Careers - latest bulletin
If you or your business would like to get involved with any of our future events, please contact Mrs Shute, Careers Advisor at anna.shute@olympustrust.co.uk
2023-2024 - Term 4
Year 7 the Future of Law and Finance
All tutor groups year 7 walked over to St James’ Place in Aztec West to discover more about careers in Law and Finance. They met a volunteer from the business who explained about their job role and students used this information to record a short film and design a Top Trumps style playing card about them. Students enjoyed seeing the office and meeting the staff and were extremely busy and focussed throughout their 1 hour session.
Year 8 PSHE Programme
This term it has been Year 8’s turn to look at careers learning in PSHE. They have been using the site Careerpilot, an engaging and user friendly site with a real wealth of up to date, reliable local information. Investigate this with your child at https://careerpilot.org.uk/
Year 10 Envision Programme
The second Envision team have been working on their social action project with their Envision coach Sabrina every Friday in school this term. Their chosen issue is raising awareness of discrimination in school and how to tackle it. The team enjoyed their visit to business mentors Womble Bond Dickenson where they practised their public speaking skills, further developed their project into a poster campaign and enjoyed the juice and biscuits!
Year 10 Work Experience
Although the first week of WEx is behind us, students are still able to go on placements where providers offer a different week. 5 students will be taking part in a residential Army placement in Crickhowell, Wales during the week of 25 - 29th March and we wish them well.
Year 10 Scientists Space Academy session
We welcomed a representative from the Space Academy who delivered an engaging and interactive session to our triple science students. He explained about careers in the space sector and how scientists and astronauts find out more about asteroids. Using their knowledge of chemistry and physics, students also performed experiments to launch oxygen-hydrogen rockets in the lab!
Year 11 ASK apprenticeships
We were pleased to welcome Vanessa from ASK (an ex-Patchway student herself) to offer specialist guidance to our Y11s who are looking for apprenticeships for next year. Apprenticeships are advertised on Find an apprenticeship - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) where students can create an account and set up alerts to be notified when suitable apprenticeships come in.
2023-2024 - Term 3
Work Experience
The main event careers-wise in term 3 has been Year 10 work experience which took place in the week of 5-9 February. 70% of students have been able to find a placement, in a wide variety of industries including engineering, hairdressing, funeral care, retail, education, childcare, elderly care, healthcare, motor vehicle mechanics, marketing, PR and construction. We have received some glowing reviews from employers about our students and the contributions they have made during the week. Some students will attend placements later in the year with the British Army and 8 will be doing placements in our twin town of Gauting in Germany.
Students who were on the school site during the week were able to volunteer to attend sessions with some outside providers. We were also able to take a minibus full of students to Womble Bond Dickenson, a Law firm in central Bristol to learn about careers paths into Law and take part in some teamwork activities.
National Apprenticeships Week
5-9 February was also National Apprenticeships week. Curriculum areas have been showing students how their subject can be relevant to apprenticeships and all our presenters to Year 10 this week have been outlining their apprenticeship routes.
Year 11 Personal Guidance Meetings
All students in Year 11 are entitled to an hour of 1:1 guidance as they make their post-16 plans. This is underway but if students are keen for a meeting sooner rather than later they should please tell their tutor or Mrs Shute. The guide to Post-16 open events can be found on the school website under Curriculum>Careers>Useful links
Year 10 Envision
The first cohort of Envision took part in the final event competing against other schools to present their social action project to a panel of judges. Although they did not win overall, students all demonstrated just how far their key skills of teamwork, creativity and communication have developed over the 12 week programme. The team was also commended for how they interacted and identified each other's strengths and contributions. Cohort 2 will be starting early in term 4.
Year 7 the Future of Law and Finance
4 tutor groups from year 7 walked over to St James’ Place in Aztec West to discover more about careers in Law and Finance. They met a volunteer from the business who explained about their job role and students used this information to record a short film and design a Top Trumps style playing card about them. Students enjoyed seeing the office and meeting the staff and were extremely busy and focussed throughout their 1 hour session. The remaining 2 groups will have this experience on Friday 1st March
2023 - 2024 Term 1
Preparing for Post 16 study
Year 11 students have been looking at Post 16 options in their PSHE lessons this term. As well as considering the different courses they could take at school or college they have looked at apprenticeship options. The best way to decide where to study is to visit the provider. A list of open events is available on google classroom, the Careers section of the school website and can also be accessed HERE. Any further information I receive about courses and apprenticeships will also be posted on google classroom. All students in Year 11 will be offered a guidance meeting with me, Mrs Shute, Careers Advisor and CIEAG Lead for PCS, in the coming months.
Visit to UWE
On 12th September, 38 Year 11s had a chance to visit UWE to find out more about the realities of University study. They took part in activities and quizzes run by FutureQuest, a charity which aims to encourage students from under-represented backgrounds to consider Higher Education. They also toured the Frenchay campus with UWE student ambassadors who shared their learning journeys with our students. For many of the Patchway students this was the first time they had been inside a University and some felt that, after taking part in the day, they might consider University as a possible pathway. All students participated really well in the day and were excellent representatives of PCS.
 In the lecture theatre with the student ambassadors |
 Winning prizes from the quiz |
Mock Interview Day 13th October 2023
Last week, Year 11 students took part in the first Mock Interview Day to be held at Patchway for several years. Students prepared a set of questions in PSHE and tutor time and learned about the attitude, body language and clothing needed for interview situations. Over 35 volunteers from the world of work came in and sat with them in the hall for the interviews. Despite some initial nerves, students performed extremely well and really impressed the volunteers. Comments from interviewers included:
‘Everybody was interested, engaged and polite, with a story to tell’
‘... a wonderful indication of how bright, talented, and motivated these young people are’
‘Every student spoke with clarity, confidence and were clearly well prepared’
We very much hope that this experience will help students feel more confident when they come to have real interviews for college courses, apprenticeships and jobs in the future.
The Parent Perspective Podcast
Amazing Apprenticeships has created this podcast for parents and carers, helping you to support your children with careers advice and guidance. Follow this link to access the recordings: The Parent Perspective Podcast - Amazing Apprenticeships
Fresh ideas for new careers - Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair
When: 1st of November 2023 - 12pm to 3pm
Where: Cabot Circus, Bristol BS1 3BD
Who: All ages welcome and free to attend
35+ employers from a variety of sectors at Cabot Circus (on the ground floor) to talk to you about the jobs and apprenticeships they have available.Speak with potential employers face-to-face as you have the opportunity to collect information on employers, register your interest in any jobs advertised, ask the employers questions or even have a mini-interview on the day.
If you need more information please contact One Front Door - free advice and support to people looking for work or another job.
onefrontdoor@bristol.gov.uk - 0117 922 3440 www.onefrontdoor.org.uk
