Oonagh Lewis- Schools Outreach to Anthony Gell School

Oonagh Lewis, Project Task Force

In January, I visited Anthony Gell School in Derbyshire to give students from Years 9 to 13 a taste of what it is like to work for the FCO.    My visit was an extension of the FCO’s outreach to schools programme, which follows hot on the heels of last year’s hugely successful university outreach recruitment road show.  The aims of both initiatives are to get young people thinking about a career with the FCO and to inform them about what we do.

This type of outreach work is hugely important for getting the FCO message out to young people, and my visit to Anthony Gell confirmed this. For the students, who did not have the FCO on their radar but who have an interest in foreign affairs and/or languages, my visit was an opportunity for them to be able to gain a valuable insight into, and quiz me about, the world of the FCO.

My first thought when I was asked to represent the FCO at the school and present the FCO to a number of students was how I could make the talk as engaging and relevant as possible for a group of 13-18 year olds.  The FCO and my job can sometimes seem a bit like another world to my family and friends, let alone a group of school-age people who don’t know anyone who works for the organisation.  I therefore had to make sure that my talk hit the right note.

I held six sessions with students from Anthony Gell and made each session as interactive as possible.  I gave the students a short language aptitude test, similar to the one that FCO employees have to do for the FCO to gauge their language ability, and a cultural awareness quiz to increase their understanding of the different cultural situations that FCO staff live and work in around the world.

Finally, I gave the students a short presentation on what the FCO does and why, as well as sharing my personal experiences of working for the FCO in London (on Africa, G8 and G20 and now in the Projects Task Force) and overseas (a full posting in Mexico as well as short stints providing cover in Kenya, Eritrea and Senegal).

I had a great response from the groups I presented to.  There was already a good awareness of, and interest in, the work of the FCO and in some of the sessions I was bombarded with questions, ranging from the worst experience I have had in the FCO (I had to struggle to think of one!) to the travel opportunities available to me in my job and the typical day in the life of a diplomat.

Thanks to the Anthony Gell School for hosting me and thanks to my current team, the Projects Task Force for supporting my involvement in this initiative.  I would really recommend it to FCO staff who are interested in getting involved in the FCO’s outreach work.  It was a great experience for me and I would be happy to do it all again at another school.

If you work for the FCO and would like to get involved in some outreach or you are from Anthony Gell school and would like to share your opinion of this outreach event, do get in touch with Emily Farrow (Emily.Farrow@fco.gov.uk).