An extra curricular programme at the Bruderhof's school in Kent is giving students a unique opportunity to meet with leading figures in business, enterprise and the charity sector.
"Navigating our World" was launched in September 2019 at the independent Beech Grove School, which is situated within the Bruderhof community in rural Kent.
Since then, 23 students have had lunch with representatives of Save the Children, lawyers, architects and staff at political think tank the Centre for Social Justice.
The Bruderhof is a global Christian community of more than 3,000 people who renounce private property and share everything in common.
The school scheme has already won the praise of Ofsted, which said in its most recent inspection report: "The school's extra-curricular offer is a great strength and helps prepare pupils for their next steps in education, employment or training. Careers advice and work experience are built into this. Pupils' health and mental well-being are given a high priority."
Development Director from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Alex Le Vey said, "Providing students with the opportunity to meet professionals across a variety of sectors seems like an invaluable experience that is also relatively easy to facilitate.
"It is something I would have hugely valued the opportunity to do myself when I was at school. I would warmly encourage other schools to follow the Bruderhof's lead and launch similar schemes."
The school's head, Tim Maas said, "With the support of people like Alex, parents and others in the local community, the programme has helped us to equip our students with the skills and confidence to communicate more effectively with people from various sectors, while exposing them to a variety of career choices.
"Students that have had the opportunity to participate in the club have been thrilled with what they have experienced.
"To have Ofsted commend this initiative in our recent inspection report only served to validate the effort we put into it. This is an initiative that could also be rolled out by other schools with minimal effort, which would benefit many more young people."
Beech Grove students Danny Maendel and Janice Fischli welcomed the opportunity to engage in conversation with community leaders.
"Many of us would benefit from chances to improve our conversational skills outside our peer group and engage in conversation with someone much older than us about unfamiliar topics," said Danny, who met Le Vey from the CSJ.
Janice, who met staff from Save the Children, agreed, saying: "I found the conversations interesting and informative and learnt a lot from them.
"This trip was a chance for me to be more independent and learn from people who have chosen work that really makes a difference in children's lives. It's making me think about how I want to use my life."
