Collaborative link between Mourant and Hautlieu offers students new opportunities

07/11/2005

Mourant has teamed up with Hautlieu School to offer sixth form students an extended placement work scheme aimed at providing new breadth to the opportunities on offer to Jersey students.

The collaborative link between the business and the school has been established in anticipation of Jersey’s response to the Tomlinson Report and the UK government’s recommendations in a white paper on the education and skills of 14-19 year olds published in February this year.

The UK government white paper published in February is based on the Tomlinson enquiry into the A level system and which addressed issues including low post-16 participation and achievement, a fragmented system of vocational qualifications and concerns regarding the extent to which students develop generic skills, knowledge, and personal attributes.

Paul Wallace-Sims, Hautlieu School’s curriculum co-ordinator and head of Year 12, said: ’We need to be flexible in adapting to change and implementing new strategies to best suit the needs of our school leavers, industry and society as a whole. In developing a link with Mourant we have sourced alternative experiences for students, providing breadth as an addition to traditional academic routes.’

Mourant’s Director of HR John Renz said: ’Our headquarters are in Jersey and we are confident of continued growth in the island. But we know that our future success in any location depends on the strength of the young people who choose to work with us.’

Already known for sponsoring the IoD work shadow scheme and for offering substantial experience to students from any Island school planning or currently studying law, Mourant is now offering real-world experience in three areas of its business support team - information technology, marketing and finance - to up to six Year 12 students at Hautlieu each year.

The students, who start their placements during autumn half term this month, will be paid as trainees.

’They will have the chance to try things out, share and learn, all in a supportive environment where they will have a mentor,’ said Mr Renz. ’We hope the placements will help students in their decision to either further their education or take a technical or professional qualification.’

He added: ’Mourant has offices in the Channel Islands and the UK and we are aware that significant challenges lie ahead. The changing context of work and society and the need for the British Isles to be economically competitive place increasing demands on the knowledge and skills of the population. This is no less so in Jersey and it is clear that the Island’s continued prosperity, along with that of the UK, relies on young people leaving full time education with the ability to develop and learn high level skills, as the UK government’s white paper has suggested.’

He added that for Mourant, the scheme helps boost the company’s recruitment. It’s a way for the business to better determine what it is looking for from students as Mourant values home grown talent, whether young people have been to university or not.

With fierce competition to study some subjects at degree level, such as law, both Mourant and Hautlieu hope that this scheme will contribute to students’ higher education opportunities. For school leavers choosing to stay in the Island, the scheme could equally provide a first step on the career ladder.

Mourant recruits both school leavers and returning graduates and while there’s no guarantee that their placement will become a long-term option, Mourant has given many students on its law placement scheme a permanent contract on graduation.