Ark schools celebrate female power on International Women’s Day

Schools across the network celebrated female power on International Women’s Day, #IWD2017, yesterday.

The annual event inspired activities in Ark schools that highlighted the achievements of women from local communities, businesses and universities as well as inspirations from across the globe.

Ark Elvin Academy in Wembley embraced their theme, You Cannot Be What You Cannot See, with a 60 minute speed mentoring workshop hosted by Superfoxx; a collective of talented women who fund workshops to empower the next generation of girls.

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The workshop gave Year 10 girls at Ark Elvin an opportunity to hear from to a broad set of career women in an informal and interactive session.

Principal Rebecca Curtis said, “Our International Women’s Day event was a fantastic opportunity for our girls to learn and be inspired by a really interesting group of role models. On a practical level the role models were able to share their own life stories and the decisions they made at different stages that influenced their careers. But in some ways it was the anecdotal examples of challenges they faced and overcame that the girls learnt most from. Overwhelmingly there was a clear message that hard work and finding something that you are really passionate about – whatever that is – breeds success. With a growth mindset and positivity, anything is possible!”

Ark Walworth Academy tied up #IWD2017 with National Apprenticeship Week, in an event that invited volunteers from Costain to promote opportunities in the construction industry through a workshop with 30 talented female Year 10 students. As an industry leader, Costain is committed to significantly increasing the number of women choosing careers in construction, by dispelling the traditional view that it is a male-only field.

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Carl Fazackerley, Head of Aspirations at Ark Walworth, commented, “So much of our view of an industry is based on stereotyping; the session really opened students’ eyes to the fantastic array of opportunities to work in an exciting and vibrant sector.”

Ark Helenswood Academy held an all day careers fair with stands, talks and workshops for year 10 girls – introducing them to opportunities within businesses and in further education. Representatives from local businesses Marshall Tufflex and Plumpton College were amongst those in attendance.

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