Monday saw the launch of the first ever virtual work experience for Year 11.

Given the unusual circumstances we found ourselves in this term, we sent out a request to parents, alumnae and the Parents’ Guild for volunteers to be interviewed about their careers by our Year 11s. We were incredibly grateful for the fantastic response, and as a result, we were able to make 200 ‘matches.’

Each girl was given the opportunity to interview 2-3 professionals this week about their career paths, exploring the key skills and attributes which have helped them along their way as their interviewees shared their advice on what the girls should develop going forward.

The range of careers was phenomenal, from engineering to acting, from broadcasting to medicine, from law to technology to art, with CEOs, Directors and entrepreneurs all kindly giving up their time.

Girls were given the contact details of their interviewees before attending two training sessions ahead of the interviews.  Ali Palmer, Co-Chair of the Parents’ Careers Guild and Miss Parr ran individual form sessions on the type of questions the Year 11s might like to ask and how to get the most out of the interview, while Karen Kimura from the GDST ran bespoke careers research training sessions.

The Year 11s will also be set a short project on a sector or profession that interests them to reflect on their own strengths, how these might suit different types of work and how to develop their skills. We will continue to populate the Careers Page on the Student Noticeboard with a range of specific links; these can help them to explore different careers and essential work skills.

We were also delighted to hear that the GDST agreed to add our NHEHS Year 11 to ‘Rungway’, their alumnae network app, prior to their arrival in the Sixth Form. This will allow our students to reach out to the entire body of GDST alumnae for advice and guidance.

Next year in the Sixth Form, girls will have the opportunity to attend careers lectures from varied backgrounds, as well as further work experience ahead of their preparation for UCAS and university entries as well as one-to-one Careers Interviews with Miss Parr. We also hope to be able to hold our annual Parents’ Guild Careers Fair in the spring term.