A SCHOOL is investing in young managers of the future.

Pupils from the Lower Sixth Year at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, have received formal training to prepare them for the responsibilities they will be given in the next academic year.

Prefects went to the East Lancashire Education Business Partnerships (ELEBPs) Conference Centre at Clayton-le-Moors to take part in a scheme aimed at increasing awareness of the managerial role they are being asked to undertake within the school environment, ranging from supervisory tasks to public relations and marketing.

Neil Mawdsley, general manager of ELEBPs, thinks there is a link between the role of a prefect and that of a middle manager in the business community.

Both require talent, expertise and a mature attitude, which the training helps to develops in young people, he said. Mr Mawdsley added: "It pays to Invest in prefects, they are the young managers of the future."

The training involved activities that are designed to demonstrate skills and qualities such as self-confidence, leadership skills, assertiveness and problem solving, all qualities that are necessary for a management job.

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