Jack Petchey Foundation funded careers event helps students decide their future

Grey Court School used a £750 Jack Petchey Foundation Leader Award Grant to fund a four day careers and enterprise event for their Year 10 students.

The first day included a carousel of careers workshops on apprenticeships, self-employment, personal finance and a sixth form taster lesson. This taught the students about a range of post high school and sixth form pathways, allowing them to make informed decisions about their future. The students also took part in mock interviews and were given feedback on how they had performed and what they could do to improve. Lucy said “‘I was really nervous before my mock interview… but I am really pleased I did it [as] I’m looking for a part-time job so hopefully it will help me with that.”

The students were then set a two-day long challenge from seven local businesses who were involved. This project helped the students to develop their presentation, communication and problem solving skills. Freya said, “Working with Haymarket Media opened my eyes to all the jobs within media…I am now thinking about going into an apprenticeship in media rather than university, as I learn better by doing.”

The project ended with inspirational trips to Cambridge University and Reading University. This gave the students an insight into higher education and made the idea of studying at university seem more achievable. Jacob said “Going to university was not what I thought it would be like at all. Everyone was really friendly and there are courses for everyone, I didn’t consider university before but I am now thinking about taking A-Levels and going on to study Psychology.”