National Careers Week 2024
22 March 2024 - All
In March, the School celebrated the UK’s National Careers Week with a number of events and activities. The aim of the week was to inspire pupils to think about their future plans and the variety of routes and opportunities that lie ahead of them.
Our events began on Tuesday evening with a Career Spotlight focusing on English, held in Big School. We were delighted to welcome back two Wycombe Abbey Seniors: Clarissa Ward, Chief International Correspondent at CNN, and Emily Davis, Brand Communications Director at Wella, a global beauty brand. Both speakers highlighted the importance of studying English and the variety of possible career paths this can lead to. The event was open to pupils in all year groups, and we were also joined by 20 pupils from five local schools. Emily spoke about her career journey to date, the importance of communicating well and how studying English is crucial in helping us to do this. She explained how valuable young people are in providing insights into current social media trends and reminded our pupils that they are powerful, as well as encouraging them to be their own advocates. Clarissa inspired the pupils with stories of humility and hope from some of the world’s most difficult areas. She spoke about how, in an age of misinformation and disinformation, critically analysing any text and understanding why and for what purpose it is being written is a really important skill. The event ended with an extended Q&A/discussion, allowing pupils to grill both speakers and ask their burning questions.
We received some super feedback from the evening with visiting pupils commenting that the event was ‘incredible and seriously inspiring’ and one of our speakers adding that they greatly enjoyed the discussion time finding pupils to be ‘so engaging and articulate’.
Throughout the week, pupils received daily careers bulletins with links to a wealth of online resources in the world of careers. Much of this is collated on our newly developed ‘Future Ready’ intranet, which allow pupils to access up-to-date and relevant information on all sorts of careers advice: where to start when considering options, how to write a CV, ideas for work experience, or information on what a degree apprenticeship is and what it involves.
On Thursday 7 March, we hosted interactive career workshops for all pupils in LV – they took part in role plays, discussions and Q&A time in sector-based workshops led by a panel of external facilitators. The workshops were deliberately broad in nature and covered Professional Services, Engineering and Renewable Energy, Healthcare, Film and TV. The focus was on developing those skills needed for a successful and fulfilling career and allowing younger girls to begin thinking about their futures.
During the week, staff were encouraged to engage pupils in discussions about career ideas; we had a tutor time quiz featuring trailblazing women who were pioneers in their fields and all pupils were invited to come along to the Courtyard Café and add to our display, sharing their dream careers. It was great to read about their aspirations and their thoughts will be used to shape plans for inviting speakers in the coming year.
The week was a great celebration of all things careers! It was a chance to begin the process of thinking about what they might want to do, to be inspired by two wonderful Seniors, and the time to access information and resources to help, encourage, and guide them as they think and plan to be future ready.
Mrs Becky Scott
Careers Administrator
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