23 Dec 2011Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters recently sponsored 40 budding Mobile App Entrepreneurs from St Matthews Academy, a school for girls and boys aged three to 16, in the Apps for Good program. The initiative aims to give young people the opportunity to learn to create apps that change their world.

The pupils, aged between 13-15 years old, presented their apps to colleagues from Thomson Reuters. The children were all nervous and for many it was the first time they had presented to people in a city corporation. Our colleagues gave feedback on the student’s Mobile Apps, which will be taken on board to help them improve their product and prepare for a big Dragons Den competition in March.

Leila Thomas, an implementation project manager and one of our 2011 Community Champion Awards winners, said: “We managed to leave the young impressionable minds on a confident and positive high. They found our presence to be welcoming, friendly and supportive with many leaving the building making comments like ‘I would like to work here at Thomson Reuters!’”

Rory Cellan-Jones, a technology correspondent for the BBC, has been down at St Matthew’s Academy off the back of the news of a critical report from the UK’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) on the standard of ICT teaching in UK schools. St Matthew’s innovative approach to ICT is set up so that pupils are invited to leave their phones on in class and are encouraged to develop apps as part of our initiative with Apps for Good.