Students take over Lambeth for the day

Lambeth Together partners across health and care services, hosted the Takeover Challenge on 22 November. The day saw local pupils shadow mentors in their jobs for the day. The day, for Year 10s, also featured an afternoon debate focused on climate change and the environment where the young people expressed their views on the action they want to be taken.

Fifty young people took part in the shadowing to find out about working life in health and social care. They shadowed different council staff and councillors, including the Head of Communications to learn about how the council engages with residents. Other students undertook placements at Guy’s and St Thomas’ where 10 students got the chance to extract the DNA from a strawberry. NHS Lambeth CCG also had a team of students who helped advise GP practices across the borough on how to improve their websites for patients and young people.

Among those who took part in the Takeover Challenge was Tahirou Lam, 14, from St Martin-in-the-Fields school who was mentored by Juliet Williams, a careers project manager at the council who works with under-19s.

Tahirou said she would like to pursue a career in business and potentially in corporate law, but was interested in what she’d seen at the council.

She said: “Today’s experience has been amazing and I hope I get another opportunity, much like this one, in the future. What I have learned today is Juliet’s role and the work she does with Careers, Curriculum and Employers, I also gave her five top tips on how employers could attract young people’s attention in school. I now understand what the five career pathways are for young people and why transferable skills are important and how to develop them.

“An interesting fact I learned was what the meaning of an ‘intrepreneur’”

Another student John Heather, 15, from Bishop Thomas Grant School was mentored by Azalea O’Baye-Briggs, a Principal Policy Officer. John said: “I’ve enjoyed the discussions about politics today particularly. I didn’t know that much about the council before today, but this has given me a much wider understanding. It’s very interesting and there’s lots of important work being done here. It could definitely influence my later career choices.”