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DLA Piper has been a corporate partner of Highbury Grove School in North London for more than four years. The school faces many challenges, including students who are from disadvantaged backgrounds. We work to raise aspirations among the young people, giving them confidence to take opportunities that previously may have seemed out of reach. Nearly 100 DLA Piper volunteers work with students across six projects during any given academic year, providing :
- Career Academy Mentoring – face-to-face mentoring for students aged 16-18 and the delivery of monthly ‘Guru Lectures’.
- Work Experience – a student with an interest in the law spends two weeks at our office to get a real insight into working life at a law firm.
- Open House Day – a day of activities at our office for 40 students aged 13-14, aimed at inspiring them and raising their aspirations. For many, this will be their first experience of going into a City office.
- Presenting Yourself Day – helping Year 11 students learn about CV preparation, interview techniques, what employers look for and expectations of working in a business environment.
- E-mentoring – mainly via email but also face-to-face mentoring which supports students in their final year when they are about to take their GCSEs. This is a crucial time when they will be applying for work or college.
- French and Spanish Mentoring – providing GCSE language students with one-to-one support when practising their speaking skills.
There is the potential for 300 students to work with DLA Piper during the academic year and more than 700 hours are recorded annually by our people involved in the projects.
In 2008 all our mentored students went on to further education.