Role Model Seminars

Urban Synergy offer its “Top Tips To The Top” inspirational seminars to schools in Lewisham and surrounding areas. This has proven to be of great benefit to young people who are about to choose their academic options and are perhaps unsure of the breadth of career paths available to them. Our Role Model seminars bring together professionals from many disciplines to share their journey to success.

Our Role Models come from a wide range of trades and professions including Harley Street Doctors, Barristers, Entrepreneurs, Journalists, Pilots, Fashion Designers, Performing Arts, STEM based professionals including IT Consultants, Economists, Engineers, Scientists and many others.

Role Model seminars are offered to pupils from Year 6 to Year 13.

  • All our Role Models are volunteers and can offer independent and impartial advice to students.

  • Seminars bring professionals from the similar cultural and social backgrounds to students offering real and tangible career advice.

  • We stress the importance of a solid education in core subjects, and Role Models can advise on qualifications required for their professions.

  • A great opportunity for students to meet real professionals, learn more about their careers and how to achieve their goals

Our seminars follow a simple formula, a panel of professionals talk about their journey to success and any obstacles they have overcome. Following this, young people are given a chance to meet a larger number of role models in small groups in speed mentoring sessions. Here students are able to ask questions to the one or more role models available and get more tips and ideas on how to progress into that career path. These speed mentoring sessions last approximately 10 minutes, Role Models move onto another table and talk to another group of students.

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The ‘Think Further’™ (Academic) and ‘Top Tips to the Top’™ (Role Model) seminars have been successfully rolled out at a number of schools in the Lewisham Borough and continue to be a regular part of each academic year. Both seminars are delivered by our mentors and high profile ‘community’ role models. The format of the seminars allows for almost any venue or setting and accommodate between 100 – 200 young people.

The impact that Urban Synergy has had on our school community is simply awe-inspiring. To see some of our most disengaged students focussing on their future and engaging with inspirational successful figures was invigorating for me as an educatorFormer Vice Principal of the St Matthew Academy
The Urban Synergy Academic Seminar aims to inspire young people to raise their academic aspirations by dispelling the myth that young people from lower socio-economic groups can’t attain a quality university education. The seminar is delivered by a rotating group of undergraduates (coming from standard inner city state schools), most of who currently study at top UK universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, University of London (Imperial) and so on.

The Academic Seminars provide an inspirational session in which pupils are effectively advised and actively encouraged to review their personal learning plans. The aim is that they stick to an academic achievement and personal development plan so that they can apply to Russell Group universities as well as Oxbridge.