Careers have been very much in the spotlight in the media of late, particularly with National Careers Week taking place from March 7th-13th.

As part of National Careers Week itself, alumna Priya Chandé shared her experience of reconciling her career with matters close to her heart with our Sixth Form as part of our Careers Spotlight series, where students learn about a range of different careers from members of our alumnae network and develop a deeper understanding of what the workplace is like.

On Wednesday Miss Parr, Head of Careers, outlined details of our Work Experience Week to Year 11 and spoke about the importance of work experience and how it is an excellent way for students to test their abilities and think about the sort of soft skills that might best suit individuals. Miss Parr gave an overview of how to make yourself employable and the importance of differentiating oneself, with some tips on how to get work experience – and also how to approach the work experience itself. The importance of attending day one having researched the company, showing your initiative to always making sure any communication with the company is always polite and professional – to making sure that first day dress code is business and smart.

The students also heard from two teachers about how they approached their work experience. One spoke about how she tested architecture, law – even the theatre – through her various work experience opportunities that she created for herself – before deciding to focus on teaching. Another teacher talked about how she went abroad for her work experience as a tour operator – also worked as a translator and realising she needed to be in a role with more people contact.

On Friday we will be holding a fun ‘hook yourself a new career’ game and a quiz – guess what careers your teachers have done!

Our students from Year 7 up to Year 13 participate in a wide range of careers events over the school year as part of our bespoke Senior School Careers Programme.

In February and March, students took part in year group careers workshops:

Year 7  (Careers Skills and Employability Workshop)

The Year 7 Career Skills workshop took a very broad look at the workplace. This included the key employability skills required on a personal level plus a glimpse at the vast number of different trades and professions that come together as part of a global supply chain to create products that we all take for granted. Students completed fun activities in groups of 5, groups of 20, and as an entire year group. They got to experience first-hand the challenges that leaders and managers face when trying to organise large groups of people and had the chance to give feedback based on their experience. The highlight of the day was a competition to build a giant tetrahedron during which every group displayed resilience, leadership, management skills, and a great work ethic.

Year 7 (STEM)

In this workshop, Year 7 gained first-hand experience of the engineering process. During a series of practical activities, students were encouraged to create designs that stuck to a brief and performed in a consistent manner. Minimising human error was a key focus during a continual process of planning, testing, and modifying their designs. The final activity of the day saw students creating a balloon-powered vehicle using a wide range of resources. The winning team did an amazing job of managing all the complexities of this challenge with their design travelling over 6 metres in (roughly) a straight line.

Year 8 (Motivate Year 8 Workshop)

This workshop focused primarily on communication, creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and sales skills. Students worked in teams of 5 to complete a set of mini-activities that tested their problem-solving abilities across a wide range of skills such as verbal, mathematical, kinaesthetic, visual, auditory, and interpersonal skills. Each team had to play to the strengths of its members to be successful and in doing so realised the value of different skill sets in the workplace. To close the day, the students ran their own business in an interactive business activity. This involved buying resources, designing and building a product, selling the product, and reacting to changes in the marketplace. The students really excelled in their designs and their ability to pitch their products.

Year 9 (Money Matters)

This programme used fun activities to introduce students to the skills required to manage money effectively. The workshop covered credit cards, bank loans, payday loans, loan sharks, fraud, small print, tax, APR, and balancing income and expenditure. As well as developing personal finance skills, students completed activities that illustrate how money goes around in society. The students also had the chance to practice their negotiation skills in a fun trading activity and there were plenty of excellent negotiators who came up with creative angles to get themselves a good deal. In addition to finance, the workshop also introduced students to Labour Market Information and how it helps individuals to make informed career choices.

Year 10 (Enterprise)

The Year 10 workshop allowed students the chance to identify and practice key entrepreneurship skills including risk-taking, resilience, communication, developing original ideas, and teamwork. Students completed detailed business plans that forced them to consider the uniqueness of their idea plus their costs, staffing, premises, job roles, customers, environmental impact, competitors, marketing strategy, and their short, medium, and long-term goals. The teams also tried their hand at managing risk and reward in a ‘live trading’ activity.

Year 10 students also took the Morrisby Test earlier this month. This is an online assessment to help students identify potential career paths and helps them make informed decisions about their study options. Students will have one to one meetings of around 45 minutes with a team of professional careers staff from EC Careers to go through the results. More here. 

Looking forward, our Parents’ Guild Careers Committee is running a morning of workshops for Year 11 on March 31st. Students will be put into small groups which will rotate around panel sessions on areas including Digital/media, Creativity, Sustainability and AI, where they will get the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of experts in these fields from within the Parents’ Guild and alumnae.

All Year groups will have sessions using Xello – an online program that helps students define their future goals and helps with career planning and future readiness.

Sixth Form

In the Sixth Form, our Head of Careers, Miss Parr is always available for 1:1 discussion in which tailored support and advice can be given. Students are able to learn about apprenticeships and different recruitment practices through GDST Careerstart talks, while our Sixth Form Lecture Programme teaches students about a range of academic and career areas through our series of guest speakers, such as this recent talk by Karen Kimura from the GDST on apprenticeships. We also hold a number of alumnae networking events where students will have the opportunity to network with a range of former pupils and learn how they navigated their own career paths. Through the GDST Mini MBA and the Tycoon Enterprise Competition students are able to learn about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and how to run a business. They are also mentored throughout the process. Mentoring is also available through own our alumnae network and GDST Rungway.

In preparation for university entrance, we hold mock interviews and encourage students to visit universities (students are allocated a number of days each year where they are able to visit universities to learn more about Higher Education). Students are able to develop their academic understanding of the subjects that they might like to read at university by attending timetabled enrichment lessons, while our World Ready Programme incorporates a series of seminars and practical workshops students learn about a range of skills that will help them navigate university and beyond.

In addition, we also share a regular Careers Newsletter with students, which includes advice on finding the right career, details of virtual conferences and virtual work experience, apprenticeships, careers case studies and stories, webinars and links to careers resources. Through our student noticeboard, students have up-to-date information about Higher Education options, Careers and the Labour Market. All Sixth Form also have access to the Unifrog platform, which allows students to explore the different University courses and Apprenticeships they may be interested in.