schools in Leith and Tranent took part in the region’s first ever Circular Economy Challenges in partnership with Young Enterprise Scotland and volunteers from industry. Teachers and pupils from seven primary schools across Edinburgh took part in the first ever "M is for Money" project and worked alongside the Museum on the Mound and students from the University of Edinburgh Business School to design and deliver a financial capability project.

The DYW team has been working closely with schools over the past year to support our educators to build their knowledge of current industry practice. The new Curriculum Posters launched in October 2019 have been a big hit both in the classroom and at parent events to support educators, young people and parents to understand how what young people learn in the classroom relates to the world of work. In May 2019 during Educator Placement Month we enabled over 40 teachers, careers advisors and lecturers to spend a day in industry and gain insight into the current labour market to strengthen their knowledge of industry and support young people to make informed choices about their career pathways.

100% of educators and employers who took part said they would recommend it to others!

Who could forget the DYW Work Ready conference in May 2019? This brought together over 200 educators, young people, parents and employers to focus on the theme of Work Readiness; exploring what it means, how young people can become work ready and how we all can be involved.

Last but not least, the DYW team rounded off the year with the biggest Jobs Roadshow yet. In March 2020 the fifth annual Jobs Roadshow saw 70 employers with live vacancies come face to face with almost 1,300 young people at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange with the aim to get Scotland’s future workforce Informed, Inspired and Hired.

​None of this would be possible without the ongoing support of employers of all sizes and sectors across the region and the DYW champions in our schools. The DYW Team would like to say a huge thank you to everyone across the DYW network and we look forward to working with you all over the next 12 months as we find innovative and creative ways to continue the connection between industry and young people.