Volvo’s incredible partnership with Daventry Hill School
This partnership is something we are incredibly proud to be a part of, as we work alongside Daventry Hill School to educate young people and help them reach their full potential.
Daventry Hill School students during their first visit with us.
Daventry Hill School is an all age (early years to sixth form) special free school for children and young people in Daventry, and the surrounding area, who have a range of cognition and learning needs. They strive to inspire and empower all learners to achieve their greatest potential, while helping to develop happy and successful adults. Currently only 5% of students with Special Educational needs (SEND) including ADHD, autism, etc enter full time paid employment, but many more have huge enthusiasm and skills that we would all benefit from
Our partnership with DHS started back in 2018 when Stacey Drake (Employability and Careers Leader at Daventry Hill School) was put in touch with Kevin Meeks (Head of Customer Care at Volvo). Stacey was determined to create a local business community to support learners into employment and help employers become more disability confident – and luckily, Kevin was the perfect person to help her achieve her goal.
An insights workshop, held at the Volvo training and development centre in Daventry, was our first event together, giving our employees the opportunity to meet the students from DHS. The workshop was a first for both parties, but similar to everything that has happened to date, it was a roaring success. For many students, this was their first time stepping into a place of work and the workshop allowed for them to unlock a sense of passion and excitement towards their futures.
Since the workshop, our relationship with DHS has continued to prosper. Learners have had the opportunity of receiving mentoring and interviewing experience from Volvo staff, part-took in various workshops and assisted in developing footage with our production team to highlight the work taking place at DHS.
“The fact that only 5% of students from SEND schools find full time work after they finish school is shocking. I’m passionate about finding the right opportunities for these students, by giving them the chance to see what we do and listening to their perspectives so that we can carve out the right roles for them in the future. I’m totally convinced that if we do that, it’ll benefit both them and us. In addition to the business benefits, our involvement in the school’s activities like their prom, has been so motivating for us all. It feels like we’re all part of the same family.” - Kevin
Throughout our partnership, there have been so many memorable experiences we’ve had the honour of being involved in. We have had the privilege of being a part of the school’s open days – welcoming new students and helping to build their excitement towards learning about key employability skills and further developing their social skills. Earlier this year, six of us personally escorted the DHS students to their prom in the Volvo Car UK heritage fleet.
Our company has been fortunate enough to have had several learners join us for work placements over the years. DHS’s first student joined us for an open day in 2018 and is now our biggest fan! Harry, now at the age of 16, has previously been a part of many engagements with us and is currently working at our training and development centre after school and during the holidays. With a newfound motivation, Harry now has the confidence to step outside of his comfort zone and focus on what he wants to do with his future. He hopes to one day go on and work as an apprentice with us, and we couldn’t be more excited for him.
Volvo staff members on their way to the prom in the Volvo Car UK heritage <a href="https://www.volvocars.com/uk/business/fleet"> fleet</a>.
During our time together, we have worked to not only support the students at Daventry Hill School, but also support their staff. Kevin has delivered engaging workshops for the school’s leadership team, where he has helped them to become more confident by developing their corporate skills, in areas such as presenting. These skills have already assisted the team when presenting to Ofsted and other organisations they have reached out to. Volvo staff members have also had the opportunity to grow since the beginning of our partnership, with DHS helping them to become more disability confident.
Stacey Drake has commented, “We are so grateful to Volvo for all the support we receive. Volvo was the first partnership we set up with a local organisation, and thanks to Volvo, you have started the trend and we are now being approached by other organisations, which is fantastic to allow our learners to gain real-life insight into a variety of different sectors. We are beyond grateful to Kevin for his loyalty and commitment to us.
Thanks to Volvo, students have been supported with meeting new people, gaining a greater insight into the motor industry, how to communicate and interview effectively, develop confidence and presenting skills. We are so proud of our partnership with Volvo and very excited to see what the future brings. It is so refreshing, working with a company that truly would like to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Thank you for helping us work towards the goal of increasing the shocking 5% statistic. Volvo, you help us to celebrate our differences as strengths.”
This partnership has highlighted not only what businesses can do for education, but what education can do for businesses. A special thanks goes out to Stacey, without whom this partnership would never have been possible. The students at Daventry Hill School are lucky to have such a passionate Career Lead to look up to. And Kevin, who has taken the time to understand DHS and why they do what they do – your devotion to this partnership has been monumental and we are extremely pleased to have employees who are as pro-active as you are.
For more information on Daventry Hill School, you can visit their website here.
