SATRO's Impact

SATRO continues to deliver to students across our region supporting them to widen their horizons and challenge their perceptions.

We support schools enrich their curriculum and meet their Gatsby Benchmarks.  Supported by companies and their employees who wish to inspire the next generation.

We continually ask ourselves how we can better engage and inspire young people in a changing world, how we can improve what we deliver and ensure its relevance to the students we work with every day. 
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What difference do we make?

Students

SATRO has over its 40 years delivered to in excess of 500,000 young people.


In the 2022-23 academic year we:
  • supported over 10,900 young people,
  • delivered over 29,500 unique sessions,
  • and engaged over 5,200 employee volunteer hours.  

Research Projects Sept 2022: "I had the irreplaceable support of my provider and other professionals who gave up their time to discuss their theories and expertise with me, answering my questions and giving me the space to float my own ideas."


SATROFest March 2023: "Today has helped me see myself in a career in STEM more clearly, with the subjects I enjoy most."


Construction  May 2023: Oli has successfully gained an Electrical Apprenticeship to start in September.  They were particularly impressed when he shared his SATRO portfolio of work at interview particularly as they don't usually recruit to at his age.


SATROFest

  • 83% agreed that SATROfest had introduced them to STEM careers they didn't know about,
  • 76% agreed that they met someone of took part in an activity that changed their attitude to STEM careers.

ConstructionFest

  • 84% agreed that they are more aware of how to gain employment with the construction industry,
  • 81% agreed that ConstructionFest introduced them to careers they didn't know about.

BAE Challenge

  • 96% agreed that they are clearer about their career goals and confident in their ability to achieve them,
  • 93% agreed that as a result of taking part they believe that anyone is able to do any job regardless of gender, race or disability.

Teachers

Teachers provide feedback on all our sessions and which helps us review and develop what we deliver.


Teacher on Research Project Programme Offer 2023: "What a fantastic range of potential projects! i am sure the students who are accepted onto the programme will gain a huge amount.  Thank you for all your organisation."


ConstructionFest Apr 2023: 94% agreed that students were supported in understanding their career choices.


Teacher on Construction Sessions 2023:  "I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything - the difference your programme has made to our students has been amazing."


Teacher on Business Games June 2023: “It was an outstanding event for the pupils and they learnt an enormous amount about business in the process. I was most impressed with how engaged the pupils were and how they worked with such tenacity for the length of time that they did.”

Companies & Volunteers

Company attending a SATRO Festival 2023: "An uplifting and inspiring day, it was so great to see the engagement and participation from the students.  As ever the SATRO team are all stars!"


Local Enterprise Partnership visiting ConstructionFest 2023: "A very interactive and inspirational day all round for construction students in Surrey who are considering their future career options"


Volunteer at ConstructionFest Apr 2023:  "This sector particularly engineering, needs to be diverse and inclusive of all young learners regardless of their academic ability and qualifications.  It was clear from my conversations with the students that many of them aspire to pursue a career in construction and just need the right encouragement and positive reinforcement to build their confidence and self-esteem.  SATRO Construction Festival achieved this in my opinion."

Relevant Research

As a result of the current crisis and the changes to perceptions of the future for our young people it is ever more important to inspire and support them to understand the world they live in and the skills needed in the 21st century.   SATRO's work is important because of the identified need to:
  • Adapt learning for the future
  • Inspire the next generation
  • Address a skills shortage

Adapting Learning for the Future: In October 2020 a paper from the World Economic Forum sets out the challenges ahead for young people in a changing world: This is the new skills gap for young people in the age of COVID-19, (T. Belachew, R.Surkin)

".......With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a projected loss of 195 million jobs, dismaying interruptions to education and a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups, preparing young people to earn and thrive in a post-COVID world requires immediate attention.

This changing environment calls for a transformation in how we think about learning. Young people must "learn to learn" in order to develop the abilities required to gain new skills and adapt, which will help them secure work opportunities. They must also learn to discern reliable information to navigate today's information landscape fraught with false and misleading information.

To "learn to earn", policy-makers and education and youth development practitioners must expand skills frameworks to include learning to learn and learning to discern as fundamental soft skills that can help young people thrive in a rapidly changing world of work.

Equipped with these critical skills and with the entrepreneurial mindsets to take advantage of available opportunities, all youth, especially those from marginalized groups, can overcome societal messages that dictate which areas of learning and earning are beyond their reach......."

Inspiring the next generation:  The need for early and inspirational intervention in schools has been researched and reported on in the recommendations from Disconnected: Career aspirations and jobs in the UK (January 2020):
• Ages 7-11: “focus on broadening horizons and raising aspirations, giving children a wide range of experiences of the world including the world of work. It is about opening doors, showing children the vast range of possibilities open to them and helping to keep their options open for as long as possible.” 

• Ages 12-18: “It’s important to give employer encounters the best chance of a ‘lightbulb moment’ with young people" this is partly about volume (you don’t know what you don’t know until you see it) and partly about linking encounters explicitly into pathway reflection, iterative research and decision-making.” 

Addressing a Skills Shortage: In 2019 the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) reported that nearly 40% of UK employers reported difficulties in recruiting staff with relevant STEM skills. The importance of young people continuing with science subjects cannot be overestimated and underpins our economy’s growth.  

Whilst Forbes reported in October 2019 that as we embrace the 4th industrial revolution 35% of the skill sets considered important for the workforce will change.  The skills needed will be based on research, scientific thinking and technology: such as data literacy, critical thinking, tech “savviness”, creativity, adaptability and collaboration.