Dear Parents,

This week is National Careers Week – please see link below for The Parent/Carer Guide to National Careers Week – this includes lots of useful articles and links for parents/carers on 

1/ How to support your daughter/son with their career ideas 

2/ How to search for work experience

3/ Information on vocational pathways into careers at 16 or 18 such as BTEC, T levels and Apprenticeships.

 

Also go to these interactive links:

https://ncw2022.co.uk/ - at this link from this Wed 7th March you and your daughter/son can access the NCW Virtual Careers Fair with over 100 employer stands to visit online

https://ncwtv.co.uk/ - careers films and video clips from employers including NHS, BBC, Nat West Bank, Civil Service, etc - with inputs from young people working for these organisations.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your daughter or sons future career progression.

Parent and carer guide - The Parents' Guide to NCW 2022.pdf

 

Mr James
School Careers Adviser 
antony.james@stangelas-ursuline.co.uk 

2021 - 2022

Thirty St Angela’s Year 12 students get a place on Realising Opportunities Russell Group Universities Mentoring Project 2021/22!

Realising Opportunities includes taster lectures, events and mentoring for sixth formers provided by fifteen of the country’s leading Russell Group research intensive Universities.  The Universities are: Birmingham, Exeter, King’s, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Loughborough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Queen Mary, Sheffield, UCL, Warwick and York.   

Those completing Realising Opportunities are guaranteed UCAS degree offers from Russell Group Universities - 2 A level grades lower than their standard offer.

St Angela’s have now been working in partnership with RO for 8 years through our host university Kings College, University of London.  In April we had the fantastic news that thirty of our Year 12s have been successful after applying to take part on this year’s programme, with

Realising Opportunities informing St Angela’s that we now have the highest number of Year 12s on this major Russell Group Universities initiative than any other London School!

All eight of our Year 13s who completed the 2nd year of Realising Opportunities received fantastic RO reduced UCAS offers at Russell group universities, examples of offers received as follows: 

Politics -  Warwick - ABB (instead of AAA)
Politics - Queen Mary – BBB (instead of AAB) 
Economics- Exeter - BBB (instead of AAA) plus a £1500 RO Scholarship 
International Relations-Birmingham – BBC (instead of ABB)
Pharmacy - Kings College University London - ABC (instead of AAB))
RE & Philosophy - Kings College University London -BBB (instead of AAB)
Psychology - Kings College University London - AAB (instead of A*AA)
English - Kings College University of London - ABB (instead of AAA)
Maths - Kings College University of London - AAC (instead of AAA) 
Maths - UCL University College London - A*A*C (instead of A*A*A)

With St Angela’s excellent track record of working closely with this project going from strength to strength - we are looking forward to really high numbers of our current RO Year 12s making it into these prestigious Russell Group Universities in 2022! 

Mr James – School Careers Adviser   

Autumn 2021

Icanyoucantoo Careers Coaching and Mentoring Programme  
Fifteen Year 12s and 2 Year 13 Ambassadors were selected in October to start this 8 month bespoke programme linked to St Angela’s and two other schools. Run by a team of dedicated recruiters and executives from EY (global accountancy firm), HSBC Bank, CRS law firm and other major companies. They prepare our students on how to apply for competitive careers. This term our mentees took part in four workshops:

• Launch event at EY Canary Wharf - with training from debate mate 
• Mindset Coaching workshop- with CEO’s and Managing Directors at leading firms including JP Morgan
• Personal Brand/First impressions - strength based interview skills coaching from the HR team at HSBC 
• Assessment Centres- Mentees took part in mock group discussion employer selection exercises at EY.

Over the next two terms our mentees will attend a “live careers library” with employers representing different career areas, develop their CVs, practice interview skills and give a presentation. With guest employers to include Sky Sports and Julius Baer Investment bank. 

Bart’s Health NHS Trust – Healthcare Horizons Mentoring Project and Insight Events- Sept/Oct 
Fourteen Year 12s started the Healthcare Horizons Mentoring via our compact with Bart’s. They are linked to healthcare professionals including: doctors, nurses, clinical psychologists, etc who work for Bart’s Health NHS Trust hospitals such as The Royal London, St Bartholomew's, Newham University Hospital or Whipps Cross. They are gaining real insights into NHS careers and the life of healthcare professionals working in patient care. 
A further four Year 12s also attended Bart’s Horizons Medical/Dental and Nursing/Midwifery Insight events 
 
Pathways to Health Pioneers – Community Action Project
Five Year 12s started this 8 month health education and leadership programme that empowers young people to work with local health professionals to design, implement and lead their own health project that solves a health problem within their community.  This is great experience for our aspiring doctors and nurses. 
 
This included a weekend in October to learn about health topics and leadership before regular meetings to set up their projects. All will also get First Aid and Mental First Aid certificates. 
 
 
Facebook Elevate Project – STEM Mentoring with Facebook Executives
Four Year 12s joined this cutting edge project in Nov via our partnership with The Brokerage. Taking part in a series of eight mentoring sessions they are linked to Facebook software developers / tech professionals learning about tech careers and employability skills. Next term they give a STEM topic presentation to Facebook executives.
 
Insurance Careers in the City Workshop with Canopius 
Eight Year 12s and four Year 13s joined this webinar in October organised by The Brokerage with leading global insurance firm Canopius. This introduced our students to highly paid specialist insurance careers in the City and included a Q&A session with insurance professionals.

Young Women Into Finance – One Search Careers and Scholarship Programme
Six Year 12s and three Year 13s gained places in October on the One Search YWIF Scholarship- who work with selected schools in London.  One Search specialise in placing graduates into jobs with major banks and investment firms including: JP Morgan, Aviva Investors, Allianz Global Investors and Societe Generale Investment Bank, etc. 

Starting in Year 12 our students are linked to a finance professional mentor for meetings and start a Financial Services Qualification. The programme will continue into Year 13 and whilst they are at University with paid internships with financial institutions and help finding graduate jobs.   
     
Architecture Mentoring Programme: Open City Accelerate with UCL and Central St Martins
Two Year 12s gained a place on Accelerate. This includes a series of 12 workshops and mentoring from qualified architects at their London offices, which started in Oct and ends next May. It is run in collaboration with UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture and Central St Martins.

The aim of Accelerate is to give talented students the confidence and skills needed to make strong university applications to study architecture.  It also includes portfolio development workshops and visits to iconic sites around London.

The Creative Mentor Network- Amazon Prime Video Bright Sparks mentorship programme
One Year 13 was selected through our partnership with the Creative Mentor Network for this sought after 16 week mentoring programme with Amazon Prime.  Our year 13 has been linked to a female PR Manager at Amazon Prime and will benefit from regular mentoring meetings contributing real work for the employer. 
  
Credit Suisse Investment Bank- 3 Days Work Experience Insight Programme
In October, three Year 13s were selected to take part in 3 days of virtual work experience and training learning about all aspects of investment banking including front office, trading and corporate function roles.  This was via our established links with the Credit Suisse Canary Wharf school liaison team.
 
Stace LLP Construction + Property Consultancy- One week paid work experience – Oct Half Term
One Year 13 secured a week of paid work with Stace LLP-a construction project management + quantity surveying firm – this included work experience at their Epping and City offices plus visits to major construction sites to learn about professional surveying careers.  We work closely with Stace, which has included an exclusive careers insight session for our Year 12/13s, which may lead to further work experience for our students.  
  
Sutton Trust Pathways to Banking and Finance at The London School of Economics
Two Year 12s successfully applied for a place on this two year widening participation initiative for students interested in a career in finance – includes taster lectures at LSE, mentoring from an LSE student studying a finance related degree and opportunities for work experience with financial services employers.
 
 Young Professionals – virtual careers insight events and work experience- Sept to Nov 
 Forty-seven Year 12s and twenty-seven Year 13s completed virtual Careers Insight Days and Work Experience via Young Professionals with leading employers across a wide range of industries.

Examples included:
Nine Year 13s - PwC Flying Start Accountancy Degree Apprenticeship Insight Event
Seven Year 13s- Black Heritage Networking Event with BP, Virgin Media and Charles Russell Speechly LLP
Two Year 12s – Tech Careers Insight with IBM  
Four Year 13s – Nat West Careers Insight Event
Two Year 12s – GSK pharmaceuticals company careers presentation   
Twenty-two Year 12s- 1 day work experience – Clifford Chance Law firm
Sixteen Year 12s- 2 day’s work experience Browne Jacobsen Law firm
Three Year 13s- 3 day’s work experience with St James Place Wealth Management  
 
Young Professionals events and work experiences were also taking place in December, which more of our Year 12s were signing up for.     

Mr James– School Careers Adviser   
 

Summer Term 2021

Apprenticeship success stories for St Angela’s Year 13s! 

Four Year 13s have been successful in their applications for very competitive apprenticeship and pre – apprenticeships with major employers, as follows: 

1 x Project Management Apprenticeship – with Arup Group Engineering

1 x Flying Start Audit Degree Apprenticeship– PwC– Price Waterhouse Coopers – Chartered Accountancy

2 x Pre- Apprenticeships with Nat West Bank for Data Analyst and Software Developer roles.

HSBC Work Experience via icanyoucantoo Mentoring Project
Twelve Year 12s took part in a two Day Summer work experience taster in July with HSBC Bank hearing from professionals working in different roles with the bank and learning how a mortgage works and interest rates. This has been set up by icanyoucantoo - who run a careers coaching and mentoring programme for our Year 12s and put our students in touch with major City employers. 

icanyoucantoo – also ran briefing sessions earlier this term to help our students go through the process of applying for a whole week of paid work experience with HSBC in August and as a result a further Four Year 12s have been successful getting this sought after one week work experience at HSBC.

Bart’s Health NHS Trust – NHS Careers Work Experience Weeks 
Nine Year 12s who are aspiring to either medicine, nursing or midwifery have been lucky to access 4 days of virtual work experience for medical and healthcare professions.  Four of our Year 12s undertook this in April and another 5 will take part in August. This is via our compact with Bart’s Healthcare Horizons team.

Barts Health NHS Trust - run hospitals in London including The Royal London, St Bartholomew's, Newham University Hospital, Whipps Cross and Queens Romford. This invaluable medical work experience gives insights into the day to day roles of healthcare professionals, what patient journeys look like and professional practice.

Engineering Development Trust / Industrial Cadets Summer Work Experience
In July and August Four Year 12s completed the Insight into University and Virtual Routes into STEM programmes with EDT to give insights into engineering, tech and STEM careers. This included a series of sessions from employers including- Glaxo Smith Clyne, Balfour Beatty, Babcock, BP and BAE Systems. University STEM departments at Cambridge, Southampton, Liverpool, Loughborough, UCL and others will also run online lectures.  
Topics included: Biopharm, mechatronics, AI, careers in Tech, Bioengineering, aircraft design and more.     

CFC Insurance Underwriting and Bank of Montreal 
8 week Mentoring programmes 
One Year 12 and one Year 13 took part in these mentoring programmes with a leading specialist insurance firm and an investment Bank.  Again run with The Brokerage City Link.  

Arpon Year 12: “I had an amazing experience in the CFC Underwriting programme for the past 8 weeks. My mentor helped me develop my skills and knowledge, provided many interview techniques and very helpful feedback. I am grateful to have been given this opportunity to be more confident in my aspirations towards the financial sector”  

Trowers & Hamlins – Law Work Experience
Nine Year 12s were selected for 4 days of legal work experience in June through our School partnership with leading City law firm Trowers & Hamlins. They were able to learn about many areas of law from commercial and corporate to real estate and dispute resolution. 

Nuffield Foundation Science and STEM – two week Summer Research Placements  
Five Year 12s selected for STEM research placements working alongside scientists, technologists, engineers or mathematicians. Our Year 12s will complete an online research project. They will be linked to placements with university research departments such as Imperial, Kings and UCL, research institutes or industry employers.      

University of The Arts London Art & Design – One week Summer School Taster courses
Three Year 12s took part in the UAL Insights 5 day taster courses visiting their prestigious Art Colleges, for higher education tasters of Art & Design specialisms. Two Year 12s did this at Central Saint Martins for Architecture and one Year 12 for Film Making at The London College of Communication. 

Maths in The City Careers Workshop with Nomura and The Brokerage City Link 
Fourteen Year 12s were given a place on this webinar via our partnership with The Brokerage City Link, who along with Nomura a global investment bank, introduced them to how Maths is used in the world of financial services  

EY Ernst & Young Smart Futures – 3 weeks Work Experience and follow up Mentoring  
One Year 12 successfully applied for 3 weeks paid work experience at EY London offices for this Summer via our links with the EY Foundation. EY are one of the big 4 global Accountancy and Professional Services companies. Our student will also benefit from EY mentoring in Year 13.  

Young Professionals – Three days Year 11 Virtual Work Experience - June 
Twelve Year 11s completed 3 days virtual work experience learning about a wide range of industries from a great range of major employers including: Sky, EY, PwC, Capgemini, IBM, HSBC, Berkeley Group, Glaxo Smith Kline and the RAF. Our Year 11s took part in skills based workshops and interactive tasks with these employers. and  were also able to learn about CV's, Interviews, Assessment Centres, Networking.  

Speakers for Schools Experience – Virtual Insight Days + Work Experiences – Summer term 
Eighteen Year 12s and five Year 11s completed Insight Days and work experiences with the following employers:  
NHS (nursing, health professions, NHS tech and apprenticeships days), Caxton (finance/hedge funds), 
Ofcom (tech + engineering), The RAF, British Airways (women in engineering), Santander (banking), 
Pozzoni (architecture), Bentley Motors (business and engineering), L`Oreal (digital), Kainos (intro to coding), Turner & Townsend (real estate/project management), Reed Smith (law), Tesco (CVs + interview skills) and Portland (PR and Communications Summer internship).

Mr James – School Careers Adviser