Providing access and opportunities to our young people

The Sixth Form and Destination team has been especially busy this term, organising several events for students across our schools.?

In celebration of this year's National Careers Week, the team ran its first Primary Careers Week -a series of virtual career insight events for our primary pupils.?????

The events aimed to spark discussion around our young learner's future ambitions, expose pupils to a broad range of career options and encourage them to link what they are learning in class to their futures.?

Throughout the week, more than 960 students accessed nearly three hours of talks from professionals about experiences ranging from fatbergs at Thames Waterworks to designing the set of Detective Pikachu!????

We know that research shows that lower socioeconomic status significantly impacts future destination outcomes through children's limited exposure to role models from higher education backgrounds and specific job sectors (Fisher and Fisher 2018), making the week an excellent opportunity to address the disadvantage gap in CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance nationally.??

Research also suggests that gender norms are already strongly evident in job preferences at age five (OECD 2016). The event also created a valuable opportunity for professionals to address gender stereotypes within their respective industries and to promote the importance of having female representation in STEM and construction roles.?

For our older students keen on pursuing medical careers, they visited King Solomon Academy, where they could speak with medical professionals from various backgrounds, such as dietetics, osteopathy and paediatrics. Students learned about the various positions and routes into working in the NHS and the specialisms they can pursue while training to be a doctor. They also had the chance to speak with a current medical student, who offered insights into what studying for a medical degree is like. Medicine Without Barriers, who organised the event, works to support students to overcome barriers to succeed in medical and healthcare careers.???

We took a group of Professional Pathways Sports and Exercise Science students to St. Mary's University - one of the top places to study sports science in the country! They met with experts in the field and even ran tests using state-of-the-art equipment. Our Year 12 students also visited the QPR FC stadium to learn more about Sport and Exercise Psychology and Specialised Fitness Testing from experts in football as part of their curriculum learning.?

Also, this term, we welcomed a group of students to our main office, where they participated in a mock assessment centre for apprenticeships. Volunteers from apprenticeship providers 彭博资讯 , Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd , 希尔顿全球酒店集团 , 凯捷咨询 , Financial Conduct Authority and Dartmouth Partners worked hard to give every student personal feedback on their performance in a variety of assessment centre tasks, as well as a wealth of advice and guidance on how to secure an apprenticeship. One student even received a provisional offer for an apprenticeship!??

Throughout the summer term, we’re hosting more conferences, workshops and events. We'll also support students as they finish their Key Stage 3 and 4 journeys and embark on their post-16 opportunities.??

We couldn't do this work without the support of our partners. Don't hesitate to contact Emma Thomson , our Education Partnerships Manager if you want to discuss partnering with us and supporting our students.?