Monday
At the start of National Careers Week, Year 7 students welcomed two guests to their assembly; one of Charters School’s past students who is currently studying Modern Foreign Languages at The University of Reading and a business consultant who works in mergers and acquisitions.
Year 13 students were joined by another former student during their assembly, who despite being disappointed with her A Level results is now the Transformation Director at the British Red Cross; she was keen to stress that results day shouldn't define you. Later in the day the GCSE and A Level French students heard about their guest’s experience of studying a joint honours degree in Geography and Russian, and how her language skills have benefitted her career.
Tuesday....
During the Year 8 assembly one of the school’s Trustees spoke about her career as a Policy and Operations Project Manager in the charity sector. Students also welcomed a Chartered Accountant and Financial Director who explained that you don't need to be a genius at Maths to be an Accountant, but you do need to know how to handle numbers.
During second break, the Head of Education at Arsenal Football Club presented a hugely informative overview of the careers available within the football industry that do not include kicking a ball!
Wednesday
On International Women’s Day the Year 12 students welcomed a truly inspiring woman who started her career in criminal law, switched to film and media before developing her own technology start-up company.
Later in the day, a carpenter and joiner presented an overview of his career in the Lecture Theatre to Year 10 Maths students. He explained how he uses his understanding of mathematical concepts on a daily basis, and gave examples of calculating the surface area of a wall and using angles to help construct a staircase.
Year 10 Biology students were joined by the Head of Nursing at Heatherwood Hospital who spoke to Yr10 Biology students about the many career options available in the nursing/medical field.
Thursday
The Vice President of Human Resources at CapGemini spoke to students during the Year 10 assembly and explained that although she is responsible for 140 H.R. professionals who support 130,000 UK employees, she had no idea what career she wanted or what might lie ahead when she was their age.
Friday
On the final day of National Careers Week the Year 11 students welcomed a doctor to their assembly who has moved into digital health services after developing an AI technology company. He spoke about the risks and rewards of being an entrepreneur and encouraged the students to choose something they enjoy and take advantage of every opportunity.
Later in the day, one of the school’s former students who is currently studying at The Royal Veterinary College spoke with Year 9 students about her interesting route into Further Education and shared her experience of life as an undergraduate.
The school’s week of career-related events was rounded off during second break when the Sixth Form students listened to a presentation which was delivered by the Director of Sales and Customer Support for The Myers-Briggs Company, who told the students to ‘Find Your Why – Find Your Way’.
The school would like to thank all their guests for taking the time to share their experiences with the students. The overriding themes which featured in many of their guests’ presentations were:
- Follow your heart, you need to be passionate about and enjoy whatever it is you end up doing
- Employers are employing YOU; they want to know about your values and attitude, specific skills they can teach you
- It’s ok not to know what you want to do
- Take risks and grab hold of opportunities when they come your way
- Be prepared to fail, this will undoubtedly happen but that’s often where you learn he most
- Imposter Syndrome does exist but don’t let that stop you from applying or presenting - it’s important to believe in yourself
- Remember that you may well end up in a career that doesn’t even exist yet. The jobs market and technology is changing so quickly, so be prepared to be flexible
- You’ll never regret working hard
Charters School Sunningdale held a successful careers week in March 2023