Publish date: 14 September 2023
NHS estates team partners with Northumberland high school as part of careers programme
Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management, the estates and facilities subsidiary of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, has partnered with Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham as part of its careers programme for Year 11 students.
The partnership was developed to provide a valuable experience with a potential employer, learn more about the world of work, and for students to develop and showcase a range of transferable skills.
Students were tasked with a challenge to develop a company recruitment strategy that would appeal to a wide range of people, helping to support diversity and reduce potential stereotypes and barriers to entry.
Key messages the students came up with included the use of social media such as TikTok and YouTube to appeal to a younger audience, promoting unique benefits including discounted gym memberships and career progression, and highlighting qualification requirements for the positions.
Following on from feedback from the students, an advert has now been developed incorporating the key messages from the students to highlight new apprenticeship roles available within NHFM. This advert can be found on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Rosie Sexton, NHFM’s people and engagement lead, said: "This was a fantastic opportunity for Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management to showcase the wide variety of career opportunities we have available. It was great for the students to see that there are roles within the NHS that aren’t just patient-facing.
"The students were incredibly enthusiastic and came up with some great ideas that we have taken forward and will use in our future recruitment campaigns."
Paul Freeman-Myers, assistant headteacher for Queen Elizabeth High School and Hexham Middle School, said: "It’s important for students to be able to engage with local employers to better prepare themselves for the world of work. The students are thrilled that their suggestions have been taken forward and are being used to help the NHS recruit staff into key roles."
Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management currently has apprenticeship roles available within facilities (catering, cleaning and portering), painting and decorating, and joinery. The closing date for these roles is September 17, 2023. For more information or to apply, visit www.
This project was another example of Northumbria Healthcare's Community Promise, the trust's pledge to do more to focus on all the ways it can improve people’s lives, pushing the boundaries of what an NHS trust can be by looking at how we can have an even larger impact for everyone who lives and works in the area and wider region. This partnership with Queen Elizabeth High School supports two of the key pillars of the Promise - education and employment.