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Careers Bear Group
Download the "Careers and Higher Education"
pdf file
The 'Careers Library' at my own school, back in 1980,
was a cupboard with some prospectuses in it. When I had
an interview with the Careers Adviser and informed her
I'd like to be a journalist, she told me to do English
A Level and gave the address of the Journalist Society
or something like it. This sounds rather like the Pythons'
'I used to live in 'ole in't middle o'road an' get up
'fore I went t'bed' but things certainly have changed
for the better over the last twenty years.
Now schools like St. Edward's aim to provide their
pupils with a comprehensive service that helps them
attain knowledge of their own skills and attributes,
affords them the facilities to access a wide variety
of information and actively assists them when the time
for making important choices and transitions comes around.
Thus the pupils who go through all the stages of our
careers education programme should be ready to make
the most of their talents in the environment that suits
them best. Below I have highlighted some of the main
elements of the programme that hopefully aid the pupil's
journey to self-satisfaction and fulfilment in his or
her life after school.
The Morrisby aptitude test
During the last week of the Fourth Form all pupils take
the 'Morrisby' test. This consists of an interests questionnaire
and a three-hour aptitude test of the type commonly
used in industry for training and recruitment purposes.
The results are debriefed individually the following
term within a 30 minute discussion between the pupil
and a trained careers adviser from ISCO (Independent
Schools Careers Organisation: www.isco.org.uk) where
perhaps for the first time questions of A Level choices,
and degree and career options are explored in a formal
but relaxed atmosphere. The results together with a
report of the discussion are sent to parents during
the Autumn Term and the pupils are provided with the
excellent Penguin Careers Guide. Usefully, the booklet
of results also initiates relevant conversation between
pupils and parents, particularly in relation to the
Work Experience placement that pupils will normally
undertake in the penultimate week of the Summer Term
or during the following vacation.
Work Experience
One of the best ways in which a pupil can find out where
his or her interests and abilities can best fit in the
world outside school is through a relevant and well-organised
work experience placement. It also often turns out to
be the perfect arena where the key skills of communication,
working in teams, problem-solving, and sometimes the
use of numbers and I.T. can be practised and seen to
be vital for success within the work-place. In most
cases, after the sort of discussion mentioned above
between parents and pupil concerning the Morrisby report,
an excellent placement can be found within a family's
circle of friends and relations. When this is not possible,
the Careers Department will use its pool of placements
or negotiate with local companies and organisations
to find an opportunity that will allow the pupil to
explore his or her career interests, however far they
may be developed. Guidance on how to get the best out
of the work experience scheme is given during tutorials
and a full package of documentation serves to link together
the individual parties of pupil, parent, employer and
school. The most important piece of documentation, however,
is the pupil's logbook which leads the pupils of course
to record their actions and achievements but also research
some important aspects of the employing organisation
and the career opportunities of its employees. The quality
of the paperwork will be vital for later accreditation
within any key skills portfolio that a pupil could build
up. The relevance and high quality of our work experience
scheme soon becomes obvious in the Upper Sixth Form
when the pupils complete their UCAS forms and can almost
always write with interest and focus about their placements,
thus setting them apart from many other applicants.
Many of our pupils take a Gap Year and they should
plan this as carefully as possible so that they make
the most of that time and can utilise their plans in
their Personal Statements. Our comprehensive Gap Fair
is a useful first stop in this respect. Some pupils
know they want to go straight to university or other
institution and others choose ‘deferred entry’,
applying for the year after their Gap Year; some are
still unsure what they plan to do post school when they
come into the Upper Sixth. Such pupils can apply once
they have left having done much of the spade work while
still at school. We will help them later. Click here
for Gap Year providers list [link to Gap Year Fair page].
If your son or daughter decides to apply to university
when in the Upper Sixth, particularly for competitive
courses, he or she should come back in the Autumn Term
fully prepared as we aim to get applications off as
early as possible to give them an advantage in a competitive
world (again please see the link below).
Lower Sixth 'Team Challenge'
In my opinion the days of talks given by a representative
from a particular profession to a random audience are
over. Career paths are now too various and individual
for the information gained at the age of 16/17 to be
useful six or more years down the line. What have not
changed, however, over the last ten years are the skills,
now defined as 'key' by the government which enhance
performance in the workplace and aid the success of
individual employees. With the 'Team Challenge' we have
helped our Lower Sixth pupils for the last fifteen years
to use and enhance the skills they have in communication,
teamwork, problem-solving, leadership and creativity
by undertaking a systematic series of management-style
training games and exercises. Over two days in the last
week of the Summer Term each pupil is part of a competitive
team, advised by two managers from the worlds of education
and business, which undertakes such exciting-sounding
activities as 'Pyramid', 'Blind Spider, and 'Eggs Can
Leap.' The de-briefing stage that follows each activity
is a vital part of the process as are the group sessions
which the pupils attend on presentation skills and motivational
technique.
The Sixth Form Interview Course
The biggest event in the Higher Education Programme
takes place one day in early September at the start
of the Upper Sixth. Pupils will have completed their
practice UCAS forms using the UCAS software; these are
then distributed according to subject choice to over
thirty interviewers with backgrounds in academia or
industry who come in to interview our pupils in groups
of five or six. The practice the pupils receive in self-presentation,
both on the form and in person, is invaluable.
Business and Enterprise Awareness Resource
In the Careers Department we hope that the contact we
have with the pupils through the School contributes to
the well-roundedness of the St. Edward's pupil and his
or her preparedness for life beyond school. Much of the
work we undertake would be impossible without the wonderful
contribution of time and energy put in by parents of pupils
both past and present: these are members of the so-called
BEAR Network which meets once a term and provides work
experience placements, interviewers, management conference
advisors and all-round support and guidance to the Careers
Department. The members also put on two career presentation
evenings in the Spring Term, for which interested 5th
and 6th formers can sign up - much more focused and helpful
than an old-fashioned Careers Fair! If you are interested
in hearing more about this group, or any of the details
above, please contact me, the Head of Careers, at the
School on 01865 319214 or by e-mail hunte@stedwards.oxon.sch.uk.
Year-group activities in Careers Education and Guidance
| Interview Course for Upper Sixth: |
September |
| Gap Year Fair for Lower and Upper Sixth: |
September |
| 'The Real Game’ for Shells: |
December |
| ISCO day for Fifth Form on Work Experience preparation
and job-seeking: |
February |
| Careers Presentations for Fifths and Sixths: |
March |
| 'Success Story’ for Fourth Form (planning,
manufacturing and marketing game): |
April |
| Morrisby Test for Fourth Form: |
June |
| Work Experience for Fifth Form: |
June |
Team Challenge Conference for Lower Sixth (management
training style activities concentrating on communication
and presentation skills):
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June |
Staff
Head of Careers: Edmund Hunt ( Classics ) |
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