SurreyIDEA, an innovative academy, claims to be the first of its kind in Europe, providing a novel and progressive learning experience that enables students to gain valuable skills in an interactive format free from prohibitive entry requirements solely based on academic qualifications. Now, the school is launching a high-tech programme to engage and inspire a younger demographic.
The new workshop, IDEA in a Day, comes soon after SurreyIDEA opened its doors for the first time in June 2019 and is a creative way to reach individuals through an educational and business set-up, to enhance their engagement with learning. The programme aims to captivate 15–17-year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds from schools, charities and community organisations who will spend a day working on a digital business challenge, performing in a tournament format this autumn.
Andy Adcroft, SurreyIDEA’s Founder, says: ‘SurreyIDEA was launched with the aim of transforming how young people are educated about business, in order to create a new generation of disrupters and entrepreneurs. Our new programme will give young people, especially from hard to reach groups, the chance to see what they are capable of now and the positive impact they could have on their professional life later.
Just as every company now has an on-line presence, it feels like every product or service can also be connected to the internet. The most important thing that will change education, business, the world of work, career opportunities, and lots more is connectedness, and this is a core point throughout the IDEA in a Day programme. After the event, we will visit the schools, charities and organisations and celebrate the work the students have done and build some long-lasting relationships with schools and young people.’
The Disrupters, the students labelled by SurreyIDEA, will be active participants, not spectators sitting in a lecture theatre taking notes. Andy Adcroft believes, they are the entrepreneurial ones that will be leading the digital industry by the hand soon and for many years to come.
The well-considered programme aims to stimulate students and help attendees recognise that their capabilities are more expandable than what they are conditioned to think. The panel of credible experts which includes Gavin Whichello, Visiting Professor and Founder of leading training provider Qube Learning, have confidence that with the right guidance and assistance, they will see individuals and teams driven to succeed, determined not to be defined by their postcode or pre-conceptions of other people.
The faces behind SurreyIDEA are passionate about the fact that they are not an elitist platform closed off to large segments of society and thus further increasing the gap between rich and poor. SurreyIDEA was inspired and developed from Surrey Business School’s highly successful Young Person’s University programme, which has run at the school every July since 2015. The 30-40 Year 12 and 13 students who attend each year are motivated and incredibly entrepreneurial. Many don’t come from traditional university-going backgrounds so are dropping out of the system after A-levels.
However, after a week with Surrey Business School, most go on to apply to university and usually get in.
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