UCAS Discovery Day Conference: exploring the next steps

The Sixth form team arranged the annual drive up to the EXCEL centre in London for our Year 12s just before Easter. This is a large conference event for all university and apprenticeship offerings for 18+. Our Sixth form, along with the Consortium schools, spent the morning understanding the degree course options and chatting with different universities and course providers for different subject areas. Our Year 12s got a real taste of what is available to them, with great timing on this event to kick start considering their options going into Year 13. The event also reminded the students that the University Open Day season starts in early Summer through to the Autumn term.

Year 12 Practise for Interviews and Assessment Centres

At Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School, we believe that practice makes perfect and this month, our sixth formers had the opportunity to put this into action during our annual Mock Interview and Mock Assessment Centre events, which are an integral part of the Year 12 Careers Programme. These key events are designed to help our sixth formers develop crucial communication skills and gain confidence as they prepare for the world of work.

Mock Interviews: Real-World Experience

This year, we welcomed over a dozen local businesses and 25+ interviewers from local companies such as Paypoint, Computacenter, Roche, Barclays, Crane and Staples and many more. This event is a students’ favourite in the calendar as they get to practice their interview techniques, receive instant feedback, and gain insights into how to sharpen their communication skills in a professional setting.

Mock Assessment Centre: Building Key Skills

In partnership with our cornerstone employer Computacenter, we also ran a Mock Assessment Centre, where students participated in simulated exercises focused on teamwork, creativity, communication, and problem-solving—skills essential for real-world job selection processes.

Both events helped our Year 12 students develop and refine the skills they need to succeed in future job applications and interviews. We are grateful to all the above employers who contributed to these valuable experiences and look forward to continuing to support our students’ career development.

Mrs Higgins Head of Careers

Year 7 to 11 pupils get presented with an overview of the range of Apprenticeships and opportunities

Options, Options, Options! At school, we are tasked with developing rounded young people with academic qualification and transferable skills to head off to the outside world. Knowing their options is a critical role of Careers in school – whether it be further education options or early employment via the government backed Apprenticeship schemes. Our KS4 and KS5 pupils had a series of “Apprenticeships Explained” assemblies this term from Ask Apprenticeships. The presentations were delivered to demystify the growing network of apprenticeships available from those appropriate for post-16, right the way through to Masters equivalents. Giving the chance to stay in education while gaining an income! The number and range of employers, and now functions, that you can apply for is growing every year. There are now legal and teaching apprenticeships coming online, with the medical world also being reviewed for apprenticeships by our government.

Our role is to explain the benefits of these schemes – that feature on-the-job training with educational qualifications at all levels – and to add them to the “mix” for our pupils to make the right choice for them.

Information for parents and carers on Apprenticeships can be found at Ask Apprenticeships website and the government website: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/the-ask-programme/ https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

Parallel History Debaters – Year 9 and Year 12 take on conflict history debate subjects.

To develop historical and public speaking skills our Parallel Histories Debating club delivered two debates this term on the history of the Balfour Declaration and the foundations of the Palestine-Israel story. As Historians it is always key to understand the starting point of key events that are still current politically today – and our Year 9s and Year 12s participated in a UK wide debate series online over the last half term to explore these subjects. Our Year 12 debaters “cut their teeth” on a debate on the importance of Churchill earlier in the term; and both year groups tackled the Balfour Declaration with perception and sensitivity – allowing them to think critically, analyse and debate contested histories. Our pupils all got great feedback from the organisers for convincing arguments and effective presentations – great skills for their futures! We have further debates planned about US Civil rights for both teams and our new Year 10 group.

Mrs Higgins