Former pupils return to school to inspire the next generation

Susie Short, Czarina Tiley, Hayley Ponsford, Nathan Day and Eddie Short returned to their old stomping ground at Warden Park School, Haywards Heath, to chat to students about careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Their visit was part of Back to School Week, which was run by education charity Future First.

Czarina, who owns an IT company, said: “It’s fantastic how Warden Park and Future First allow students to speak to alumni in STEM careers.

“It’s one thing studying these subjects in school, but speaking to people in jobs really helps to inform their choices.”

A spokesman for Future First said comprehensive school students were much less likely to think people who went to their school had been very successful compared with those who had attended private schools.

The Warden Park students soon learned that was not the case. Aside from Czarina, Susie now works as a GP, Hayley as a registrar in child and adolescent mental health, Nathan is a physics student and Eddie an engineer.

Year 9 student William, said: “Today was really interesting. I’ll definitely take triple science at GCSE now and I also want to do sociology because I’ve realised you need to do what you love.”

Ryma, also of Year 9, said: “My favourite former student was Czarina, because she is so driven and doesn’t back down to gender stereotypes.”

Sarah Hamilton, Warden Park’s student futures manager, said: “It’s invaluable to have people from industry talk to our students about their careers and it’s even more powerful when it’s alumni that come in to share their experiences since leaving school.”

Christine Gilbert, Future First’s executive chairman and former Ofsted chief inspector, said there was a huge need to support state educated students make the transition from school to work and to drive more ambitious thinking about their expectations of work in the modern world.

She added: “Every state school student should have the opportunity to succeed in life after school, regardless of their background.

“Many schools are already harnessing the skills and experience of alumni as role models who inspire and motivate current students.

“If students see people like them have succeeded they are more likely to believe they can too. They work harder and have higher expectations of success. We want more schools to see the benefits of using their alumni as a powerful resource.”

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