Last week, Year 12 students took part in the Futures Programme - a series of activities and talks across three days which explored life after Shiplake College.
This year, the line-up was slightly different as most events had to take place virtually. To kick-start the event, Head of Sixth Form, Mr Curtis and Head of Careers, Mrs Rapple Moore held a virtual drinks reception followed by two presentations about the various options available to Shiplake College students beyond Year 13, as well as a thorough review of the university application process.
Year 12 were then taken off their afternoon timetables from Wednesday 17 March through to Friday 19 March to research the various exciting opportunities open to them.
On Wednesday afternoon, students took part in a virtual university fair where they explored all aspects of applying to university, as well as what it is like to go to university.
On Thursday, pupils took part in an online carousel looking at the different options available to them when they leave school. As well as university, there were talks on gap years, apprenticeships and work experience.
Our thanks to the following contributors for their insightful talks:
- Will Worthington from Gapforce who talked about gap years
- Karen Watkins from SPW Careers who talked about Oxbridge
- Mark Smith from SPW Careers who gave advice on work experience
- Britney Cleary from ASK Apprenticeships who spoke about apprenticeships and how to apply for them
- Ellen Jarman from Royal Holloway University who talked with pupils about the importance of Personal Statements
On Friday afternoon, we were delighted to welcome four Old Vikings back to Shiplake College who left last summer. They came to talk to Year 12 about their first few months at university and the world of work.
Emily Booth, who is studying English and psychology at Edinburgh University, Evie Guirenet who is at Birmingham reading geography, Sam Wright who is taking a gap year working in a school (and then off to Warwick to study cyber security), and Charlie Bradshaw who is at Royal Holloway reading film, television and digital production all spoke about their experiences so far.
They also gave advice to pupils about how to use their time wisely while they are still at Shiplake, including:
- Revise
- Prepare
- Keep in contact with friends
- Make the most of your teachers
- Make the most of opportunities at Shiplake
- Ask questions
- Get involved with as much as you can
- Try and get some work experience
- Enjoy yourself!
After the talk from Old Vikings, the event culminated in a Zoom speed-networking session where pupils asked questions of career professionals from all walks of life, including banking, marketing, policing, dentistry, entrepreneurs and engineers. Our thanks go to the following for giving up their time and sharing advice and information about their careers with our students:
| Name | Company/Profession |
| Jon Gardiner | Savills Estate Agents |
| Amanda Greenwood | Wrigley Foster Media Direct Ltd |
| Louis Kunzig | Sciaky Electric Welding Machines |
| Catherine Mitchell | International Flavours and Fragrances GB Ltd |
| Sarah Giblin | Riut |
| Ted Howard-Jones | Sales and Marketing Director |
| Ellie Mainwaring | Invesco |
| Paul Stuart-Bennett | Dentist |
| Harry Griffiths | Sky plc |
| Helen Keen | Coutts |
| Penny Kunzig | James Hambro |
| Manos Mantaropoulos & Martin Tse | Simpson Engineering |
| Charlie Rapple | Kudos Innovations |
| Claire Hawkings | Ibstock plc (Energy Sector) |
| Ian Brooks | Maven-Insights Ltd |
| Sion Lewis | LogMeIn |
| David Attewell | Quantity Surveyor |
| Claire Perry | Warner Bros |
| Tim Eggar | Oil and Gas Authority |
| Ben Taylour | Police |
| Karl Pasmore | Institution of Civil Engineers |
| Jonny Fordham | The Sun |
| Maria Moir | Shiplake College |
The programme was organised by Head of Sixth Form, Mr Richard Curtis and Head of Careers, Mrs Louise Rapple Moore.
Mr Curtis, said:"Whilst we were unable to give our pupils the full face-to-face Futures experience of previous years it was pleasing to receive so many 'thank yous' from the Year 12 pupils for ensuring they did not miss out this year. My sincerest thanks go to Mrs Rapple Moore for organising many of the presenters and also the speed networking carousel alongside Mrs Green, a real feat of technological engineering.
"The Futures Programme is designed to give those pupils who have not yet embarked on their career/further education path of choice and we look forward to supporting all our pupils on the very exciting journeys that lay ahead of them."
Mrs Rapple Moore, said: "Holding a speed networking event over Zoom with 23 visitors and over 90 pupils was always going to be an ambitious project, but I am delighted to say that we pulled it off very successfully!
"The pupils spent six or seven minutes each with eleven of the visitors, talking about their careers, how they got into them and what a typical day might look like. One of the most popular questions, of course, was what someone in that industry might earn! I have already had very positive feedback from pupils and visitors alike.
"An enormous thank you to Mrs Green for a great deal of work behind the scenes and for hosting the call, as well as Mr Curtis for his support."
