A partnership was launched at the Ipswich Academy school aimed at inspiring young people to enter the health and social care profession.
The collaboration is between the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), Suffolk New College and the Paradigm Trust.
Around 100 guests attended an event at Ipswich Academy (which is part of the Paradigm Trust), where a new mock hospital ward was unveiled thanks to a £20k investment from the NHS.
The school will now work with Suffolk New College and ESNEFT to develop a curriculum that aims to encourage more local talent to work in the health sector.
Ipswich Academy hadn’t taught health and social courses for eight years, but the project has started well and seen around 50 youngsters choose this pathway as one of their GCSE options in 2025.
Victoria Addis is a careers lead working for the Paradigm Trust at Ipswich Academy. Victoria said, “This has been a year-long collaboration to introduce health and social care into our curriculum. It’s taken generous funding, lots of support and the launch was a celebration of all of this.
“There is a huge need for more people to go into health and social care industries, and this project is helping raise aspirations of our students to give them the belief that they can succeed in this sector.”
Karin Shimmon is a Talent for Care Apprenticeship Facilitator for ESNEFT. Karin said: “We wanted to invest in local provision and encourage youngsters to become a new generation of health and social care workers.
“We believe if you can see it, you can be it, and this investment and the partnership with the school and college will help bring exciting careers in health and social care to life.”