During the assembly, a team from Access led by Group Chief Information and Data Officer Conor Whelan, shared their individual experiences from the world of work and challenged Yr. 5 and 6 students to solve a problem through technology.
Students presented their ideas in a “Dragen’s Den” style competition to the panel of judges from Access and IFtL, which for Yr.6s included a Classroom Compass, Secondary School Test Bot, a School Aid app, and Virtual friend - all designed to help support students as they navigate their first days in secondary school.
Yr. 5s, who were given free rein to develop design ideas, delighted judges with a range of technical solutions, including sustainable weather wear, a money machine, a UFO litter picker, self-fitting clothes and a water temperature bottle.
Rickley Park Headteacher, Nicole Bramwell said:
“Every year at Rickley Park, we have an aspiration day, so today has been a fantastic opportunity to welcome the Access Group and for the children to learn more about career pathways in technology.
“It has given the students a great insight into how Access works as a business and what types of jobs are available in technology, and how you get there. The students have been really excited about the design project and embraced the challenge. We are all proud of the tremendous creativity and great presentation and teamwork skills that the children demonstrated”.
Conor Whelan commented:
“This has been a fantastic day – all Access employees are allocated a day to get involved in supporting a community project, work with a charity or in education.
“It has been really rewarding for our team to step away from our day job, engage with young people and hear their thoughts on technology. We have been so impressed with the level of knowledge of these young people, who already know a lot about technology and asked us about subjects like security, screen time, artificial intelligence and parental controls".
“It’s a privilege to spend time with the students at this important stage in their education, and I hope we have been able to shape their journey as they move from primary to secondary school and beyond.”
Ray Smith, IFtL Information Technology Manager said:
“We had an excellent day and I found it very rewarding to work with the children and listen to their ideas on how they will solve future problems using technology. It was great to see the children presenting their ideas utilising the iPads that were recently rolled out as part of our Trust’s one-to-one project”.
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About Inspiring Futures through Learning
Inspiring Futures through Learning is a multi-academy trust of 15 primary and 1 all through across Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire. IFtL aims to achieve the best possible outcomes for children through school-to-school support, shared expertise and collaborative working. Each school within the trust has its own unique character but shares the vision of inspiring the futures of us all through learning together and preparing children for their futures.
About The Access Group
The Access Group is one of the largest UK-headquartered providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, USA and Asia Pacific. It helps more than 100,000 customers across commercial and non-profit sectors become more productive and efficient. Its innovative cloud solutions transform how business software is used, giving every employee the freedom to do more of what’s important to them. Founded in 1991, The Access Group employs approximately 6,800 people.