We're having a Big Education Conversation, are you?

We've partnered up with Big Education Conversation, in support of their national campaign to get people talking about what education is really for, and how it should change for the future.

For us, giving young people the space and time to share their views is incredibly important. Indeed, supporting the next generation, to ensure that they can reach their personal potential, is at the heart of what we do at Yes Futures.

We were lucky enough to catch up with student Lucinda who took part in our Rising Futures programme last year. After an incredibly busy year, Lucinda has just completed her GCSEs at The Langley Academy in Slough.

Find out more about Lucinda's experience of our programme and what she would change about education, if she were given the chance...

1. Could you tell us a little bit about your personal experience of the Rising Futures

programme?

The Rising Futures experience taught me one important thing that I now use on a

day-to-day basis. It taught me how to set small and achievable goals, which now

help me to be more productive and allow me to focus.

I loved the trips that Yes Futures offered, as they taught me many different things as well as improving my confidence. Rising Futures was a really fun experience, and I would for sure do it again.

2. How did the skills you developed during the Rising Futures programme benefit

your school life, particularly during the pandemic?

The skills I developed through the Rising Futures programme have helped me

improve my productivity and my ability to focus, and during the pandemic both were necessary. The pandemic affected my motivation negatively but through using small goals I was able to remain productive and complete all my schoolwork.

3. Now that you’ve finished school, how do you think the programme has prepared

you for the future?

The programme has helped me structure my time effectively and I think it has

prepared me for Sixth Form and university. I also think that the Rising Futures programme

improved the way I revise and has therefore improved my overall grades.

As part of the programme we had to go to KPMG where we learnt a lot about the

world of work, something that usually does not get covered much in school which

I think was very beneficial.

4. If you were given the chance to change one thing in education, what would it be?

If I were to change one thing in education, it would be the exams and the content. As

a student who had their GCSEs as CAGs (grades calculated by teachers) I can say that it is a lot better and reduces the stress upon students. Students are given grades based on their class exams and are given the opportunity to improve on their grades. I think GCSEs and A-levels being done as one or two exams after the course is unfair and brings a lot of stress on students as they have to remember a lot of content. I think it is not representative of the world of work in the future. These exams create a false impression and make students think that they need to know everything and if they don’t they will fail in life.

What do you think? Carry on the conversation! There's still time to ask the big questions about education.

To find out more about our programmes, and how you can get involved, please visit our School Programmes page.