Brooke Weston is working together with education charity Future First to build a network of former students. Engaging an Alumni Network helps to stay in touch with former students, and can be of mutual benefit in supporting with careers, work experience and fund raising.
Research has shown that access to relevant and relatable role models can transform a young person’s confidence, motivation and skills with former students the perfect people for this, having grown up in the same community and learnt in the same classrooms, they can show students that ‘people like me’ do succeed.
Katie Isbell, Regional Lead of Future First, said ‘We have worked with many schools across the country and have achieved some amazing results. One of my favourite examples is of Jake, a former student who struggled with dyslexia whilst at school, who returned to speak to a group of students trying to overcome their own battles with dyslexia. Jake now owns a successful firm of architects and his message of not letting barriers get in the way of what you want to do, or who you want to be, was incredibly inspiring. We want young people to believe if these former students can do it then they can as well. It’s about raising aspirations and motivating students to work harder, helping to bring the classroom to life and relating subjects to the world of work.’
Former Brooke Weston student Gavin Lambert, who left in 2005, said ‘I think the Alumni Network is a fantastic idea. Since leaving Brooke Weston I’ve worked in London and Yorkshire in the political field. I worked for the Labour Party and then moved to work for Yvette Cooper MP, the former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament. I’m Chief of Staff to Yvette which means I manage a team of people, make sure everyone knows what they are doing and that Yvette can do the job she was elected to in the best possible way. I would say to current students that there’s no substitute for hard work. If you put the work in there’s almost nothing that you can’t achieve, whether that’s academically, in your career or in your family life.’
We hope that as many former students as possible will consider signing up to ‘give back’ in a variety of ways, by offering time, experience and insight to our current students. If you are a former student or know any former students please take the time to click on the link below to join.