Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Flip

Original poster

How can my y11 gain "leadership" skills

22 replies

gentleelbows · 03/12/2023 22:51

DS15 has just done his cv and i realise he hasn't got much in the way of anything that could even remotely be labelled as a leader since being a "prefect" at primary school in y6 🤣

All the usual avenues I would imagine don't work :-

Sports? He used to play hockey but didn't like how overly competitive some of the squad were (they all wanted the ball themselves and wouldn't paddy so withdrew from u16 last year and played instead with the men's 6th team nothing there

D of E ? Hasn't done any as not available at his school until 6th form

Music? he plays piano not really band leader stuff

Scouts/cadets : he wasn't in this as we didn't have space when he was younger and it's not his thing now, but his brother's

I recognise that he is only 15 but also conscious that this is something that may take some time.

OP posts:

Hellocatshome · 03/12/2023 23:01

What is his CV for? At that age he doesnt necessarily need a lot about leadership skills for most roles. Examples of communication skills and being an effective team member are normally more important.

SusanKennedyshouldLTB · 03/12/2023 23:03

School might have a school leaders team, although it might be too late if he is in year 11. It is something they apply for.

parietal · 03/12/2023 23:04

does his school do Young Enterprise? that is good.

or any group activity of any form.

For teamwork, volunteering in a charity shop or working in tesco would all look good on a CV.

but a CV really doesn't need 'leadership skills' at GCSE level. Just doing stuff and work experience etc is good.

shearwater2 · 03/12/2023 23:04

Why does he need any?

He will be following instructions, not leading, in education, training and work.

clary · 03/12/2023 23:06

Yeh I am not sure he needs any.

What is this CV for - if it is applying for a part-time job then I think he will be fine to show he can work in a team and follow instructions tbh.

orchardsquare · 03/12/2023 23:07

I agree he doesn't need leadership skills, otherwise I would suggest training to become a football referee or becoming a young leader with beavers. Volunteer to run a coding club?

wjpa · 03/12/2023 23:08

Lead a little team of some kids doing something eg debating captain or whatever he does that he's interested in

mondaytosunday · 03/12/2023 23:14

My daughter started a club (in sixth form). She also volunteered to help kids in primary - which was attached to her senior school - do a sort of pre D of E thing. He will have to be creative, and perhaps do something he's not that 'in to' - frankly helping out at Scouts if possible sounds ideal.
However the vast majority of kids don't have any real leadership experience.

Original poster

gentleelbows · 03/12/2023 23:17

It's not for now. Sorry I wasn't v clear in my OP as part of PHSE they do their cvs now and have interview practice with adults. I realised that in the template he didn't have anything in the leadership section.
I am wondering what else he could be looking at for future for ucas etc
He is academically able and quite disciplined but naturally shy and doesn't currently like putting his head above the parapet much.

OP posts:

margotsdevil · 03/12/2023 23:38

For all those saying not to worry about leadership skills - it's definitely a massive thing in Scotland and we are actively encouraged to develop leadership skills in pupils! Obviously not sure if it's the same down South but it might be worth him checking with school for opportunities. We have digital leaders, STEM ambassadors, health and wellbeing leaders, for example.

shearwater2 · 04/12/2023 06:58

By the time he has to do UCAS he will likely have had a part time job and be able to demonstrate proper responsibility not just some tick box school scheme. Just keep it in mind as perhaps an area to develop. But part of writing a CV and thinking about your skills is learning where there are gaps and not becoming a bullshitter who gets in over their head.

It does sounds rather tick boxy at this stage, and surely it's ok to be a good follower!

We can't all be leaders and can't all be above the national average, Michael Gove.

megletthesecond · 04/12/2023 07:10

Police, fire, St John's ambulance cadets.

WinterParakeets · 04/12/2023 07:16

It would be easy to get some. He could start a club at school - just set it up and get it running. Or if the school does voluntary work, he could go into a primary school and run some sport or music activities with the children. If you go to church he could offer to be a youth leader with one of the younger groups.

As PP have said though - he is only 15. The world really doesn't need to be full of leaders. It needs responsible team players. Imagine how much better run our country would have been over the last 15 years if there had been co-operative cohesive teams not scheming egomaniacs.

LickleLamb · 04/12/2023 07:19

I thought all boys had captained the school rugby team when it came to cvs😂
Perhaps volunteering eg charity shop and drawing up a written guide to the job for other new people or training others in a certain aspect . They are usually v keen for volunteers so perhaps the manager would facilitate.

user701 · 04/12/2023 07:20

Universities couldn’t care less whether he has leadership skills so don’t let that worry you. It’s up there with the list of grade 7 piano, DofE and first place in the knobbly knees contest achievements that universities don’t give a fuck about during the ucas process.

it’s all about the grades and the interest in your subject.

shepherdsangeldelight · 04/12/2023 07:48

I think "leadership skills" is a rubbish name (yes, I know it's a CV template name) - it's basically about soft skills. So communication, working with others, organisation, time keeping, managing conflict, decision making. it's not about being a leader per se.

Even if your child has literally done nothing but go to school, they can tick off some of those from group projects and working with others.

If he has any type of hobby he can demonstrate committment and time management (assuming he does hobby and keeps his school work going :) )

However, just doing thing for the sake of a CV is a bit rubbish. Are there things he would like to try? And perhaps he could demonstrate some planning skills by sorting them out himself (like he would have to do if he did D of E). There are plenty of sports that are not competitive team ones, for example.

Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 04/12/2023 08:23

My 15yo was asked in an interview for her first job an example of how she had trained people and knew it was successful. She spoke about teaching her sister how to play a sport.

Ofa · 04/12/2023 10:53

First step: try to get him into one of

Air Cadets
Sea Cadets
Army Cadets
Scouts

Surely they can’t all be full or ‘his brothers thing’?

Other options in our area, dunno if they exist in yours

Youth theatre group / martial arts class where the older children help teach the younger classes (or any other activity where older children are allowed to volunteer with the younger class).

user701 · 04/12/2023 11:31

It's crazy to sign him up to activities or work that he doesn't want to do just for the sake of a PHSE session on interview practice. You do realise that some kids won't even do the CV (and as before the UCAS application isn't about this stuff at all - in fact at my DC's school they make them take it all out, even stuff about being head boy etc..)

A mature answer would be along the lines of "I currently don't have any formal leadership experience as a result of my age and the fact that I am still at school, however I am a team player and someone who isn't scared of offering to speak for the group or to take a leading role in a group work situation. I feel I have both the ability to make a decision without sitting on the fence and the ability to listen to input from others. I have no doubt that my skills in this area will continue to develop as I progress through my academic career and then my career in the workplace."

lanthanum · 04/12/2023 13:45

Another thing that could be added to that is any small scale example, eg a piece of group work where he can describe taking the lead. There's bound to be something between now and whenever he might actually be asked about leadership skills.

Octavia64 · 04/12/2023 16:28

Youth leader with beavers or cubs is good.

I disagree with previous posters - doing something like this really develops teenagers as they see social situations from the other side - ie I've planned a great activity, why won't they shut up? and they develop some people skills.

elkiedee · 04/12/2023 22:14

A template should be something that can be adapted, especially for something like a CV. On an application form he'd have to fill in each section, but a CV is a chance for a person to present their qualifications and experience positively to suit a particular application?

Can't he replace leadership skills with a suitable heading for his experience of playing music and hockey? You say he wasn't leader of the band but if he was an active participant and in that and in hockey, I'm sure it's more than many 15 year olds have to say.

That's not to say that someone who has really taken an initiative to organise/ lead something shouldn't say so. But I'm sceptical about doing something for the sake of a CV or making it out to be something it's not, and there's a danger of being tripped up, for example by fluffing an interview question on something you can't really back up when asked.

Flip