Blog

Year 12 Aspirations Evening

Earlier this week, our Year 12 students and their parents were invited to attend a Raising Aspirations Evening. During the evening, the Director of Careers, Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form talked to students and their parents about aiming high, university applications and higher level apprenticeships. One of our Senior Students, Finn Morgan also talked about his experiences of Sixth Form life and delivered some sound advice about researching and making applications early in the year.

Our Y12 Raising Aspirations Evening also saw students and parents drop into a series of sessions which shed light on the journey ahead as our Sixth Formers move into Higher Apprenticeships and university places.

The guest speakers – sessions included:

Applying to Oxbridge & Russell Group Universities – University of Sheffield

Higher Level Apprenticeships – Jessica Pieri from NGTU

Student Finance – Loughborough University

How to Start Your Own Business – Chamber of Commerce and Caitlyn Atkins (former student and business owner)

Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Our Raising Aspirations Programme is not only about aiming high but also showing students how to get there. We worked hard to get a good range of speakers and every student has taken away things they can use moving forward.”

Year 12 Employability Workshops

This week saw the second set of employability workshops we have held this term as part of our ongoing commitment to raising aspirations across the school. This time, it was the turn of our Year 12 students.

During the morning, students were given advice and guidance about performing in interviews, creating great first impressions and communicating effectively. Experienced professionals worked alongside our students giving them a valuable insight into their industries, what they look for when employing young people and the importance of having strong employability skills.

Students also took part in individual mock interviews with a team of 16 professionals. Each interview helped to build confidence and give students valuable experience and exposure to how interviews are conducted.

We were thrilled to receive superb feedback from both the students and employers about the morning’s activities.

Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Today’s Employability workshop has given students much to consider as well as a newly acquired skillset to use in future interview situations. We are so proud of all the students who took part and very grateful to those employers who gave up their time today.”