On Friday 1 February Michelmores welcomed twenty students from Darrick Wood Junior School into the London office for the day. The event was run in conjunction with Enabling Enterprise, a not-for-profit social enterprise with the mission to equip young people with the skills, experiences and aspirations they need to succeed in life. Enabling Enterprise are leading the Skills Builder Partnership and focus on developing skills such as presenting, problem solving, leadership and teamwork.
During the day the students undertook a tour of the office. On the tour they met people from different legal and business support teams and had the opportunity to interview them and find out what their roles entail and how they utilised key skills day to day. Working in teams, the students then started working on two pretend court cases, either as the defence or prosecution. With the help of the Michelmores volunteers, the students identified the best arguments, analysed evidence and listened to witness statements as they prepared to go to trial. At the close of the day, the students presented their evidence to a judge and jury, made up of the Michelmores volunteers. The judge and jury made a decision regarding the outcome of each case.
Gabby Essame, Human Resources BP commented:
“I think the adults enjoyed the day as much as the students! It was great to see their confidence grow as the day went on and they demonstrated some excellent workplace skills, such as team building and problem solving.”
One of the teachers from Darrick Wood Junior School said of the day:
“It is great to bring them on these experiences. They are really working hard to improve their skills and it’s so exciting for them!”
A student from Darrick Wood Junior School said:
“I would like to be a lawyer as I really like solving problems and helping other people to solve them too.”