michelle.hogan@ownfutures.co.uk
Testimonials
Hollingwood Primary School
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
In September, we were lucky enough to welcome Own Futures into school to complete a World of Work Day. Children from reception to year 6 took part. They absolutely loved it, as did the adults!
Michelle was super organised and kept in touch right up until the day to make sure we were prepared for it. Nothing was too much trouble for Michelle and she made sure that the day was bespoke and relevant to our children. The volunteers that came to talk to our children were engaging, informative and fun. One child said that the best part of the day was, "I have learnt that I can be whatever I want to be in life." It was a great fun way to inspire our children and open their minds to the many possibilities that they have.
I would gladly work with Michelle again and really hope we can in the near future.
Becky Philpott, Year 5 teacher, Hollingwood Primary.
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
Michelle planned and delivered our very first World of Work days, organising activities and visitors for children in Reception to Year 6.
Visitors delivered workshops which were well planned and adapted to the different year groups, engaging all of the children.
We would highly recommend Michelle when organising any careers event, we have worked with her previously and have always received an excellent service, with fantastic feedback from our children and staff. Thank you!
Lindsay Lomas - Headteacher
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
Cliffe Hill Community Primary School
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
We have been extremely fortunate to work with Michelle a number of times over the last couple of years. Her sessions are engaging, meticulously planned, and provide children with a sound understanding of the skills employers look for in potential job candidates. It is also always a great joy to see the children become enthusiastic about a job prospect they hadn't heard of before, and to see them realise for themselves what they might want to strive to be when they enter the world of work.
Also, Michelle's sessions which include having current university students speak to the children about their experiences is a fantastic vehicle for opening the children's minds to the idea of pursuing further education and igniting that spark which will open them up to new and exciting experiences in the future.
Thank you, Michelle. We look forward to working with you again.
Thomas Kowalski - Assistant Headteacher, St Clare's Catholic Primary
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
We have been extremely fortunate to work with Michelle a number of times over the last couple of years. Her sessions are engaging, meticulously planned, and provide children with a sound understanding of the skills employers look for in potential job candidates. It is also always a great joy to see the children become enthusiastic about a job prospect they hadn't heard of before, and to see them realise for themselves what they might want to strive to be when they enter the world of work.
Also, Michelle's sessions which include having current university students speak to the children about their experiences is a fantastic vehicle for opening the children's minds to the idea of pursuing further education and igniting that spark which will open them up to new and exciting experiences in the future.
Thank you, Michelle. We look forward to working with you again.
Thomas Kowalski - Assistant Headteacher, St Clare's Catholic Primary
Dixons Marchbank
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
Shelf Junior and Infant School
It’s always a great pleasure to work with Michelle and her volunteers, as it’s very organised and high quality. The students always gain a very inspiring and memorable experience. I would definitely recommend if you want to inspire students in your school!
Milly Lynch - Vice Principal
Shelf Junior and Infant School
St Clare's Catholic Primary School
Shelf Junior and Infant School
The children connected very well with Michelle and said they felt as though they were treated as adults, were respected and understood. They found the workshop helped them to speak about themselves with more confidence and recognise their own skills. They were also able to make links between their favourite activities and the skills they gained from this.
Shannon Taylor Year 5/6 teacher.
Byron Primary School
Sandy Lane Primary School
Byron Primary School
It was wonderful to have Own Futures plan our World of Work Week. Michelle was very professional and proactive and involved me in every step of her preparations. She engaged a wide variety of professions and the days were well organised. It certainly opened our children's minds to new career aspirations.
Thank you Michelle, you took the strain off me and I could not have been happier with the week.
Melanie Stainton - Deputy Head, Byron Primary School
Peel Park Primary
Sandy Lane Primary School
Byron Primary School
What a fantastic week we have had in school! We had lawyers, nurses, police officers, electricians, film makers and many more visitors in school! Michelle’s planning and organisation for the 3 days has been impeccable! Quite a few of the teachers have commented on how well the sessions have ran because of Michelle. The children have been truly inspired by all the professionals and are still talking about some of the visitors a week later.
Shyrun Nessa - Careers Lead, Peel Park Primary
Sandy Lane Primary School
Sandy Lane Primary School
Sandy Lane Primary School
Thank you for hosting the World of Work Days at school it was am amazing start to the year. There has been a real buzz in the air since the visit and it has helped to open the children's eyes to a whole host of possibilities!!!
Having you there to orchestrate the day made the event run like clockwork and I can not thank you enough. I feel this will be the start of a great future working relationship!!!
Fiona Newsome - Head of School
Coop Academy Beckfield
Community Rail Lancashire
Sandy Lane Primary School
The Guess the Job activity and Careers Fair that Michelle organised were both excellent. The range of volunteers that came in really kept the children engaged and challenged stereotypes. I would not hesitate to use Own Futures again.
Katherine Sladden - Assistant Head
Waverley Consultancy
Community Rail Lancashire
Community Rail Lancashire
I have now attended three of Own Futures' World of Work events and every time have come away inspired by the children, impressed by their questions and keen to continue to support more young people understand the range of careers and opportunities they have open to them.
Each session has been brilliantly organised by Michelle – from the information provided before the event to the day itself. Timings were always accurate, which is important when you’re taking time out of your working day, and it never felt like a waste of time in any way shape or form.
I look forward to attending more events in the future and would encourage anyone, whatever their job or background, to sign up. You will get a great reception from the young people and, who knows, you might inspire one of them to want to be what you are in the years ahead.
Stephen Naylor - Owner and Director, Waverley Consultancy
Community Rail Lancashire
Community Rail Lancashire
Community Rail Lancashire
As an education officer on the railway, encouraging young people to look to the careers in the industry is important to me. Volunteering with Own Futures means that I don't have to spend time approaching schools and organising engagement - Michelle does that for me.
The days she plans in schools are so well organised, I just turn up and talk about my job! I've been able to connect with many schools in the area through Own Futures and would recommend others to volunteer at sessions too.
Karen Bennett - Community Rail Education Development Officer, Community Rail Lancashire
Beckfoot School
Park Lane Academy
Kirklees Council
We have run a number of events with Michelle at Own Futures and our most recent, a Careers Convention, has been our best yet. The variety and quality of delegates that Michelle recruited was brilliant, offering a eclectic mix of education providers and employers that were relevant and useful to our students from Yr 9 to 13.
The buzz around the school on the day was amazing, with students feeling motivated and informed to go on and make some decisions about their futures. It has enabled us to open up conversations with our students and develop better communication going forward.
Michelle has a real passion for CEIAG and ensuring young people are prepared for those next steps and this shows in the quality of the programs that she delivers.
Sarah Wilson
Careers Coordinator
Beckfoot School
Kirklees Council
Park Lane Academy
Kirklees Council
I have now volunteered at a number of events that Michelle has organised in different schools and have found every one of them to be very well organised, efficiently run and offering very valuable experiences to the children.
I have taken part in different types of events from delivering presentations, World of Work Days, and facilitating STEM activities and each one has had a well thought out structure with a variety of different careers being showcased to give the children lots of things to think about. I look forward to volunteering at more of Michelle’s events in the future.
Louise Hewlett
Principal Engineer
UTMC
Investment & Regeneration
Kirklees Council
Park Lane Academy
Park Lane Academy
Farfield Primary School
Michelle at Own Futures runs and coordinates a significant number of our careers events and experiences covering Key Stage 3 and 4. The service offered is tailored to our school’s needs and pupils’ specific requirements/interests, working with our staff for the pupils' benefit. The variety of activities offered is outstanding. The programmes are always thoroughly prepared, providing real career experiences from professionals as well as educational providers to offer breadth of choice. Pupils and their parents always speak highly of the careers experiences they receive of which Michelle and Own Futures are a key part.
The opportunities and links Michelle has in the further education community and business world are invaluable in ensuring we meet the Gatsby benchmarks as well as providing pupils with the full information, preparing them for the future and allowing them to make informed choices. Her passion and commitment to CEIAG is an asset to all and has a significant impact upon our pupils.
Mark Alderson
Assistant Principal for Personal Development
Park Lane Academy
Farfield Primary School
Farfield Primary School
Farfield Primary School
The children were engaged and gave real consideration to how their future may pan out. Some have even suggested the path they would need to take (college, uni, funding etc) as a result of the sessions. They enjoyed seeing the real people speaking about how they came to end up in their career, especially those who didn't start on that journey. Michelle was very insightful and her sessions were thought-provoking and positive.
Year 4 teacher
Farfield Primary School
Together Housing Group
Farfield Primary School
Together Housing Group
I was fortunate to be asked to judge an Enterprise Event which Michelle had organised for students. This involved 4 teams of students each designing their own theme park and was aimed at teaching a wide range of skills including budgeting, marketing and promotion, and delivering presentations to the judging panel. The quality of work was excellent and students obviously learned a lot from this experience including useful skills that should help to make them more employable.
George Paterson - Group Director of Property Services - Together Housing
Little Miss Electrical
Farfield Primary School
Together Housing Group
We have volunteered with Own Futures for many of their school projects and it has been a pleasure. Michelle is in contact with a great number of schools and we have been able to meet a range of pupils from all age groups.
The activities have been so much fun and its been really nice to engage the pupils in something different, especially being in a male dominated industry. It's been important to me that I can encourage younger people into a trade such as electrical with it being something that schools don’t usually filter directly into. It has also been a really nice experience for one of our apprentices to go to the schools and do activities with the children as she’s always enjoyed it and gained confidence talking to large groups.
I would highly recommend a day volunteering for Own Futures for yourself or your employees!
Cathy Cockin
Owner - Little Miss Electrical
Business In The Community
Business In The Community
Business In The Community
I have worked with Michelle in a variety of ways. She is professional, focused and above all passionate about improving the life chances of young people. Recognising the importance of skills and qualities, she takes every opportunity to bring the worlds of business and education closer together to prepare young people to enter the workplace. Students have improved their attendance, punctuality and participation in class. She is innovative and collaborative, and above all, she is herself a role model for the young people she supports.
Julie Cullen - Contracts Manager, Engagement Business In The Community