Raising aspirations for our young people

Students were given talks about possible career paths and had the opportunity to hear from a variety of speakers. Sabba Asif and Xavier Cumberbatch from the Central Service Team spoke to Year 10 students about their career journeys so far. The students were keen to hear how they had developed their careers so far.

Sabba, who is currently Senior Finance Officer at North Star Community Trust, started her journey with the Trust as an 18-year-old apprentice studying Level 3 Business Administration.

She advised that with hard work ‘you will achieve your dreams and goals and make them a reality. The only person who can stop you, is yourself so keep trying. Keep pushing yourself to achieve the best and you will be given many opportunities, which you only ever thought you could imagine’.

Sabba also offered useful employability tips. She encouraged students to hone effective communication skills, maintain a level of curiosity and have a positive attitude towards learning

Following this, students heard from Business Management Apprentice, Xavier Cumberbatch, who joined North Star Community Trust after applying for a Marketing role, and later becoming a Business Management Apprentice.

He took students on a journey, highlighting various stages, from achieving all his GCSE’s, to performing poorly in 6th Form and eventually travelling to Tanzania to teach English and Maths. 

As an apprentice, Xavier spent some time working in the Marketing and the HR departments. He has since progressed to Business Management, working closely with the CEO and other senior leaders. 

Xavier, who is currently in his third year of his Business Management Degree, advised students not to be disheartened by challenging times in their lives. Xavier was able to achieve great successes with the Trust by ‘recovering from a failure and not giving up’ after 6th Form, and encouraged students to persevere through hard times.