Lockhart celebrates four-year employability milestone

North Ayrshire’s flagship Additional Support Needs school, Lockhart Campus, has recently celebrated the milestone of its four-year partnership with Developing the Young Workforce Ayrshire (DYW).

Their Business Breakfast celebration opened with a speech from Depute Head Teacher John Herd celebrating the school’s flourishing four-year partnership with DYW Ayrshire. The event shone a spotlight on the incredible work of dedicated pupils and mentors.

It was also an opportunity for the school to pay tribute to special guest Walter Smith MBE, Business Ambassador from Developing the Young Workforce Ayrshire (DYW Ayrshire) – and his support of this initiative to help and grow the potential of local young people.

DYW and Lockhart Campus have worked together on a range of employability projects over the last four years with the support of lecturers from Ayrshire College and local businesses.

Community partners, enterprises, businesses and parents and carers attended the assembly hall at Lockhart Campus to find out more about the employability projects that have supported over 100 pupils in the past four years, with over 96% involved moving on to a positive destination this year.

Lockhart Campus currently has twelve ambitious Developing Young Workforce projects that are part of the Lockhart Skills Academy.

From bike upcycling, to barista pop-up to outdoor skills and freshly baked cakes on campus, the Lockhart Skills Academy workstreams – funded by Developing the Young Workforce Ayrshire (DYW) – are supported by school staff to empower pupils to develop core skills in: literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing along with independent living.

Walter Smith MBE said: “The Developing Young Workforce programme was first launched in 2015 with the aims to help young people prepare for the world of work, develop life and employability skills and achieve positive destinations. And one of ways this is done in Ayrshire is through innovative school projects.

“Lockhart Campus opened in August 2021 and the school wasted no time in contacting DYW to open the first of three projects, Lockhart Coffee Shop, Lockhart Growers and Lockhart Bee Kind by April 2022. There is a strong focus in today’s educational world to broaden school curriculums including vocational and lifestyle projects. In Ayrshire this is certainly the case and a shining example of this is at Lockhart Campus with twelve DYW streams, the most of any school ASN or mainstream.

“Lockhart Campus should be truly proud of its achievements. It has been an honour and privilege to be associated with Lockhart Campus and I look forward to seeing more of the projects flourish in 2026.”

North Ayrshire Apprentice of the Year, Lockhart pupil Lewis Hughes was one of several pupils celebrated. After being part of DYW Outdoor Education he secured employment with North Ayrshire Streetscene as an apprentice. Lewis shared: “Lockhart’s support and the opportunities through DYW helped me find out what I’m good at and turn it into a career. Learning outdoors and doing practical work gave me confidence and skills that I now use every day in my job.”

In addition to providing a wide range of vocational skills which will enhance the life skills and employability prospects for the pupils who participate in the projects, pupils also have the opportunity to obtain vocational, enterprise and employability qualifications in a number of areas.

Lockhart Headteacher Wendy Fenton added: “We are proud to continue to work in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce Ayrshire to champion the Lockhart Skills Academy. Each of the unique projects encapsulates our school vision to unlock the potential of young people by providing the highest quality of support and opportunities on our campus and wider community. Thank you to everyone who came along to our Business Breakfast to celebrate the success of our employability pathways so far.”

The Lockhart Skills Academy projects include:

• Lockhart Life Skills Hub – where students can develop essential domestic life skills through hands-on activities within the school environment
• Lockhart Childcare – an opportunity to experience working within a childcare setting and supporting the development of pre-school children
• Lockhart Campus Cakes – where pupils get to bake delicious cupcakes and decorate them for pupils and the wider community
• Lockhart Community Group – a youth-led community group that is building relationships in the Three Towns and promoting independent living skills
• Lockhart Outdoor Education – where learning centres around the Lockhart community garden and students can learn about garden maintenance, landscaping, biodiversity and conservation
• Lockhart Hair and Beauty – honing hairstyling techniques like plaits, up-do’s and historical looks and developing creative nail design techniques
• Lockhart Textiles – with sewing machine and equipment to upcycle items and create tote bags and seasonal decorations and items for sale at school fayres
• Lockhart Coffee Shop – where pupils can learn barista, hospitality and customer service skills
• Lockhart Growers – an outdoor project where plants, flowers and fresh organic produce is grown in the gardens, developing horticultural skills for pupils
• Lockhart Bee Kind – allowing pupils to gain a richer understanding of biodiversity and the natural world via the school’s own beehive - selling the honey via the school shop
• Lockhart Digital Media – an in-house team of students interested in gaming, tech, web development, cybersecurity and teaching others to stay safe online
• Lockhart Wheelies – a bicycle repair and upcycling project helping pupils to saddle up and learn how to repair and maintain their bike all year round

Each of the DYW projects provides students with a hands-on approach to learning, which helps develop their communication skills, commitment, interpersonal skills and above all, their confidence.

Published: 18 December 2025