Employers embedded into English curriculum

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Employers and industry experts are helping Ron Dearing students prepare for entering the work force thanks to greater employer led learning in English classes.

Ron Dearing UTC works with a wide variety of employer partners and is now incorporating even more employer led initiatives into its English curriculum to provide students with industry insights across all subjects.

In Year 10, students have been working with two of the UTC’s founding partners, KCOM and Spencer Group, to hone their public speaking skills.

The two business have been supporting the school’s oracy programme, with employees setting the students briefs based on real-life business examples. The students were tasked to consider and plan how they’d communicate the business’s message to key stakeholders, before presenting their ideas to the employers.

Spencer Group has been supporting the Year 10 oracy project.

 

Meanwhile, Year 11 students who are currently studying Romeo and Juliet have engaged in a workshop delivered by Hull Truck Theatre to help bring the text to life.

The theatre’s Associate Director Tom Saunders worked with two actors to perform key scenes from the play to further enhance student understanding of the plot and characterisation and give them an opportunity to engage with the text as a performance.

Actors perform key scenes from the classic play, Romeo and Juliet

 

KS5 students studying English A Level enjoyed an informal writing session with experienced Journalist, Harriet Williamson.

As part of their A-Level English exam, the students must write a feature article on a language issue such as ‘gender’ or ‘accent prejudice’ and make this accessible to somebody who has not studied linguistics. During the session Harriet shared a range of her own articles and headlines and discussed how she tackles tricky assignments.

Experienced Journalist Harriet Williamson took part in a Lunch and Learn session to share insights into the industry.  

 

Journalist Harriet, and Hull Truck Theatre’s Associate Director Tom, also hosted Lunch and Learn sessions for both KS4 and KS5 students to provide insights into their professions and highlight routes into the respective industries.

Head of English, Jack Campbell said: “Our students are attracted to Ron Dearing because of our strong employer links. This year we have really focused on developing this within the English curriculum.

“The Year 10 oracy project has enabled our students to see how the transferable skills gained in English lessons could be applied to help them thrive in the world of work.

“We were also really lucky to have Tom and the team from Hull Truck Theatre come into school to perform key scenes of Romeo and Juliet to our Year 11s – the sessions were engaging and enabled our students to see the play performed rather than read.

“It has been lovely to see students engaging with these opportunities and impressing our employer partners.”

Ron Dearing hosts inaugural Alumni Week

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Ron Dearing UTC has hosted its inaugural Alumni Week to open students’ eyes to the vast array of opportunities waiting for them after school.

In celebration of National Apprenticeship Week 2025, the Hull school held its first ever Alumni Week, with over 60 alumni-led talks taking place.

Former students who now work with the school’s employer partners were invited back to speak to current Year 12 students about the different pathways and apprenticeships they have undertaken since leaving the UTC in industries including renewable energy, engineering, marketing and research and development to name just a few.

Alumni Week saw over 60 alumni-led talks taking place.

 

Students had the opportunity to ask questions to get further insight into the wide range of industries represented.

Businesses which took part in the week included some of the schools founding partners Spencer Group, Siemens Gamesa and Reckitt; major partners, Wood, Cranswick, Porsche Centre Hull, LSTC Group and BAE Systems; and partner, Northern Powergrid.

Local apprenticeship provider HETA (Humberside Engineering Training Association Ltd) also met students to talk about their apprenticeship opportunities.

As part of Apprenticeship Week, the school also welcomed alumni from major partner IRISNDT to meet Year 13 students to provide insights into the oil and gas industry. The alumni demonstrated how ultrasonic testing is used, as well as highlighting the importance of quality assurance in such a critical sector.

Some of our founding partners including Spencer Group, Siemens Gamesa and Reckitt took part in the week.

 

The week also featured employability skills workshops for Year 10 students from Cranswick and CATCH.

Senior Assistant Principal, Glenn Jenson, said: “A huge thankyou to all our employer partners and alumni for their continued support which is essential for driving our unique employer-led curriculum.

“It was fantastic to welcome our former students back into school and hear more about their achievements since leaving Ron Dearing.

“Having the opportunity to hear from young people who were in their position just a few years ago is both inspirational and motivational to our current students and helps to open their eyes to the vast range of opportunities that are available to them.”