Sixth Form Business Conference Success paves the way for Industry/School Partnership

Following a highly successful Sixth Form business conference held at the end of the last academic year, The Chase School in Malvern, Worcestershire, and one of the town’s best known companies, Malvern Instruments, are forging permanent links.

A global player in the scientific instruments and materials characterisation market, Malvern Instruments provided speakers for the Sixth Form business conference, an event that was organised by the students themselves and co-ordinated by Business Studies and Economics teacher Chris Bell.

Subsequently, Malvern Instruments’ Engineering Director Rowena Innocent, Divisional Human Resources Manager Wendy Milne-Bennett and Human Resources Officer Emma Platt, met with the students, and with Chris Bell and Head Teacher Kevin Peck, to formalise a working agreement between the company and the school.

“This exciting new agreement will enable our students to receive mentoring, to practice interviews, gain work experience and potentially to benefit from apprenticeships,” said Chris Bell. “We have also invited the Malvern Instruments team to speak at assemblies, deliver general lectures for the Lower Sixth, and provide subject-specific presentations to science students. They will also be providing us with specific support in laboratory design and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS).”

Rowena Innocent is keen that students in all subject areas should benefit from the many different areas of knowledge that Malvern Instruments can offer. “We are of course known throughout the world for our scientific and engineering expertise, but the skills needed to run a multi-national organisation are many. I feel we can help students at every level, bringing real-world experience into their learning, and I’m absolutely delighted to be involved.”