Getting girls into IT with Nomura and QA
News article from July 5, 2019
School-Home Support (SHS) and Nomura have been working together for a number of years. The impact created through the partnership is tangible. Nomura’s talent has helped parents into employment, supported the development of literacy skills amongst younger children and raised aspirations with families at primary school level. Nomura staff have been really committed to using their time and skills to make a difference and we know the experiences have been rewarding for those who’ve been involved.
More recently, our work together has taken a new focus with older children; Nomura, SHS and QA collaborated to design an initiative for a group of young women being supported by SHS in one of our secondary schools in east London. The idea was to help the girls learn about employment opportunities in the city, gain insight into the apprenticeship route and develop job search skills.
The latest activity took place last week, with staff from Nomura and QA volunteering on the day. Some of the volunteers had previously worked with girls at their school last term – a session on job applications and interview skills.
I guess most teachers would agree that there are challenges and rewards in working with teenagers. And the staff at Nomura and QA who were involved with the initiative last week were well prepared! The team had organised learning activities that had the girls trading chocolate and making decisions about whether to buy or sell cocoa beans (all the teams made money!). Nomura and QA volunteers worked hard to build rapport with the girls and inspire them. Volunteers took the time to the time to get to know the girls, shared their own stories of school and post 16 journeys, and successfully introduced the group to some of the basic principles around economics and how investment banking works in a global context.
“We learnt about trading and what goes on within the company, it helped me understand how finance works and trading”
– M, aged 15
“I learnt you take an apprenticeship option or a university option and I am motivated to do things”
– M, aged 14
“I learnt how to make a profit with money and business is kind of like gambling”
– G, aged 14
“I learnt that determination and ambition is the key to success and I also learnt how to trade and make more money”
– N, aged 14
“The students were amazing, they asked really good questions and I was pleased to hear from them on the way out that it was eye opening and better than they expected. What I really liked about the aspiration day, was that we used our knowledge and skills to have a positive impact, it’s not all about donating cash and walking away. This event like others we have partnered with SHS on has a visible positive impact on the individuals we are helping as well as the volunteers. I could again see at this event that our volunteers come alive with enthusiasm, they seized a networking opportunity and dealt with situations that will help them further develop their people and management skills, It’s a win/win for all involved.”
– Damien Barry, Nomura
We’re always delighted to expose young people to new environments. Aspiration sessions at Nomura provide a really important opportunity for young people to:
- Meet new people
- Understand the variety of pathways to employment in a business like Nomura
- Learn something new.
It was motivating to see the girls make the most of the day, as they interviewed a wide range of staff, enjoyed a tour of the building and pulled off a team presentation at the end of the day!
“Today helped me to talk in front of an audience to express my ideas”
– F, aged 14
“This will motivate me to do well in all lessons”
– E, aged 14
Thank you Nomura and QA and to all the staff who volunteered:
– Rachel Grieve
– Damien Barry
– Breda Forrest
– Andre Philip
– Shereen Peeroo Finney
– Lucy Muldoon
– Florence Picciuto
– Suthashini Appiah
– Gemma Ward
“It’s a very rewarding experience to work with young people with such potential, and to watch as they start to recognise that they could have a future in an organisation such as Nomura. They all grasped the opportunity to ask as many questions as they could of our volunteers and I hope have left the event with their horizons broadened and their ambition fuelled.”
– Rachel Grieve, Nomura