KEIGHLEY company Gesipa has teamed up with Parkside School to show students the wide range of careers available in a large company.

The thriving international manufacturing and engineering firm is providing year nine students at the Cullingworth school with an insight into all of its job roles.

The partnership was forged as part of Project Altitude, which aims to help young people make informed choices about career paths as they move from GCSE to post-16 studies.

Parkside was one of only two schools in Bradford district to secure funding for Project Altitude through West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

School spokesman Majella McColgan said: "The aim of the programme is give the students an opportunity to reach their highest potential.

"It is about every person, no matter what their background or barrier, to be able to build a rewarding career with achievable targets along the way."

Students are being encouraged to become "work-ready" by developing skills such as resilience, team work and communication.

They create a personal career plan, learn to improve their social mobility and aspirations, and improve their key stage four options by becoming aware of different job sectors.

Majella said the 'multi-dimensional' partnership with Gesipa would involve workplace visits, one-to-one career interviews, school mentoring, and business mentoring so students would understand the world of work and the importance of employability skills.

Students would see the bigger picture of how companies work, by visiting to Jaguar Land Rover at Halewood to understand how Gesipa products are integral to their car production.

Project Altitude, part of Parkside's ongoing ASPIRE2b programme, also involves inspirational workshops led by former Olympic swimmer James Kirton.

During the Project Altitude launch evening the students completed a baseline assessment of their existing skills and qualities.

The impact of the programme will be evaluated upon completion to see if students' self-awareness of work-ready skills and qualities has progressed.

Jo Sykes, assistant head at Parkside, said: "I was overwhelmed by the engagement from students and parents/carers at the launch event. All of our students were genuinely proud to part of the programme and even prouder to receive their Gesipa t-shirt!”

Diana Schofield, managing director of Gesipa, acts as Parkside's enterprise adviser, working closely with staff and students.

She said Gesipa actively encouraged young people to consider STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects and careers, by hosting and supporting local initiatives and events.

She added: "Our collaboration with Parkside School and Project Altitude is the perfect way to facilitate this process and further educate young people around the diverse roles and opportunities available to them.

"By working with the Parkside students over the course of the next few months, it allows us to give them an insight into the world of work and to help them prepare for the expectations of employers.”