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Our new series ‘Courses Up Close’ looks more in-depth at some of the wide variety of programmes, courses and bootcamps that we offer at Unloc. One of our favourite courses to deliver is our Unloc Leadership Academy. Available to Secondary Schools and Further Education, the Unloc Leadership Academy is a fun and dynamic initiative to incubate passionate young leaders, support their personal development, and channel their energy into tackling the kinds of social issues faced by young people in their school, college or community.
Young people participating will take part in a core leadership and social action training programme at the beginning of their time at the Academy before specialising in a social issue they would like to address. This could be from a wide range of topics which impact their everyday lives such as Climate Change, Equal Rights, Politics, Homelessness or Food Poverty (for example).
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It’s a brilliant opportunity to get young changemakers thinking critically about the world around them, the issues which impact them and their communities, and to challenge them to consider how they can pro-actively do something to help or improve that problem.
Typically this leads to some fantastic and engaging discussions, peer on peer debates and challenging each other’s views and perceptions – which really grow young people’s confidence and encourages them to speak their truth and feel empowered to do something on a topic they feel strongly about.
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During the course students will learn a wide range of skills including:
- Problem Solving
- Questioning
- Goal Setting and Action Planning
- Reflecting and Reviewing
- Making and Taking Decisions
- Managing Stress and Change
- Positive Self Esteem
- Communication
- Networking
- Public Speaking
- Negotiation
- Civic Engagement
- Teamworking
- Delegation
- Managing Relationships
Academy participants will then deliver social action projects (usually peer-led presentations) of their own design, focusing on one the priorities they’ve chosen. Often this can include multi-media approaches such as film and video, photography, designing a campaign, slideshow, poster or fundraising.
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Our Co-Founder and Chief Executive Hayden Taylor said:
“Working with young people every day, we know better than many just how engaged and passionate this generation is about social issues, and the problems that many in society face. I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before – young people so engaged with politics and social issues, but if they’ve never had the opportunity to tackle those topics, to learn how to be a leader, or be confident in their own decisons – many don’t understand what they can do personally do to make a tangible difference.”
“Our Leadership Academy is just that opportunity, allowing young people to feel comfortable, confident and empowered to talk about the things that matter the most to them, then working together, utilising the decision making, speaking and communicating skills, and using their new leadership abilities to create something which demonstrate their planning, communicating and creativity to tackle their chosen problem.
“The reaction we get from young people during the academy is always so fantastic to experience, you can see them come alive with ideas and strategies, their minds ticking over in the moment, and the excitement bursting out of them – it’s such a dynamic introduction to Leadership and benefits them enormously in their future.”
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By the end of our Leadership Academy participants will have:
- Functional knowledge around project planning, facilitation and communication.
- The personal confidence, skills and qualities for leadership and employability more broadly.
- Been provided with a creative outlet for school improvement ideas.
- Connected with external role models.
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By the end of the programme, participants will have constructed…
- A plan for a school/college improvement idea.
- A presentation explaining their idea.
Whether your students have leadership experience already, or are completely new to the concept of leadership, our Leadership Academy will provide an empowering experience for all.
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“We were looking for a dynamic and contemporary leadership programme for our Year 13 Prefects and Unloc more than delivered. They were an absolute pleasure to work with. Their excellent organisation, strong communication and willingness to adapt the course to the needs of our pupils was very impressive indeed. We will certainly be working with Unloc again.”
Luke Rees, Deputy Head, Portsmouth Grammar School
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Interested in a Leadership Academy for your students or young people?
Get in touch for more information and a no obligation chat on how we can help.
Giveus a call us on: 02394 008 180
Or email us at [email protected]
