NottinghamLIFE: NOTTS STUDENTS CELEBRATE OUTWARD BOUND SUCCESS

FROM hiking through the wilderness to monitoring CCTV in shopping centres, 30 pupils from Nottingham Academy have been put through their paces with support from the intu team in Nottingham, as part of the annual Outward Bound programme.

At a celebration evening held in intu Victoria Centre yesterday (17.07.17), students, teachers and mentors were joined by The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Michael Edwards, and parents to celebrate the students’ achievements on the Outward Bound trip last month.

During the event, students took to the stage to share their Outward Bound experiences and were treated to an exclusive viewing of a film from the trip – which starred all 30 pupils and their mentors and teachers – facilitated by Confetti Media. Finally, the group were provided with food in Thaikhun located in Clocktower dining at intu Victoria Centre.

Nottingham’s annual trip to Outward Bound– which is now in its fifth year – works to help children from the city step out of their comfort zones through a week-long outdoor learning experience in the Lake District, with support from willing volunteers from intu Victoria Centre and intu Broadmarsh.

Nigel Wheatley, general manager for intu in Nottingham, said, “We have had another successful year working with Nottingham Academy and our mentors have had a life-changing experience supporting the young people on Outward Bound, giving them the opportunity to step out of their comfort zones and try something new to develop their own personal skillsets.

“It’s so important for us to be in touch with our local community and through schemes such as this, our teams are offered the chance to share their knowledge, skills and expertise with the next generation, which they truly relish and participate fully in.”

12-year-old Joshua Dobbins was one of the students who participated in this year’s Outward Bound trip. He said: “I really like the idea of Outward Bound, I think it’s really cool and clever. I had a really bad fear of heights and I wanted to get rid of it and I also really love walking, so I’ll walk anywhere.

“When we went on the expedition, we had to climb up a really big mountain and I honestly didn’t think I could do it. The satisfaction of being able to row across a lake and climb up a mountain, it was more than I could have hoped for. If I had to rate the trip out of ten, I would definitely give it a ten.”

Joshua, along with his fellow Outward Bound students, will now have the chance to continue this partnership with intu through the newly-developed Inspire programme. The scheme has been designed to help students develop key skills for improving employability, while also supporting during the years leading up to GCSEs, offering advice on potential career paths and opportunities for local students.

Mentors from intu will continue to support students through to the end of year 11 by offering unique coaching sessions each term. These sessions will range from CV workshops, to job interview techniques and even work experience placements for a few lucky students.

Nicky Brown, assistant headteacher at Nottingham Academy, said: “Nottingham Academy are delighted to be working with intu and we believe that working closely with local businesses brings fantastic opportunities for our young people.

“The Outward Bound trip and ongoing mentoring will continue to aid the progress of core life skills and employability characteristics, developing young people who are ambitious, resilient and tenacious. We are positive that for both Nottingham Academy pupils and the intu team taking part, this has been a very rewarding experience that will remain with the students for the rest of their lives and we look forward to working with the intu team in the near future.”