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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Unloc’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Hayden Taylor
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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.
As a new term begins there’s never been a better time to encourage the young people at your school or college to be their own boss one day, and empower them to become young entrepreneurs.
As the world, and technology changes, the job market will rapidly alter within the next decade. Providing young people with the confidence, ideas and passion to think for themselves and shape their own future is the best gift we can give them.
Our Enterprise Short Course is a practical, creative and structured programme that develops the entrepreneurial mindset and skills of young people.
Our programme is built by former young entrepreneurs and experts, recognising the important lessons and journey they made, and is targeted towards different age groups and level levels.
Available in a variety of formats including 12 week courses or 2-4 day bootcamps depending on your requirements, young people on the programme will explore the key skills and knowledge associated with starting a business, with learning geared towards creating their very own businesses, projects or charity concepts.
They’ll use their creativity and logical thinking to come up with an idea for their own business, then think through how that would logistically work, how it would run, who their customers would be, how they would market it, and how they would make a profit.
By the end of the inspiring programme our ‘apprentice’ participants will have:
Functional knowledge to develop their own enterprise or business (including: business planning, market testing, employment, legal structures & money management)
The personal confidence, skills and qualities for entrepreneurship and employability
Been provided with a creative outlet for entrepreneurial ideas
Connected with external role models, entrepreneurs and business leaders
In order to graduate the programme and receive Unloc’s employer-backed completion certificate, each young person will present their concepts to a panel of school/college and Unloc facilitators.
These will include:
A completed Business Model Canvas
A confident pitch with accompanying visuals
Whether your students need to develop their confidence and employability, or they’ve proactively decided that self-employment is the route for them, the Unloc Enterprise Short Course will provide an inspiring and insightful personal development journey for all.
Could your students or young people be empowered by our Enterprise Short Course?
Get in touch by giving us a call for an informal chat on 02394 008 180.
Or click the ‘Get in touch’ button above. You can also fill out our simple to use webform by clicking here and we’ll come back to you.
There’s no commitment and we’re always happy to talk and see how we can best meet your needs.
It’s a New Year and a new look! Orange is the new black don’t you know! If you haven’t visited our website lately then you haven’t seen our new look, and all that unloc.org.uk now has to offer, with a range of extensive courses, programmes and day events created specifically for young people in schools, community groups and colleges.
Our look for 2022 may be shiny and new, but our educational offer is steadfastly tried and tested, with our expert facilitators providing the very best support to schools, colleges, and our dedicated Changemaker Studios spaces across the country.
If you’re an education professional seeking to deliver the very best for your students then Unloc is here to help. We are a not-for-profit organisation created by young people, for young people, and motivated by the desire to enable others to become changemakers.
We can organise courses around you and your schedule to help you meet your educational needs. Whether it’s Student Forums, Student Voice, Enterprise Courses, Community Programmes, or Social Awareness (to name but a few), we’ve developed engaging and inspiring events and programmes to ignite and inspire your young minds.
We also recognise that in an ever-changing environment due to Covid-19 and it’s variants, that planning ahead can be difficult, that’s why we’ve re-formed our programmes and courses to be available either in-person or digitally, ensuring that no matter the current rules and guidelines, we’re still able to deliver.
Our programmes and courses include
Public Speaking & Debating
Exploring Alternative Career Pathways
Skills Boosting Masterclasses
Leadership Academy Course
Student Union, School Council and Student Governor Training
Work Placement Readiness Programme
Able & Talented/Aim High Programme
Student Voice Audit (for senior leaders)
Independent Learner Voice Conferences
Enterprise Days & Short Courses
Inspirational Guest Speakers
Take a look at the school and college courses we currently offer by clicking here.
How can we help?
To find out more about what we can offer to your school, college or organisation, get in touch by giving us a call for an informal chat on 02394 008 180.
Or click the ‘Get in touch’ button above. You can also fill out our simple to use webform by clicking here and we’ll come back to you.
There’s no commitment and we’re always happy to talk and see how we can help your young people get the very best out of their future.