Mentors required for Young International Trader Schools Programme

You may have seen from an article in the main section of the website that The Institute has launched an exciting new programme for schools, entitled Young International Trader. The programme is designed to run for approximately one term, one hour per week, and introduces students at key stage 4 and beyond to the world of International Trade.

The Institute is now looking for a number of volunteer Mentors, to be assigned to local schools, to assist them in running the programme.  The specific role of the Mentor will vary from school to school, but essentially Mentors will be expected to assist the teachers in any areas of the subject matter where further support may be required, to help organise (or undertake the role of) guest speaker, to assist with the organisation and planning of any visits (to cargo ports etc) and to generally support the school teaching staff in the running of the programme.  The first mentors will be required from September 06, mainly in the North of England, with possibilities also in Wales and Scotland.  As the programme rolls out over time, we will be looking to identify a number of interested parties throughout the UK.

If you think you might be interested in undertaking this role at a school or college near to you, please get in touch with Helen Biggs, Jakki@export.org.uk, who can provide you with further details and information on the extent of commitment that is involved.  We are planning a half day seminar  at  the Institute for interested parties, prior to the start of the Autumn  term, to ensure that you are familiar with the course material, and to enable you to have a full briefing of what is involved.

If you don’t feel that you have the time to undertake the role of a mentor, but would still like to help out on the programme, we are also looking to build up a database of potential guest speakers, who would be willing to give up perhaps one afternoon from time to time to talk to classes of students about their 'real life' experiences in the world of importing or exporting. If you think this might be of interest to you, please contact Helen, including details of any 'specialist' subject areas that you would be willing to cover in your talk.

The Young International Trader programme represents a unique opportunity for young students to obtain a realistic and valuable insight into the world of International Trade, whilst still studying at school. We hope that whetting their appetite on this course will lead to both increased numbers and higher standards of school and college leavers entering our industry, and going on to take our more formal qualifications. The programme also however represents an opportunity for our individual members to put something back into the industry, to enhance young people’s experience and hopefully to find a new challenge in building for the future of the UK.