Immersive Industrial Placement Programme
2018 saw the White Rose Academies Trust introduce their Internship Programme, enabling university students to work within the Central Trust Team on their Industrial Placement year.
The placement is an invaluable opportunity which immerses students into a professional working environment, enabling them to gain practical experience in their future career field before graduating from university.
Throughout the year, each Industrial Placement student learns about, and has significant impact on, a variety of specialist projects and improvements, supporting the future generation of students within the Trust to receive an outstanding education.
Emily Hare and Hannah Moore (photographed) celebrated as they graduated from university with first-class degrees following their industrial placement with The White Rose Academies Trust.
Hannah Moore, Industrial Placement student of 2019-20 and now permanent Trust Project Manager said “Throughout my internship with the Trust I worked across a number of business areas, this gave me the opportunity to apply my academic knowledge into a real business setting. I found on my return to university for my final year, that not only had my professional confidence grown hugely, but I was also able to relate my studies to my first-hand experiences within a business, which strengthened my academic writing.
“I have always been passionate about my own education, but it wasn’t until I began working for the Trust that I realised the true value of providing excellent educational opportunities for all young people. Since returning to the Trust and working within the School Improvement Team, I am able to apply my business knowledge and further grow my educational knowledge to fulfil the Trust’s vision of transforming education for our young people.”
The White Rose Academies Trust is committed to ensuring Good and Outstanding outcomes for all our (currently) four academies, and the Trust Central Team, which the intern sits within, are devoted to making this a reality. While it is an operational role developing skills within the field of Business and Marketing, the students within the Trust are at the forefront of everything the team do, therefore this programme is an amazing opportunity to see how transformative a career in education truly is.
Emily Hare, Industrial Placement student in 2018 –19 and now permanent Trust Project Lead, commented “As a result of the pandemic, fourteen months after finishing university, I am extremely happy to have officially graduated this September, with a First-Class Honours Degree in Business with Marketing Management at Northumbria University. I had the most incredible three years in Newcastle studying and an outstanding time on my placement with the Trust, I am extremely grateful for the many opportunities I was given during the twelve months on placement, attending many meetings with the CEO and the Senior Team, really allowing me to understand the business in depth. My experiences gained whilst working with the Trust definitely helped me in achieving my First-Class degree. I am extremely honoured to now be working full-time with the Trust as Project Lead.’’
Whilst on their placement year, the Trust gives the student an abundance of fantastic opportunities for personal and professional development, including formal qualifications such as Agile Project Management, recognised by different industries internationally. This is to not only develop the intern within the professional working environment, but also to ensure they receive the best outcomes at university when returning for their final year of study.
“The internship programme was established three years ago with the aim of achieving three things; promoting education as a brilliant career path, providing a first-class professional experience for each intern and creating a talent pipeline for the trust and wider Luminate Education Group.” commented Andrew Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer, White Rose Academies Trust.
Andrew went on to say “The personal achievements of Emily and Hannah are testament to the quality and ambition of this programme and both these colleagues, following their graduations, are wonderful additions to the trust’s outstanding workforce. I and everyone at the White Rose Academies Trust are incredibly proud of Emily and Hannah.”