CAREERS CAROUSEL - Year 8 – a chance to hear from some exciting employers – Tuesday 28 January 2020

Twenty enthusiastic volunteers came to speak to all Year 8 students last week about why they “love their career”.  Speech therapists, Hollywood Artistic Directors, an ethical advertising director, a software developer and police / fire officers, to name but a few, spoke to the students about what they do and how they got there.  Students had the chance to ask questions and probe deeper.  One of the students asked “Do you work with aliens” to Brad from Inmarsat, a satellite communications company.  Others spoke of working alongside Tom Cruise – “he is just an ordinary guy”. 

Everyone enjoyed the morning.  Miss Morrison said, “It was brilliant”.  Eve, 8S, wrote “I liked how the people came and how they inspired me about what to do in the future”.  All the volunteers said they would be happy to come back and speak in more depth about their careers.  Many thanks to all of our willing volunteers.

Careers Talk - Architecture and Interior Design - Tuesday 21 January 2020

Vicki Odili, Project Director, at tp bennett architects, came to speak to students about how interesting and varied a career in architecture can be.  She admitted that sometimes she is the only woman in the room – but that has never put her off and all companies are seeking a more diverse workforce.  She enjoys the challenge and teamwork of the construction world.  Vicki encouraged all students who enjoy problem solving and art / design to investigate architecture and interior design.

Chloe, 11M, was enthused by the presentation:

“I found the architecture careers talk very interesting and it was really helpful for me to learn about all the different factors you have to consider when designing a building. It was a great opportunity to learn about the role an architect plays in the creation of schools, hospitals, shops, and many other different structures. It has really encouraged me to think about what it is like to be a female architect and consider looking more into the possibility of doing architecture as a career”.

Bloomberg Headquarters Year 10 visit and Diversity Workshop - Friday 17 January

A group of twenty nine Year 10 students were delighted to tour around the beautiful Bloomberg European Headquarters last Friday.  We all agreed that the Norman Foster designed building is stunning.  The Headquarters won the RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK's best new building in 2018.  The Bloomberg building is the world's most sustainable office - using 70% less water and 40% less energy than a typical office block.  It is also the largest stone building in the City of London.  We were treated to an excellent Diversity Workshop by one the the Bloomberg Charity Partners.

Lola commented – “The Bloomberg trip was interesting and eye opening to the many aspects of the LGBTQ plus community.  As well as, the amount of thought that went into the construction of the building”.

Rudra wrote – “I loved the Bloomberg building and the whole experience.  It was very eye opening to the world of work, and I would love to see more buildings like this one”.

See link for more details of this fascinating building:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/oct/10/norman-fosters-bloomberg-office-in-london-wins-stirling-prize

JP Morgan Generation Tech Event on Saturday 14 December 2019

Over 50 of our students volunteered to attend the JP Morgan Generation Tech event on a Saturday before Christmas.  They were treated to an exciting day involving creativity, team work, lots of cookies and some fantastic prizes.  Many of them worked with other young women from across the South East and made new friends.  Five of our students were in the top two winning teams.  Zainab, Hayley and Melanie all won iPads to take home.  And Rebecca and Isabel won Sony Headphones.  Well done to all of the 54 students who went along.  I would highly recommend this annual event to all Year 10 to 13 students next December. 

Here are some comments from the two Year 13 students in the winning team.

Zainab

On Saturday, we arrived at J.P. Morgan in Canary Wharf along with about 150 other students. The day was incredibly enjoyable as I got on very well with the rest of the team and throughout the day there was an endless amount of snacks and food for everyone as well as lots of other prizes available. We designed an engaging app to improve sustainable cities and communities, then pitched it in two rounds of judging and we won first prize which was an iPad.

Hayley

The JP Morgan Generation Tech experience was an insightful experience into design collaboration and STEM in a useful way to produce a technological solution for a UN global goal. By producing an app for promoting sustainability in communities we won an iPad each and throughout the day we were treated to tacos, pizza, burgers and raffle prizes. It was a special day having met new people too and I highly recommend it to anyone with the opportunity to go next year

Costume and Theatre Careers Talk by Sarah Holmes, National Theatre, on Tuesday 19 November 2019

Sarah Holmes, Assistant Costume Supervisor at the National Theatre, spoke to an audience of 40 students about the many roles in the theatre.  It was fascinating to realise just how many teams are involved in putting on a professional theatre production.  Everyone really enjoyed finding out more about what happens backstage at this world leading theatre.

Sarah also told us about all the other schemes at the NT that our students can access.

Young Makers - a one week course in August for 14 to 18 year olds:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/content/young-makers-2019

Young People courses and events:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/young-people

New Views - the NT national playwriting competition:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/schools/secondary-and-fe/new-views

http://www.new-views.tv/

Connections performance programme:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/connections

Entry Pass - cheap tickets (£7.50) for 16 to 25 Year olds:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/entry-pass

Please do encourage your child to take advantage of the NT events and courses. And to look at the Discover Creative Careers website – all about careers in the creative industries.

https://discovercreative.careers/#/

Year 10 - Employability Day – 07 November 2019

On Thursday 07 November 36 employers, 2 apprentices and 3 university representatives came to meet our Year 10 students.  All Year 10s took part in a one to one interview with an employer.  The University of Westminster and Goldsmiths College representatives spoke to the tutor groups about what it is like at university.  The Lewisham Borough and Vidal Sassoon apprentices, gave presentations in the classrooms about how much they are enjoying earning and learning with their employers.  All pupils used the CV Builder on the Barclays Lifeskills website to compose a CV to use when seeking work experience placements.

The pupils really enjoyed the experience of practising their interview skills.  The employers were extremely impressed by the maturity and “polish” of our students. In the evening 280 parents and pupils attended the Work Experience Launch information event.  Two Year 11 students spoke of how much they had enjoyed their work experience at a local GP Surgery and at Goldsmiths College Library.  A very brave Year 10 student, told us about the extra S4S Next Gen work experience that she had undertaken and how much she had enjoyed her week of work at the UK Disney Head Office.  Well done to all of our Year 10s for their exceptional maturity and looking so wonderful on Employability Day. 

Do look at the Stemmettes website for exciting events that may interest your child

https://stemettes.org/

Do encourage your child to create an account at the S4S Next Generation website:

https://www.s4snextgen.org/

VIP Careers Visit from Sir Simon McDonald, Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

On Thursday 23 May 2019, we were honoured to welcome Sir Simon McDonald KCMG KCVO, Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for a fascinating and insightful talk to our Sixth Form and other students. He gave a colourful account of his life to date – from his humble upbringing in Manchester and a grammar school scholarship that led to a place at Cambridge University, to his experience within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and his interactions with the Royal Family!

The best part for the students was the opportunity to ask Sir Simon their numerous questions and we are very grateful for the amount of time he was able to spend with us – a truly inspirational and engaging speaker!  If you would like to purchase a DVD of this careers event - costing £5 – please contact Fiona Taylor.  F.taylor@sydenham.lewisham.sch.uk

Year 10 students complete their first challenge as Community Apprentices.

On Thursday 28th February 2019, a group of 14 students from Year 10 completed their first challenge as part of Envision’s Community-Apprentice competition: the Awareness Raising Challenge. Team Stop, Drop, Live or S.D.L. are supporting Street Doctors, a charity which aims to reduce the number of deaths as a result of violence by teaching young people to call 999 and Emergency First Aid.

Team S.D.L raised awareness of the work of Street Doctors through running a fantastic interactive assembly for their Year 10 peers. The team also approached students during lunchtime explaining more about the charity and asking them to write on a red hand about the importance of Street Doctors. This coincided with the national campaign #highfivetosavealife.  These hands will be used to create an art piece that will be displayed in the school.

The team’s awareness-raising day concluded with volunteers from Street Doctors coming into school to deliver a session. Here the students learned what to do if they come across someone who is bleeding or unconscious, including how to put someone into the recovery position and perform CPR. The team did an incredible job at working together to deliver an ambitious Awareness-Raising Project. They have shown an enormous amount of creativity and have really developed together. Well done everyone.

The competition so far

The team are halfway through their 13-week journey on the Envision programme. Having just completed the first of three challenges as Community Apprentices, they will be taking on the Fundraising Challenge and Pitching Challenge in the next few weeks.  As well as developing their own skills, the programme requires students to work effectively in teams to make their challenges a success.

Team S.D.L are in competition with four other schools. The team that can demonstrate that they have shown the best use and development of determination, confidence and teamwork as well as overall commitment to the programme, will be crowned the “Community Apprentice Champions” and will win an extra £500 for their charity.

Exposure to the workplace

Each school is partnered with its very own business, who invite the students to their offices and volunteer their time to guide and encourage the team with their projects as well as encourage them to develop the skills employers are looking for.

Team S.D.L with their business partners Inmarsat

In the last mentoring session, the Community Apprentices worked with their Business Mentors to develop ideas for their fundraising challenge that will take place at their workplace in Spring. As well as offering them guidance with project planning, the mentors provide the students with examples of how to develop key skills of teamwork, confidence and determination, reinforcing how valuable these skills are in their own jobs and when accessing the workplace in general.

The next Business Mentoring session will take place on Thursday 28th March, where the team will have an hour to deliver their fundraising activities, putting their newly developed skills of confidence and teamwork into practice by raising as much money as possible for Street Doctors. They will also do a presentation to the wider organisation at Inmarsat, to inform them about their experiences on Envision’s Community-Apprentice programme. This will prepare the participants for their final challenge on 29th April. This is The Pitching Challenge, where they will go head to head with four other schools. But, there can only be one winner!