Feedback
Feedback from the Ambassadors Programme Reception October 14, 2009
Dear Pinky,
We met briefly at the Women of the Future Ambassadors event in October, when I had the wonderfully good fortune of accompanying two girls - Jenna and Khushali - from my school, Northwood College. I know you must have met countless people, but they may stand out in your memory, as they were by far the youngest girls present - both being in Year 8! Emily Cummins had kindly invited them, having been impressed with their inventiveness and motivation (one wants to be an inventor when she's older) when she met them earlier in the year.
I recently sent Emily the article that the girls wrote for the school bulletin as a result - and she thought I should forward it to the organisers of the event, as it showed just what an incredibly positive impact your programme has. So - here it is! Please find attached. What impressed me most was how the girls transformed throughout the evening - from being initially daunted at discovering that they were surrounded by sixth formers, to taking a deep breath and making the most of the fantastic opportunity they'd been given. It really is a wonderful initiative - and we're thrilled at my school to be involved.
While writing, I just wondered whether you might be interested in knowing about a book I've recently had published by Pearson. It's called 'The Bright Stuff' and offers parents lots of very practical advice, games and activities that they can use at home to help their children develop those real-life qualities that can make such a difference later on in life. Each chapter deals with a different area - like how to help children develop creativity and an innovative spirit; how to stimulate independent thinking; how to learn from failure as well as success; how to take the right sort of risk and so on.
It stems from my concern that schools often become so caught up with the business of passing exams that spoon-feeding ends up replacing real education. Kids learn to do what they're told to jump through the next hoop - 'Is it in the exam, miss?' is the constant question and the result is a really worrying lack of creativity, risk taking and initiative. What is particularly interesting is that research suggests this is most true for bright girls - who, in their eagerness to please, turn out to be best at conforming to a system that doesn't actually bring out the best in them.
My role at school is rather an unusual one - in that I have set up and continue to direct a thinking skills programme, which runs right across the school, from 3-18. I also run courses in schools around the country who want to adopt a similar approach - and I've been stunned to discover that nearly all are saying the same thing - that our brightest girls are often the ones least willing to take a risk, to try new things where they may not immediately be successful and to develop their own creative ideas (because tried and tested ones are a safer bet).
I feel sure that the Women of the Future Ambassadors programme will help to tackle some of these issues.
C.J Simister
Northwood College
Thursday April 22, 2010
5 schools took part in a company visit to HSBC
"Pinky, just wanted to let you know we had a fantastic time last week when we brought the Ambassadors programme in house to HSBC. We had lots of our ladies participate and they were all thrilled to talk to the girls and hear about their interests. I think the highlight of the afternoon for the girls was the tour of the building...we took them to see a few different floors to see all the different kinds of things that go on in a bank, but even so it was the trading floor which was the clear winner for the coolest thing on the tour! We also did a brand exercise with them where we asked them to make a bank ad aimed at teenage girls and that went down well, in particular with their teachers. So a big thank you for helping us put that together, it felt like it was a win-win all the way around and we would love to do that again in future."
Kind Regards,
Birgit Neu, COO, HSBC
