Career guidance and mock interview support
Our school’s career outreach work connects pupils (at schools both in the local area and further afield) with industry professionals, offering a variety of opportunities, and career workshops to prepare them for future success. A summary of our partnership activity in this area is outlined below.
One project saw pupils volunteering with the organisation 'My Big Career' to offer advice to students at schools with high proportion of Pupil Premium. Recently they also shared the RGS Careers Guide publication with the organisation.
The head of careers at RGS also helped provide career advice about UCAS to pupils in the sixth form at a number of state schools. Support was also given to a pupils at two state schools (Barnhill Community High School in the London Borough of Hilligdon and BSix College, Hackney) to prepare for their Oxbridge applications.
The Head of Careers at RGS also held mock interviews with pupils from a number of state partners, including year 8 students at Academy 360, a state school in Sunderland, as well as with Year 9 pupils at Ashcroft Academy in London.
RGS hosted a Higher Education Evening where Industry specialists spoke to parents and pupils about careers in their fields.
The school has given online careers guidance interviews to pupils from Walker Riverside Academy, a state school in Newcastle.
We also hosted a careers evening on Engineering with guests speakers and several local state school pupils aged 15-18 were invited to attend.
RGS also ran a degree apprenticeship evening, which was designed to help students to see the pros and cons of undertaking a degree apprenticeship as opposed to a degree. We had presentations from Nestle, Pearson College (who run the degree side of a number of degree apprenticeships) and Withers Law Firm. They were joined by representatives from Huntley Cartwright (Quantity Surveyors) and Waterman Group (Environmental/Engineering) for a Q&A, in which we attempted to draw out all of the information that students and parents need to know before undertaking one of these. St Bede's and Reigate School were involved in this event. The aim was to offer advice and resources to schools with high numbers of pupil premium. The degree apprenticeships evening was designed to help students to see the pros and cons of undertaking a degree apprenticeship as opposed to a degree.
The Careers department also recently hosted an information evening for students and their parents interested in studying Law and potentially seeking future employment in the sector. The event was attended by around 150 people, including a number of invitees from local schools.
Aims
The aim of the digital careers event was to give pupils interested in a career in the digital sphere information about which careers are available to them and how to get a job in the digital industry.
Background
The Alternatives to Degree Course evening was attended by some two hundred students and parents who came along to hear about some of the options available to students at 18, who are considering options other than going to university. First we heard from Harriet Jones (EY), who spoke about their school leaver scheme in Accountancy; after this Dr. William Marsh from QMUL addressed the audience about Degree Apprenticeships. Finally, Rebecca Erratt gave her experiences of Art and Drama School. In addition we had representatives from a wide range of school leaver schemes, apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships, who took questions from students and parents on a 1-1 basis.
Resources
Online format as well as school hall, IT and, where applicable, catering.
Pupil Involvement
Pupils from a number of different year groups.
Frequency
Annual, termly and one-off events.