Year 11 - Preparing for the Future
Year 11 Post 16 options – preparing for the future
On Wednesday 21 October, Year 11 students from The Deepings School took part in a number of activities to learn more about their choices at the end of the academic year.
The event was a little different this year, as the school could not welcome external businesses into school for the usual annual Careers Fair, due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, therefore we had to be a little more creative!
Working within their ‘bubble’ students were able to learn about the following pathways through a range of virtual presentations and activities. These are to:
- Continuing their studies within a sixth form centre
- Applying to a college of further education
- A further education course at the Peterborough UTC
- Applying for an apprenticeship and the different levels and sectors available
- Work based training
The first session kicked off with an inter-active presentation from local employer BGL, who delivered a session on employability skills and recruitment via a ‘Teams’ link. This included input from former student Olivia, who explained her role within the organisation and the skills she had developed along the way.
BGL staff commented: “We would like to thank The Deepings School and Linda for arranging an employability workshop with us virtually, in these unusual circumstances we are delighted that we were able to ensure students still have the advice and information to support them with the next steps in their careers. As always, it was a great session and we look forward to many more; be it in person or virtually’”
Students also had the opportunity to create their Unifrog account and to discuss, explore and record their Post 16 intentions. The Unifrog platform has an extensive virtual careers library and activities to help students compare and contrast their options.
Lincolnshire NHS provided another presentation to showcase a range of careers within the sector and generate discussions surrounding stereotypes. Students were able to listen to staff working with the sector and learn about the qualifications and skills required.
There were links to some interesting recordings highlighting women working in STEM-related careers and to the CEO of Lincoln City Football club and an apprenticeship presentation, personalised for our school, to include labour market information
One year 11 student remarked “I found the day really useful and it's good to have another layer of support for us"
The school’s Careers Adviser, Ms Boothby was also on hand to support students, alongside Mrs Taylor, Careers Lead, who commented:
“We would like to thank all the organisations who put together virtual presentations and activities to enable us to provide a good range of impartial and up-to-date careers guidance. Our aim is to ensure students can make well- informed decisions about the progression route that is right for them, whilst developing key skills and being able to conduct independent research.
We have also put together a Post 16 overview for parents and carers.
