CASE STUDY
THE PROJECT
Building on last year’s successful pilot project for Year 11
students at Lancing Alternative Provision (AP) Centre, Howie Cobby of Howie & Co, taught 25 Year 11 AP students barista art, branding, and business skills. The 5 workshops were all linked to employability skills and curriculum teaching. All sessions culminated in a public sale to boost students’ customer service skills.
Aims: to build student confidence, raise student aspirations, develop employability skills, and bolster CVs to help students access work experience and work.
Benchmarks met: BM4 (branding and flyer writing = Art and English / Product pricing = Maths) / BM5 (working with a local employer) / BM6 (Howie’s horse box is a workplace)
OUTCOMES
After each workshop, Howie returned to the APs to give 1-1
feedback to all participating students, with a focus on
positive achievements and possible next steps like work
experience or part time work.
- 19 students across 4 APs (Lancing, Littlehampton, Crawley and Burgess Hill) engaged with 5-day workshops.
- 6 students at the Lynchet Close, Central Hub Brighton engaged with a 3-day workshop.
“This workshop equipped our students with employability skills that will stay with them for a lifetime. Students learnt teamwork, problem-solving and communication skills. It was a great way to engage them.”
Cordelia Millington, Careers Lead, Central Hub Brighton
Specific student outcomes:
- A student from Crawley AP used her reference from Howie to secure a café job.
- A Lancing student has been employed by Howie for weekend and event work.
- One Crawley student had a full week of attendance for the first time in a year.
IMPACT
“It was fantastic to see how Howie supports young people, giving them real-world experience in marketing, graphic design, business skills, customer service and more.”
Alison Griffiths
MP for Bognor and Littlehampton
Educator Feedback
“The students’ skills, confidence and resilience really improved during the week.”
Lancing AP Head of Centre
