The Salopian Summer 2023

SCHOOL NEWS 17
leadership, resilience, self-motivation,
problem-solving, communication and
mentoring younger members of the
School community. Since 2020, over
250 pupils have benefitted from this
mentoring support. All the students
who have gained this award have
developed skills and competencies
that employers, regardless of their
industry, want. Moreover, these have
been learned using a framework
that is nationally recognised and
often incorporated within employers’
leadership training.
Our digital lead, Henry Exham,
introduced the Microsoft Office
Specialist course in September 2020
as a Thursday afternoon activity. Very
popular among students, it offers
them a fantastic opportunity not only
to develop their digital skills but also
become accredited in IT packages
that many employers utilise. As we
approach its third year of delivery,
those who have obtained these awards
can now demonstrate confidently their
excellence in these areas.
The third aspect of the FRQs is in some
ways for me the most exciting. This will
be delivered in the Summer term of the
Lower Sixth, by which stage students
will be starting to think a little bit more
seriously about their future aspirations
as they approach their final year.
Linked to their personal aspirations,
students will have the opportunity
to choose either to navigate their
way through a work-based project,
offered via a number of high-profile
graduate employers, or to take on a
MOOC (Massive Online Open Course)
linked to a subject they may be
contemplating studying at university.
Both are accessed online, and students
are supported to work independently
through different challenges to help
demonstrate competencies and qualities
that are essential for future success.
So, by the end of their Lower Sixth,
those students who have chosen
MOOC will have studied a range of
courses, from which they will have
developed and accrued a whole host
of desirable skills, to list on either
immediate or future applications. These
students will leave Shrewsbury School
in 2025, and it is worth noting the
‘Top 10 Skills of 2025’ that the World
Economic Forum advised would be
most desired for future workplace
success:
• Analytical thinking and innovation
• Active learning and learning strategies
• Complex problem-solving
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Creativity, originality and initiative
• Leadership and social influence
• Technology use, monitoring and
control
• Technology design and programming
• Resilience, stress tolerance and
flexibility
• Reasoning, problem-solving and
ideation.
Many of these points will be covered
and developed throughout the FRQ
programme, in addition to the wealth of
experiences students are able to enjoy
through the whole person education
offered by the School.
Those who choose to do four A Levels
or an Extended Project Qualification
(EPQ) will still have the opportunity to
take on aspects of the FRQ programme
through the Thursday afternoon
activities programme and will have their
own points of difference through those
selections.
As we cast our mind back to what
it must be like for employers sifting
through vast piles of job applications,
these may prove to be very helpful
indeed…
Chris Wain
Head of Futures