Highlander’s Ryan Connolly talks about the partnership with Sheffield College and launching the new computing training academy...
When we spoke with The Sheffield College about the opportunity to launch the Highlander Computing (HE) Academy, we jumped at the chance. We are now a few months in and we can honestly say that this has been a great experience so far, right from the initial engagement, to being involved in the design of the classroom, to sitting in and helping deliver some ‘industry led’ sessions. We have enjoyed every minute.
Why did we decide to do it? This is something we have considered for a long time and the timing was right. Like with many industries, recruitment has been difficult, so we have been looking at ways to improve this, making some significant changes to our approach. Working closely with the College, the Highlander Academy allows a hand selected group of students to work closely with representatives from Highlander to develop their professional industry knowledge, hopefully helping create a platform for some future stars! We now see this as our corporate responsibility to give something back and hopefully give students a leg up as they pursue their career of choice.
All our Highlander Computer (HE) Academy students can access a range of workshops, masterclasses, projects, site visits and placement opportunities to enhance their college studies. This academy inspires students hoping to pursue a career in IT to think about the various careers available in this industry.
The students will undertake their learning in a Highlander branded classroom, complete with interactive equipment and a social space. The students in this academy will cover an array of subjects such as:
Programming
Networking
Professional practice
Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence and intelligent systems
Software development lifecycles
To motivate young people and help prepare them for whatever the future brings, Highlander hopes to provide industry insight and meaningful learning experiences in the wider curriculum.
There’s no shortage of evidence that employer engagement in education makes a real difference to young people’s learning and life chances. Hopefully we can help influence students’ thinking, challenge their assumptions and increase their motivation to learn while helping them make the transition from education into work.
In addition to our partnership with The Sheffield College, we have now forged some excellent relationships with local apprenticeship providers, having recently taken on our third apprentice. To add to that, we have also added to our commercial team, recruiting via the Rise graduate programme.
Our partnerships are key to us and thankfully we have forged some great ones that allow us to focus on continually improving our approach, while finding partners that mirror our core values.
