Plumpton College offers Taster Day Courses in 2017/18 during the October and February half-term holidays, for students in years 10 & 11. Please click on the link below for further details and application form.
Oathall’s year 10 students have just enjoyed a week of work related learning experiences. The week is designed to broaden their experience and understanding of the world of work and to support them as they consider their future career pathways.
The students were immersed in a wide range of work related learning activities:
Monday – The students chose to visit either Crawley College, the University of Sussex or Plumpton College. The students toured the campuses, learned about what life would be like as a student and participated in subject taster sessions.
Tuesday – We were very pleased to welcome back some former Oathall students: Sarah Caddy (Post-doctoral Research Fellow @ Cambridge University), Sarah Fairbairn (training to become a criminal barrister), Jo Taylor (Head of Production at Label1 Television Ltd), Trevor Butler (journalist), James Wilson (director of a national charity), David Amor (computer games designer) and David Marshall (Head of Customer Science, MoneySuperMarket.com). They came to talk to students about their career paths and experiences of the world of work. They are all members of the Oathall Alumni Association, which allows us to keep in touch with our former students.
Wednesday – The year group visited the Big Bang Fair, an event that focussed on career opportunities linked to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Thursday – The students spent this half term preparing for mock interviews. We had many business volunteers who acted as interviewers for our Year 10 students. The mock interviews helped to prepare our students for their college interviews. The business volunteers were very impressed by our students, stating that they were mature, polite and came very well prepared. In the afternoon, the students all attended an apprenticeship presentation. This gave them an opportunity to understand how the National Apprenticeship programme works.
Friday – Work Observation Day: The students were able to observe a parent, friend or relation at work. The students had to complete a world of work survey whilst on their placement too.
We always ask the students to evaluate the week. Here are some of the comments made:
- “ Every aspect of the week was fun and educational.”
- “I really enjoyed my visit to Sussex University because it helped me decide what I want to do when I am older.”
Six year 8 students (Matthew Brennan, Esme Brigden, Zoe Nelson, James Polhill, Jessica Ruddock and Patrick Stedman) recently attended an ‘Introduction to Engineering Day’ run by Rockwell Collins UK Ltd in Burgess Hill who manufacture aircraft training simulators. The students learnt about the various engineering job roles within the company and participated in practical activities including building a small projector, 3D modelling using Photoshop and making a large mirror using the same material crisp packets are made from. They also got to fly and land a plane!
Some of our year 8 students were lucky enough to attend a workshop run by Future First, the charity that coordinates Oathall’s Alumni Association, around the themes ‘building motivation and overcoming barriers’. We were thrilled to welcome back eight alumni to Oathall, who kindly gave up their time to talk to our students about their education and career paths, and in doing so provided valuable guidance and inspiration to the students. We have received very positive feedback from the current and former students who took part, but of particular note:
70% of the students said they are now more confident or much more confident about being successful in the future now they have heard from former students;
82% of the students said they will now work harder or much harder at school as a result of having spoken to the former students;
76% of the students agreed that ‘the session improved my knowledge of courses and jobs that I could do in the future’;
77% of the students agreed that the session helped them understand how their school work might help them get a job in the future.
Year 9 students have recently attended the annual Careers Speed Dating event at Oathall where they had the opportunity to speak to business and trade professionals from across the county and beyond. It is organised to inspire our future workforce about real jobs; practise those all-important communication skills, and hopefully dispel some myths and challenge gender stereotypes. This event complements the year 9 options process and students’ feedback is always very positive.
In fast paced, 5-minute slots, students asked a barrage of questions of the 30 different speakers representing a wide range of employment sectors including banking, engineering, medicine, scientific research, catering & hospitality, hairdressing, publishing, veterinary, Police, Armed Forces, childcare, nursing, law, retail, sport, performing arts and many more!
Feedback from the employers has been extremely positive. Year 9 students did themselves proud.
Reflecting on his first experience of Oathall’s Careers Speed Dating, Mr Rod Hayler, Partner at Old Bailey Solicitors commented: ‘It was a pleasure speaking with your year 9 pupils, all of whom were impressively polite, engaged and insightful with their questioning. I particularly enjoyed a guess from one young man who said “from the look of your suit … you must be a school headteacher”. I can only assume that Mr Rodriquez must be a finely dressed man!’
Another first-timer was Steve Edwards, chef and winner of Masterchef Professional 2013, who said: ‘It was a pleasure to attend your event and have the opportunity to talk to and inspire the next generation. It is a daunting task to think about what you want to do as a career and I hope I was able to give the students help and reassurance on the start of their career paths’.
Regular business representative Rachael Waters, Community Nurse, commented: ‘The students are all so receptive and keen to learn about the different roles. From my perspective it is great to invest what is just a couple of hours to potentially inspire students to join my profession. I met a delightful girl today who wanted to be a nurse and I know from her enthusiastic response she will one day make a terrific nurse.’
Thank you to all the business volunteers for giving up their time so generously to support our students. It was especially pleasing that some of the participants were former Oathall students and members of the school’s Alumni Association.
Students in year 10 have recently participated in a week of work-related activities aimed at broadening their experiences and helping to inform future career choices. (more…)
Year 9 students have recently attended the annual Careers Speed Dating event at Oathall, meeting representatives from employment sectors covering the media, healthcare and the sciences, uniformed services, construction, hospitality, performing arts, engineering, retail, sport and leisure, finance, social care and IT.
The aim of the event is for young people to talk face to face with people employed in these sectors, to learn about job roles, what skills and qualifications they will need and to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the range of career opportunities available to them in the future. (more…)
Following the recent Post 16 Opportunities Evening, students in year 11 should be planning their choices for continuing their education after their final year at Oathall. Booklets containing advice and information about colleges, qualifications, apprenticeships and the application process are available under ‘Work Related Learning’.
Students are advised to check course information and entry requirements on the colleges’ websites as prospectuses are printed some time before and details do change. This is particularly relevant to the changes being made to A levels over the next three years.
The deadline for all applications is MONDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2015. All college applications must be brought to Ms Hart in the Careers Office (the exceptions being St Paul’s and Collyer’s as their application process is completed online).
If you are unsure about anything connected with this process please speak to Ms Hart.
Students in Year 7 were given a fascinating insight into the life of top teen author Alex Scarrow when he visited Oathall on the 16 March 2015. As part of a series of events organised by the English department, Alex Scarrow visited Oathall to talk to students about his life, how he became an author and his new book series, Time Riders. (more…)
More photos can be viewed on our Flickr pages.
Students in year 9 have just attended the annual Careers Speed Dating event at Oathall meeting representatives from employment sectors covering the media, healthcare and the sciences, uniformed services, construction, performing arts, engineering, legal services and IT.
The event was run as a means of getting students to talk to a large number of business representatives, encouraging them to find out more about future careers options direct from people employed in their sectors.
It was especially pleasing that some of the 28 participating business representatives were former Oathall students and members of the school’s Alumni Association. Former alumni said of the event:
‘A really enjoyable morning, the students were enthusiastic and welcoming. It’s a brilliant way to show the students about the wide range of career options available and the different routes you can take after school.’
Dr Sarah Bruce, General Practitioner (more…)
