Scotland rugby captain and former Perthshire pupil Jamie Ritchie visited St John’s Academy to help students build on skills that will benefit their lives beyond academia.
Currently working with 11 schools across Scotland, charity Gen+ is building meta-skills capacity for every pupil and teacher in Scotland.
A meta-skill is a higher-order skill that boosts a person’s ability to learn and apply new knowledge quickly.
Examples include capabilities like learning a new language, plug-and-play skill-transfer between industries, or the ability to solve complex problems.
Ritchie (26), a Gen+ ambassador, was a pupil at Strathallan School in Forgandenny and has been playing rugby since primary school and got his first senior signing at age 17.
Ritchie said meta-skills such as resilience and collaboration played a huge role in him becoming Scotland rugby captain, adding that he continues to use them on a daily basis.
“To become Scotland captain before the age of 26 was a huge achievement for me,” Ritchie said.
“But the journey has involved lots of hard work, team effort and both mental and physical resilience.
“It was fantastic to share some of my experiences and advice with the St John’s pupils, and to see how they’re learning practical skills through the Gen+ programme to succeed in whatever they do.”
St John’s Academy joined the Gen+ programme in 2022 for its pilot year.
Since then, St John’s has recognised the need to develop meta-skills in young people as they are vital for reaching a positive post school destination.
Marie-Claire Futamata, headteacher at St John’s Academy, said: “To have Jamie Ritchie visiting St John’s has been incredibly exciting for the school community, especially our young people.
“He was hugely inspirational, and it was amazing to see the pupils put their skills into action during the Q&A session with Jamie and in the lesson.
“The Gen+ programme has supported the continued development of our whole school skills framework in
line with the national agenda and provided the foundation for embedding meta-skills throughout the St John’s Academy school community.”
Jamie shared his school experience and skills he used during and after on his journey to becoming Scotland rugby captain.
He then took part in a question-and-answer session, and then Jamie got to participate in a Gen+ lesson which focussed on resilience.
Victoria Vardy, the chief executive of Gen+, said: “As a successful athlete, Jamie has developed a range of meta-skills through his training and competition experiences, such as discipline, resilience, adaptability, and teamwork.
“As our Ambassador he can inspire and encourage young people to prioritize these skills as they prepare for their futures.”
