Sky and NCS team up to deliver skills and development event for London students

150 sixth form students from across London visited Sky’s Osterley campus for a day as part of their experience with NCS (National Citizen Service), the country’s flagship youth programme for 16–17-year-olds.

The career day was designed to give the students practical experience and support to help them with future career decisions, as students explored four key themes: social action, careers, skills development and reflection on their experience with NCS.

Sky Up’s Academy Studios team hosted several sessions focussed around developing essential workplace skills including “communication, collaboration, teamwork and aiming high”. During these sessions, students reflected on their own skill sets and explored how it translates to the world of work.

Students also immersed themselves in some fast-paced interactive activities designed to bring careers to life and build upon practical skills for future applications. In ‘Sky’s Den’, students participated in a Dragon’s Den style challenge where they analysed potential Sky investments to see whether they would be good for Sky as a company and wider society.

The young guests got to experience Sky’s bespoke Sky Up Academy Studios where they created their own social action pledges using Sky’s “cutting-edge” broadcast technology. Throughout the day, students had the opportunity to hear career stories from employees across Sky’s different departments.

A bespoke networking lunch provided the young people a chance to speak directly to those involved in social action, from graduates and apprentices starting out at Sky, to employees who have been making a difference at Sky for many years.

Spoken word artist and manager of responsible production at Sky, Isaac G Nartey, shared his story about how he created Sky’s first programme about poetry, ‘Life & Rhymes’. The visit included a behind the scenes tour of Sky’s campus and production space where the students saw presenters from Sky Sports News broadcasting live to thousands of people.

Nishy Lall, head of young people at Sky, said: “It was great to have the students from NCS visit Sky and immerse themselves in different interactive activities exploring career development and skills. At Sky we want to inspire the next generation of storytellers and provide them with the skills to express themselves on issues that matter most to them.”

Aisling Cohn, external relations lead at NCS, added: “As Changemakers, young people are given tools and guidance to identify needs in their local communities and then plan and deliver innovative projects to address those needs.

“The experience at Sky gave those attending the guidance they need on how to think creatively, present an idea and identify how their skills and talents can be applied to real world situations and challenges.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily