Post on 11-Jul-2020
As we move into 2020 it is a good time to
reflect on the achievements of the last year.
During the first part of the last term I spent
time collecting the information relating to our
students Post 16 and Post 18 destinations
Many of our students were able to secure amazing
opportunities in Universities throughout the UK with
some even moving abroad to study in Europe. 84% of
our Sixth Form students went on to study at Higher
Education and four of our previous Year 13’s secured
apprenticeships including an Electrical apprenticeship,
Teaching Assistant apprenticeship, Coaching
apprenticeship and Dentistry Nursing apprenticeship.
Of those who went on to University the most popular
subjects related to Engineering followed by Law. Just
under 50% of our students are enrolling on courses
within the Engineering or Business sectors.
It was interesting to review the students who went on
to study STEAM subjects (including medical related
science). Of the 45% of students who chose STEAM
subjects 28% of the overall numbers were female
students, although these were broadly students who
chose medical related sciences.
I think it is fair to say that, although it is positive that
STEAM subjects are becoming more popular among
students, some further work should be done to
promote STEAM careers to our female students which
has long been a national trend.
The University locations varied around the country
but approximately 50% of students accepted courses
from institutions situated in London and two students
have accepted university places in Europe. Fourteen
students were able to secure places at Russell Group
Universities however 43% secured places at either
Russell Group or TEF Gold institutions.
Of our Year 11 leavers, over 50 % continue to study at
Canons, followed by 45% at Further Education or Sixth
Form Colleges. Of the four students who secured
apprenticeships these included courses in Childcare,
lifeguarding, hairdressing and IT apprenticeships.
From this data I think we can conclude that the
variety of opportunity has been broad but that there
should be key focus on industries that are projected
to show significant growth in the coming decade.
Mrs Christina Reffold,
Canons Careers Leader
CAREERS N e w s l e t t e r
Spring Term 2020
The Canons Apprentice
During the second half of the Autumn Term
KS4 students were invited to participate in an
internal competition as part of our Careers &
Enterprise Club, The Canons Apprentice.
Over the course of the seven weeks, twenty
five students attended the sessions, that were
run in partnership with Balfour Beatty. The
first session was introduced by former con-
testant on Sir Alan Sugars The Apprentice,
Krishna Thakrah, who spoke about her experi-
ences of enterprise and her career. The fol-
lowing sessions were run by representatives
from Balfour Beatty, who set students a pro-
ject to develop a local initiative for the com-
munity in the Harrow Area. Students were en-
gaged and the feedback from the sessions has
been immensely positive.
In the final session on Friday 16th December
students competed by presenting their pro-
jects to the panel of judges to find out if they
had been ‘hired’ or ‘fired’. After some deliber-
ation our judges selected winning group
‘Family Trust’. The winning team have been
invited to visit a luxury Balfour Beatty site for
a work experience day. Certificates of partici-
pation will be given to all those involved.
Step into the NHS
Following on from the popularity of the Step into the NHS competition last year we
launched the competition again to our KS3 students. The competition encourages stu-
dents to explore the multiple careers in the UKs largest employer, the NHS. This year we
have three teams entering the competition. They are required to research roles and
then design a job description and job advert.
Law Employer Engagement Trip
On 11th December our Law Sixth Form students
attended an experience day at Rooks Riders LLP
law firm in the City. The engagement initially
started as an employer led talk to be held at
Canons however the Senior Partner generously
offered the exciting opportunity to host the stu-
dents at his offices.
Computer Science We were very pleased to host speakers from the Tech industry last term who came in to de-
liver subject content talks to our Sixth Form Computer Science Students. We welcomed back
Suraj from WP Maintain to talk about Web Development and the Social Media Exec from
cyber recruitment firm, Beecher Madden, to talk about using social media in business. There
is a trend being set in vocational subjects to engage employers in the curriculum which is an
exciting development for the schools work related learning and careers provision.
New: The Careers Bulletin
Last term we started putting together a newly introduced monthly Careers Bulletin to be distributed
to students and parents via the Edulink App. The Bulletin details the various events and opportuni-
ties taking place outside of Canons. The bulletin is also being used to inform students about work
related learning opportunities internally. Starting next term it will also include an apprenticeship
vacancy snapshot and information about how career paths link to the topics being taught in the cur-
riculum that term. The bulletins are also posted on the Careers Webpage and Facebook.
Personal Development Day
In November the Canons Sixth Form hosted its
very first Personal Development Day for stu-
dent in Year 12 & 13 who were invited to
attend a variety of key Note Speeches and
workshops ranging from topics relating to
studying with the brain, delivered by Inner
Drive, to driving theory introduction; CV work-
shops, from the UKs largest recruiter Adecco,
to personal finance; careers in the digital in-
dustry; what's new with apprenticeships and
everything in between. Students were also
made aware of a range of opportunities out-
side of Canons including the TFL Innovate
Competition and Social Enterprise programme
Wings of Hope.
Schools and colleges are putting more empha-
sis on Personal Development in the response
to the concerns that young people are not
equipped with what they need to succeed.
Canons Sixth Form made the decision to re-
place the traditional PSHE in Sixth Form with
the innovative Personal Development Days
allowing content to be delivered by experts
and students to have autonomy over the
workshops they attend. Feedback from the
day has been positive with students asking for
some subject specific talks next time. Students
have also agreed that they prefer this format
to the previous PSHE Lessons.
Year 11 Taster Day & CIAG
Throughout the Autumn Term our Year 11 stu-
dents had their one to one Careers Guidance
interviews with our external careers advisor. In
addition tot their one hour interview they add-
ed their Post 16 intentions to their Unifrog Ac-
count. This is supported by Careers in PSHE dur-
ing Half Term 2.
On 16th December Year 11 attended their tran-
sition day hosted by our Sixth Form. The event
gives students the opportunity to select taster
sessions in the courses they are interested in
studying.
Work Experience Launch
This Year we have decided to invest in a
new partnership for work experience. Our
new providers are Changing Education who
came in to launch their provision and their
exciting new App to our Year 12’s during
Assembly. Students were told that they
need to start looking for work experience
now, for their placements to take place in
July. The use of technology for work experi-
ence will bring a new dimension to the pro-
gramme for our students to engage with.
DVS Foundation Workshops
Last year we were approached by an organisa-
tion called DVS property who have started a
new initiative to link with schools to deliver
workshops to students who may need motiva-
tion. We were lucky enough to be one of the
first schools they piloted the programme with.
The speakers engaged with our Year 9 students
and worked with them to help to identify their
future goals and aspirations .
STEM Assemblies
This Term we invited two STEM ambassadors in to
deliver STEM assemblies to Years 9 and 10. The year
groups heard about careers related to Epidemiology
and about the search for new planets and stars. We
were able to source these speakers, who spoke about
these fascinating topics, from the STEM Ambassador
Hub.
This Term….. The Spring Term is packed full of more opportunities for students. Over
the next few months we will be organising events for National Appren-
ticeship Week and the Year 7 Careers Day will be held on 11th February.
We will be welcoming representatives from Barclays Life Skills to work
with our Sixth Form Students in January and Canons Sixth Form will be
holding the second Personal Development Day for students. The Canons
Careers Fair will take place on 4th March this year with a new format.
Details of this will be circulated later this month. Later in the term we will
be offering the opportunity for students to take part in our International
Women's Day competition again this year. We will also be coordinating
the trip to the Excel UCAS Fair in March and our Year 13 Sport students
will go out on work experience placements later in February.
“This workshop helped me a lot because now I know what I want to do in the
future”….. Khuleyb, Year 9
Careers Leader Network
The next meeting for the Careers Leader Network will be on Monday 20th January 2020 from 12:30 to 14:00 at Canons High School. The session will be opened by The Careers & Enterprise Company and will be followed by a networking lunch. For more information please con-tact creffold@canons.harrow.sch.uk
Enclosed in this edition of our Spring Term Careers Newsletter is the
newly designed map of the careers and work related learning provision
at Canons High School and Canons Sixth Form