National Careers week at Worthing High School
National Careers Week which also coincided with the National Apprenticeship Week was held at Worthing High School and students took part in this initiative to help, guide and support their Career choices, they also looked at employability skills essential to the World of Work. Students were given a Career booklet to complete throughout the week, helping them focus on gaining the information needed included. This included details of websites for their research, points about how to find career pathways and information about specific employability skills.
Assemblies were held throughout the week which were supported by local business representatives and industry professionals. Assemblies included a live mock interview involving Mr Dean the Careers Advisor. Two interviews were showcased back to back, one showing how a candidate can impress a panel and the other was a little less polished. The students watched as the business representatives put Mr Dean through some tough questioning resulting in a positive outcome. Also during the assembly the students were guided through Apprenticeships and alternative pathways that many had not thought about. . Joyanne Williamson from Worthing Speech Therapies said: ‘It was an honour to engage with so many interesting and enquiring teenagers. Helping them to see their potential and start their ground work as soon as possible’
At lunch time more business leaders and professionals joined students to chat informally about choices they could make and provided information about their own career pathways. The Police, Armed Services, HMRC and local entrepreneurs were in attendance and really helped to inspire the students.
Rebecca Groome from Free Your Mind Therpies said ‘Thank you I think this is such a wonderful idea to get the students thinking about careers early on in high school. I never had the opportunity to meet any business leaders when I was at school, which I think is so beneficial in terms of motivation and 'making it real' for the students. I had the fortune to meet a student who wanted to follow a career in therapeutic work and it was lovely to see her enthusiasm and feel I could offer her some valuable insight and share my enthusiasm for the job I do.’
Sameer Miah a Student in Year 10 said 'I found out that entrepreneurs tend to need a well-rounded portfolio of skills as they frequently only have themselves to depend on'.
Pan Panayiotou Head teacher at Worthing High School said, 'Worthing High School is very proud of its Careers and Employability provision and the National Careers Week has been a fantastic opportunity to increase our students aspirations for future employability. Involving local, global business and industry professionals is essential to the support and encouragement of our students. It helps them understand the real world of work and puts into context so much of their academic and non-academic learning. Worthing High School is looking forward to continuing its' close links with the local and global business community’.