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On Friday 8th July we ran a Leadership Day for almost 90 Year 12 students at St Albans High School for Girls. This beautiful school in Hertfordshire has a proud history of student leadership, with alumni having previously taken part in the McKinsey Leadership Academy and Graduate programme. This was the first time Future Foundations programmes have been delivered at the school, which was recently crowned the Sunday Times Independent School of the Year and we were excited for the opportunity to impact so many of their young people in one day.
Our experienced team of facilitators for the day were Chloe Cousins, Amrit Lohia, Jason Moore and Henderson Murray. The coaches were led by Owen Bailey as Course Director.

‘Motivating and insightful and makes some aspects of the future slightly less daunting , it was great’

‘Useful day of skills and helpful lessons you can’t learn in class or outside’

‘Helped me learn more about myself and helped me to become a more confident person’

‘I loved the mix between games and laughing and it kept me captivated me the whole way through’

‘A good lesson in repairing confidence in yourself and going onto fulfil your potential next year.’

‘It was very helpful in reinforcing leadership ideas and encouraged me to pursue my aims and take more risks’

‘Really comfortable and energised - made to feel equal and important rather than talked at’

The aims of the Leadership day was to:

  • Encourage students to take personal responsibility for their own learning, take academic and personal opportunities and highlight the benefits of doing so.
  • Help students identify life goals and work back through life stages that will take them there; challenging them to identify current achievement needed for future success and their part in it.
  • Challenge students to find innovative solutions to school and local issues establishing a culture of creative, engaged and proactive students at STAHS.
  • Build the students’ confidence, initiative, teamwork, pro-activity and commitment towards their vision through working together on team building tasks.
  • Special topics sessions encouraging students to broaden their perspectives, gain new skills and consider leadership roles and projects inside school.
  • Provide opportunity for students put their leadership skills into practice by supporting Future Foundations training programmes for the lower school next academic year.

Pursue your passions

100%

Participants feel inspired to achieve their full potential

99%

Participants feel excited and energised about their future

76%

The day concluded with a 30 Day Challenge as the girls were asked to set themselves a SMART goal for the next month and commit to a regular action to get themselves where they want to go. The girls watched a TED talk given by Matt Cutts as inspiration for the 30 Day Challenge, in his talk Matt espouses the idea that you can anything for 30 days and that setting short, time-framed goals makes the challenge more concrete, and time you spend taking these challenges more meaningful.

Students from St Albans High School for Girls have embarked on a wide range of personal challenges, each unique to their own journey and development. These range from committing to ‘writing down what I have done on a daily basis, in order to see what I actually do every day so I don’t feel so aimless in life and understand my productivity better’ to ‘keeping my bedroom tidy to reduce stress, boost relaxation and enable me to feel more in control’. Some students have challenged themselves to take one photo every day to document and record the adventures they have over the course of a month. The girls are currently half way through their 30 Day Challenge, receiving regular messages of support and motivation from Future Foundations to help them to achieve their goals. We wish you luck and look forward to seeing those photos!

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Henderson Murray

Coach

‘I really enjoyed coaching at St Albans High School for Girls. I learned from listening & sharing with my fellow coaches, was inspired by the energy and delivery of our Course Director Owen and the engagement of the girls was brilliant. Looking over their feedback about us working together was humbling- I love doing what I do.’