Pride of Place

The Sheffield Pride of Place (PoP), established by Business in the Community, is a business-led forum connecting the private, public and voluntary sectors in Sheffield, to create economic opportunity, address societal issues and deliver long-term transformative change in our communities.

The Pride of Place members; Business in the Community, Aviva, Henry Boot, Mott Macdonald, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, Sheffield City Council, Voluntary Action Sheffield, NHS Integrated care partnership, and SADACCA are asking us all to join them in helping to inspire the next generation in schools, colleges, and other educational settings across Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council's See it Be it in Sheffield campaign brings to life the world of work for young people in Sheffield and helps to raise aspirations and improve their life chances. They work with schools, colleges, and other educational organisations, helping to link them with local employers and businesses to provide meaningful employer encounters and experiences of the workplace.

They work with employers and businesses to help broker and develop careers education activities, and provide strategic support and employer volunteers to schools, colleges, and other education providers.

They are jointly funded by the South Yorkshire Careers Hub (part of the Careers and Enterprise Company) and Sheffield City Council to provide strategic support to schools and colleges to help them meet the Gatsby Benchmarks.  They are also partnered with Sheffield Business Together to provide extra support to special schools and those in areas of disadvantage or low social mobility.

We are involved in this campaign because it is proven that four or more employer encounters can significantly improve the life choices and career chances for our young people. 

An "employer encounter" is a chance for employers to tell people about the world of work, how to access it and how to thrive in it.  Ultimately,  these interactions help individuals to help strengthen the link between education and employment, driving a more inclusive and productive Sheffield. 

In a tight labour market, engagement with young people provides us with an opportunity to recruit and develop local talent and grow our brand profile, whilst raising the attainment, aspiration, and work-readiness of our young people.

See it Be it aims to create an enterprise pipeline from primary to post 16 and increase employer engagement in schools and colleges by:

• Providing a minimum of 4 employer encounters to every child in the city in recognition that this can help to improve life chances and careers choices and contributes to increased productivity in our local economy.

• Creating an offer to primary schools, as part of the Start Small Dream Big programme, to broaden horizons, raise aspirations and challenge future-limiting stereotypes, ensuring children keep an open mind about the world of work as they move through education.

• In partnership with Pride of Place, providing an ehnanced level of support to 25 secondary schools in areas of deprivation and low social mobility, ensuring every young person in these schools has at least one meaningful encounter with an employer a year.

• Supporting the development of technical and vocational pathways for young people aged 16-18.

• Extending support to young people who are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), or at risk of becoming NEET.

The 25 secondary schools that Pride of Place and See It Be It are collaboaring with to provide an enhanced offer of support will host launches in their settings. These will be a great opportunity to meet students, staff and local businesses around the schools, to find out more about the campaign and what it means to them.   Our first event took place at Meadowhead School in April 2024, you can read more about this here.

Our 25 Pride of Place schools have been identified to be in areas of high deprivation and low social mobility or are one of our many brilliant special or alternative provision schools/settings.  

We also aim to offer enhanced support to young people in the city who are in care or care experienced - this is in recognition of our responsibilities towards community parenting for this important group.

There will be a wide range of opportunities available across a variety of settings, so whether you or anyone within your organisation can spare half an hour or half a day, there is something so all of us can get involved.  Live vacancies are advertised on the See It Be It portal.

There are many different ways you can add meaningful employer encounters to a young persons life. Examples of employer encounters in schools and colleges include:

• Mock Interviews

• Careers Talks

• Workplace Visits

• Mentoring

• Skills Workshops

• Enterprise skills

• Lots more!

The team can also work with you to tailor your own activities or deliver an existing offer, targeting skills gaps specific to your sector, or schools / colleges local to your workplace. 

Alternative Provision (18 settings across the city)

Astrea Academy (secondary mainstream)

Becton - Main Site & Kenwood Academy (special school)

Bents Green School (special school)

Chaucer School (secondary mainstream)

Children in Care and Care Leavers (secondary all settings)

Discovery Academy (special school)

Fir Vale Academy (secondary mainstream

Firth Park Academy (secondary mainstream)

Handsworth Grange (secondary mainstream)

Heritage Park Community School (special school)

Hinde House Secondary phase (secondary mainstream)

Holgate Meadows School (special school)

King Edward VII School (secondary mainstream)

Meadowhead School Academy Trust (secondary mainstream)

Newfield School (secondary mainstream)

Oasis Don Valley (secondary mainstream)

Outwood Academy - City (secondary mainstream)

Parkwood Academy (secondary mainstream)

Seven Hills School (special school)

Sheffield Inclusion Centre (pupil referral unit)

Sheffield Park Academy (secondary mainstream)

Sheffield Springs Academy (secondary mainstream)

Stocksbridge (secondary mainstream)

The Birley Academy (secondary mainstream)

Yewlands Academy (secondary mainstream)

Read the published articles on the Pride of Place - See It Be It Campaign:

• UnLTD - Today’s young people are tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.

• The Yorkshire Post - Henry Boot's commitment to helping young people of Sheffield build careers: Tim Roberts

• Businesses Unite to Inspire Next Generation - The Sheffield Star, MSN, Business Link