On Tuesday 1 July the Senior School came off timetable to learn all about different careers and listen to an interesting and varied programme of speakers.
We started with an introduction to Careers Education and post 16 Pathways with our new Head of Pathways, Mrs Faye Evans who will be joining us in September. This was shortly followed by our Keynote Speaker: Abbot’s Hill alumna Chandni Brahmbhatt who spoke of how Abbot’s Hill provided a rich and supportive educational experience which gave her the confidence to go on to pursue a career in design. She is now Digital Design Lead at Selfridges & Co. We learnt of some of the interesting and exciting projects she now works on and how all aspects of visual design in store, on the website and in the iconic shop windows are carefully curated by Chandni and her team.
Students also heard from Abbot’s Hill alumna Phoebe Duke-Wallace who has pursued a STEM related career and is now Group Sustainability Coordinator for Senior PLC. In addition to this we were treated to a ‘Careers Panel Talk’ with Gary Essam, Thomas Parrott and Eleanor Hudson speaking of their career paths into mechanical engineering, e-commerce consultancy and compliance consultancy.
Our Year 10s also had a careers carousel where they heard presentations from Abbot’s Hill parents:
- Patrick Davison (Sky Sports – sports journalism)
- Donna Mabey (Motive Pictures – media production)
- Steve Francis (Universities Superannuation Scheme – project management)
- Alex Doran (Baringa PLCS – project management)
- Bhini Phagura & Rebekah Norman (Rayden Solicitors – family law).
Year 10 then went on to have individual mock interviews with the speakers on our panel and carousel.
Our guest speakers commented on how articulate, confident and engaging our Year 10s were; a proud moment! Later, all students took part in coaching-inspired reflection activities.
Thank you to all our speakers for giving up their valuable time, to our staff who arranged the day, and especially to our pupils who engaged so wholeheartedly in the day.
