Learning how to properly ‘close’ one’s knife and fork, correct posture and deportment are not the normal response of a student when asked ‘what did you learn at school today?’

But then, this was no normal school day and technically the 60 students from five local high schools were not at school – certainly not physically.

They were participating in a ‘Ready to Work’ skills workshop hosted by CIBC FirstCaribbean at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew- one of the bank’s activities in celebration of Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence.

Noting that ‘Soft Skills’ are as important at work as technical skills and professional certifications, the bank’s Head of HR, Jerome Griffiths took the students through the tenets of interview techniques while Althea Laing, Jamaica’s first “super model” of Althea Laing Image Consultants, presented on deportment, place settings and related techniques including making a good first impression when entering and leaving a room.

It was a full day of learning, roleplay and practice as the students demonstrated what they learnt, including navigating a three-course meal with the correct cutlery, various types of glassware and placement of napkins.

Griffiths and Laing scored “full marks”, according to the students from Immaculate High School, Convent of Mercy Academy Alpha, St Jago High, St George’s College and Denham Town High School. All agreed that the day was well spent and the “lessons” were a complement to their in-school classes.