Paul Martin and Excelsior Academy are inextricably linked – the former pupil started out on a ten-week long work placement and three years later is employed as an ICT Support Worker.
The 20-year-old is a real homegrown success story.
Paul attended Excelsior for four years gaining A to C grade passes in GCSE subjects including Maths, English Language and English Literature, Science and Business Studies.
He contacted the academy after leaving the Sixth Form College about a work placement and seized the opportunity he was given with both hands.
His initial ten-week work placement was extended to the end of the academic year and staff were so impressed by Paul that he was soon offered a full-time job.
In his role as an ICT Support Worker at Excelsior, he maintains the academy’s IT equipment – which could mean anything from changing passwords and repairing laptops, to creating policies set on computers and resolving issues with IT servers.
“I think it is an amazing feature of the school that they are giving young people such as myself a chance in a real-world work environment at a time when it is hard to gain experience,” said Paul.
“The best elements of my job at Excelsior are the staff and students within the academy and the experience and knowledge I gain from the other members of the IT team. The staff are brilliant – from a student point of view I always wondered about what work they actually do for the students.
“Whereas now as a colleague I see first-hand the effort and dedication that the staff have for giving the students the best chance in life.”