Cranford Review 2021

# T - LEVELS
“One of our key initiatives this year
which focuses on our local community
in Hounslow is the partnership
with Cranford Community College.
Cranford is one of only around 50
education settings in the UK to be
delivering Digital T-Levels. We
identified this as an excellent new
pathway for young people to move into
technology industries and way for us
to get involved and develop our home
grown talent while increasing our
commitment to social value and the
local community. In September 2020
our team joined the launch at Cranford
with Paul Scully, MP and Minister
for London to look at the impact of
introducing the Digital T Levels in our
local community and London.
Since then we have worked with
Cranford to create suitable placements
for their students and support their
learning journey. Three students finish
their first work placement with us
today and this has been so successful
that one of the students will actually
be staying on with us for her first ever
summer job!
By working with Cranford and
the students, Ajar Technology has
been able to give back to our local
community and disadvantaged young
people in our borough, develop new
talent and hopefully future proof our
business with young people interested
in our industry. It has also allowed our
teams to develop their mentoring skills
by working with these young people.
As we all work to recover and
regenerate workforces across our
borough, this work with Cranford is
pivotal in providing opportunities
for the young people in our area. I’d
encourage more local businesses to get
involved and support Cranford with
work placements where they can”.
T Levels
Placement Interviews
In
class students have
spent all year learning
about the digital curriculum
and the knowledge gained
prepared them for their industry
placements. Students in the
class were commencing their
first four-week placement in
June but first they needed to
work for their place. Students
took part in a rigorous
recruitment process which
involved applications, C.V.s
and interviews. They were
very nervous however with
preparation and determination
they did themselves and
everyone proud. It was lovely
to see how they were very
supportive of each other
throughout the process. Tara McLaughlin, Bid Manager at Ajar
Technology, and Ben Henderson from St Mary’s University
conducted the interviews as both these organisations were
going to be offering the placements. The students came suited
and booted and conducted themselves very professionally
throughout the process.
Sukhjeet Kudhail
(Head of IT and Computing Department)
“Thank you all for coming along
to the interviews on Monday.
You did a great job of presenting
yourselves and representing
your school in a mature and
professional manner, you should
be very proud! From meeting
you it is clear to see that you
all have a great future in digital
industry and being the first
group to take the Digital T-Level
course, you really have taken on
the challenges of the past year,
approached your learning in a
positive way and excelled. I wish
you all the best as you continue
with the course, and look forward
to hearing how you get on with
your placements either at Ajar
Technology or other companies
working with Cranford.”
Tara McLaughlin
(Ajar Technology)
Tara McLaughlin (Ajar Technology)
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