News
Whitehill Hub Pupils Gain Work Experience With Car Valet Company
Tue 6th June 2023
Pupils from our Hub In The Community school, Whitehill Secondary, recently made the trip across the city to Ibrox to complete one of their weekly car valeting sessions. The pupils are given the chance to clean cars while learning important skills outside the traditional learning environment.
Six pupils from Whitehill were tasked with cleaning four cars at the stadium and one participant, Kyle, was delighted to be involved: “Doing the valeting gives me confidence and helps me understand how to work in a team better but it also helps teach? how to clean things properly. Having other people here from the school helps too because it helps settle you in and you can still have a laugh with them but learn things at the same time.”
Like all Hub In the Community schools, Whitehill Secondary has a dedicated Hub Officer from the Rangers Charity Foundation based in the school, in Jamie McMillan. The Community Hub Officer role requires the member of staff to mentor vulnerable pupils in relation to their school attainment, deliver class projects, support transitions from primary to secondary school and also be a universal support within the school.
Speaking on the support the pupils get from Jamie, Kyle said: “Jamie is absolutely brilliant with us all. He’s always making sure we’re all okay and making sure we’re doing the right thing and he’s a massive help.”
Jamie went on to explain the benefits that pupils get from participating in the valeting scheme and the Hub In The Community programme. He said: “The kids that are here today maybe don’t engage as well at school but through coming here they can learn practical skills that will help them when the time comes for them to start working. It’s really important that everybody gets a fair shot in life and through Hub in the Community we try to level the playing field.
“These pupils have come on leaps and bounds since starting and they’re now in a position to start taking a leadership role with other kids that will be coming on board so it just shows that doing activities like this can really boost confidence and help pupils learn about themselves.”
The car valeting experience is provided by Car Valeting Glasgow and business owner James Burns is delighted to be providing pupils with hands-on experience. He said: “The difference in these pupils from when they first started to now is unbelievable. They love cleaning the cars but at the same time they are also learning work skills that will last them through life.
“One of the key skills they have learned is having that attention to detail and when they leave school and start looking for work that’s a really important ability to have in any line of work.”
In partnership with Govan High School, the innovative Hub In The Community programme was rolled out in January 2018 based on a model delivered within the Manchester United Foundation.
The programme was so successful that two other schools followed suit in 2020; Knightswood Secondary and Drumchapel High School. In 2022, Whitehill Secondary School became the newest Hub School. The Foundation’s four dedicated Community Hub Officers are based in each school and work closely with teachers to provide mentorship and support to pupils who need it.
For more information on our Hub In The Community Programme, click here or contact Jamie Duncanson via email on JamieDuncanson@Rangers.co.uk
