Last week (w/c Monday 3 March) was National Careers Week, a one-week celebration of careers guidance and resources in education across the UK. At Shiplake, it was our Year 12 pupils who were looking forward with the dedicated Futures Day however, on Tuesday 4 March, there was a chance for all pupils to think about careers with our Focus on Careers Day.
On Focus on Careers Day, many our teachers spent a short time at the start of their lessons talking about careers that their subject could lead to. For our younger pupils who had perhaps not yet started to consider future options, it was a great way to get the ball rolling in a relaxed and informal manner.
Then, on Thursday 6 March, it was Futures Day for our Year 12 pupils. On this day, all Year 12 pupils were off-timetable engaging in a number of sessions and activities to discover what their options are for life after Shiplake. From occupation and life presentations to speed networking with professionals, there was plenty for our pupils to consider for their future.
The day began with a presentation from Surrey University on student finance. This gave our pupils the opportunity to discover and learn more about finance options at university including loans, scholarships and grants. Following this, the Year 12s were split into groups before heading off for a first carousel of talks. These included talks on applying to and studying at the University of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as talks on careers in marketing, accountancy, HR, media, and studying in the USA. The second carousel of talks included presentations on gap years, entrepreneurships, investment banking, and careers in technology, law, dentistry, and sport.
In the final session of the morning, we welcomed Mr Toby Knott to the College to deliver a talk on degree-apprenticeships. Toby is currently employed as a Cyber Security Apprentice at Thales UK and is completing a Cyber Security Technical Professional degree through Gloucestershire College and UWE. In his session with our Year 12s, he provided an in-depth talk about what degree-apprenticeships are like, what they offer, and how they are different to studying a degree at university.
In the afternoon, we welcomed back some Old Vikings – 2024 leavers Emily Downing, Vlad Melnyk, and Tom O’Brien to talk about life after Shiplake. This included shedding light on the university experience from flat sharing to lectures to nightlife. The discussion was extremely open to give our Year 12 pupils an honest and real insight into life at university or just life in general after Shiplake.
Futures Day then concluded with a ‘Speed Networking’ event. Here, in their small groups, the pupils had the opportunity to talk to professionals from multiple fields such as marketing, medicine and finance. To add to the ‘speed’ element, groups had seven minutes with each professional before rotating.
Speaking after National Careers Week, Head of Careers - Mrs Rapple Moore – said the following:
‘We were delighted with the wide range of different career paths on show today, with everything from accountancy to engineering via dentistry and journalism, and much more. It was also great for pupils to be able to ask questions of an apprentice and to hear from our Old Vikings about their experiences. One of my main aims to make sure students are aware of the vast range of opportunities on offer to them when they leave Shiplake, and this event really achieved that.’
Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Farrell, adds:
‘As ever our Futures Day was pivotal for our Year 12 students, offering invaluable inspiration and education on the vast range of post-Shiplake opportunities. This event significantly broadened their horizons, opening them up to possibilities that they may not even have known existed and equipped them with the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their futures. We look forward to supporting each student in whatever path they choose and hopefully seeing them back to support with the same event in years to come.’
Thank you to everyone who helped with the running of the week, especially to those who visited the school to talk and present to our Year 12 pupils. We hope that the experience proves to be a useful one for our Year 12 pupils when considering their options for the future!