Eleven Lower Sixth boys recently joined 90 other young leaders at an Apprentice meets Dragons’ Den-style event to showcase their innovative project ideas aimed at young people. This event was the final part of the annual Ready2Lead? programme, coordinated by The Harpur Trust, which supports young people to develop leadership skills.
Read: Unique Leadership Programme for Lower Sixth Formers
Over the past two months, our boys, along with Sixth Form students from other local schools and colleges, designed and implemented projects inspired by the Children, Young People and Their Families Plan for Bedford Borough 2022-2027. The 16 groups presented their ideas to a panel of senior leaders from the local authority and health sectors, including the Mayor of Bedford Borough, Tom Wootton, and other key local leaders.
Lower Sixth Former Giuliano Mule’s project was the Reading Project, with an aim to promote reading by securing donations of books and supplying them to children who can’t afford to buy them, as well as educate children on the importance of reading. 
Giuliano explained, “Our presentation was different to others, as we didn’t use any presentation aids such as photos, meaning we had to convey our idea to the guests in a different way than other groups. This was fun as we could explain our idea fully and really convey the idea to the guests more convincingly.”
Reflecting back on the three-part Ready2Lead? programme, Lower Sixth Former Sam Gray explained, “I have learned perseverance and leadership as well as greatly improved my public speaking skills. Working with the others in my group became a challenge, so together we had to learn delegation and how to not encroach on what is not your responsibility so the project would go smoothly. During the showcase session, we had to speak to many important people, so it was important that we used the lessons taught in the previous two sessions about introducing yourselves and elevator speeches to properly communicate our points.”
Following the event, Lorna Godden, Education Partnerships Adviser at The Harpur Trust, praised all students’ creativity and confidence and Laura Church, Chief Executive of Bedford Borough Council, commended the students for their inspiring presentations and expressed interest in further developing some of the projects. While Mr Simon Everitt, Entrepreneurship Lead here at Bedford School and founder of Ready2Lead?, highlighted the programme’s success in bringing together young people from diverse backgrounds to make a positive impact in their communities.
Our boys received valuable feedback from special guests, including the CEO of The Harpur Trust and other leading professionals. Overall, the event showcased the boys’ ability to create meaningful projects and demonstrate their potential as future leaders. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and look forward to seeing how they continue to make a positive impact in their communities.
