Royal Institution Summer Schools

Royal Institution Summer Schools 2015 now open for booking
Fill your holidays with Science!

Science, mathematics, engineering and computing workshops

Here is the list of sessions available and to book online. The workshops are not free but still good value (and this shows you the value of the events that we can arrange in school for free or very little cost!)

See here for all about the Royal Institution.  The workshops are held at their prestigious headquarters in London's Albemarle Street.

NB I have discovered the Greenline!  Take the 758 bus into London for £13 return, far less expensive than the train if you have to travel at peak times.  There is a cheaper rate for children but only when travelling at off-peak times.

 

Your Future Fair in St Albans

Careers Fair being held on Monday 11th May at the Alban Arena in St Albans
2pm-7pm, free entry, no booking required. Suitable for ages 15+, parents and carers welcome.
Here are the details
Lots of information about universities, colleges, apprenticeships, training and vacancies.
There are 15 minute presentations on a range of topics too.
I won't be taking a school trip there but do go along if you can, it's open till 7pm. We went last year and there were many interesting opportunities to find out about, lots of ideas to discover and explore.

Whether you do or don't know which career direction you will follow, this is an ideal chance to practise speaking to employers, and even to ask about work experience once you've heard what they do and found out the ones that interest you!

Oaklands Open Evenings - next week!

Visit Oaklands College next week for information about all their courses.
Tuesday 28th April at St Albans Campus
Wed 29th April at Welwyn Garden City Campus
Both events are open 5pm-8pm, no booking required.
See the college website for more information about what they offer.
Here's the link to the flyer for the open events.

Careers At Sea open day

The merchant navy is the name given to the international commercial shipping industry.  It is made up of a large number of shipping companies who recruit crew, known as merchant seafarers.  The size and type of ships and their cargoes vary greatly, and trade routes may take them to every continent and across every ocean on the globe.
Warsash Maritime Academy are running an open day on 23 January 2015 for secondary students. Contact them direct to attend.  Website
Event poster

Road Safety Week - this week!

This year's theme: Look out for each other

Lots more info here  

We're supporting this campaign at Cavendish: next Monday we have Brake coming to 6th form to inspire students to look out for each other on the roads.  This a real 'Roadshow' programme which is touring local schools to spread the word, delivered by some volunteers from Skanska.

School Leavers & Apprenticeship Careers Show

Thursday 16th October 2014 at Design Centre Islington  http://www.apprenticeshipcareersshow.com/

NCS Summer Programme 2014

Students in year 11 and 12 can sign up now!
Youth Connexions are again promoting the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme for this summer.  This is a fun and challenging personal and social development programme which helps young people aged 15-17 (school Years 11 and 12) to become more confident by taking part in socially responsible activities such as social action projects.  I have information packs and application forms in Careers Office at Cavendish.
Click here for dates and locations and all the information.

Kaplan Summer School

Designed especially for those in Year 11, Kaplan Summer Schools are FREE three-day events to help improve your chances of getting an Apprenticeship job. You'll get tons of practical advice from industry experts about working in Business and Accountancy, plus a certificate for your National Record of Achievement.  Click here for dates and locations for this summer.

Careers Fair in Luton 25th June

Free end of term careers event for young people aged 15-25 who are looking for:
Apprenticeships;  Work Experience over the summer; School-Leaver Schemes / College Leaver Schemes; Summer courses/ Training schemes (Starting July-August 2014); Summer vacation schemes (starting August 2014); College opportunities; University (help applying/help with admissions/ sponsorship/grants); Gap Years/Volunteering ; Overseas Opportunities; Starting a Business/Becoming an Entrepreneur.   www.big-careers.co.uk
11am-3pm at UK Carnival Arts Centre, near Luton Station

Interested in Accountancy?

Kaplan Summer School taking applications for their free taster courses with information on the Apprenticeship route into Accountancy.  Milton Keynes office is easy to get to by train from Hemel Hempstead.  Open to young people in year 11,12,13.
Back online again at last!

West Herts College Open Events

Spring Term Open Events for West Herts College are 1st and 8th March.  Details on their website.

Oaklands College Open Days next week

A reminder that Oaklands is running Open Events next week.  Details here and see more on their website.

Careers Event 3rd March St Albans

Your Future Fair at The Alban Arena, Civic Centre, St Albans.   2pm-8pm, free entry.  Meet a wide range of education and training providers, companies and organisations.  Suitable for 15+, parents and carers welcome.   Full information here.

Oaklands Open Events Spring 2014

See here for all the gen on the Oaklands College Open Events coming up in February.
More at their website.

Fashion Retail Academy, Open Day

On Wednesday 5^th February 2014 from 12:30pm - 5pm we are holding our Open Day at the Fashion Retail Academy. Our Open Day provides an excellent opportunity for students to meet tutors from  the Academy and also to have tours of our fantastic facilities here. 

 

The Fashion Retail Academy delivers a unique contemporary educational experience, with a range of vocational and work-orientated courses to successfully prepare learners, aged 16+ for employment in the fashion retail sector. An initial government-matched investment from the Arcadia Group, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Next and Experian has been followed by practical support from other retailers. We are now working with over 110 retail companies who provide meaningful work placements, master classes, and resources to aid teaching and equip FRA students for working life.

 

Located in a fantastic building just off London’s Oxford Street students will learn in an inspirational environment with the latest facilities including Lecture Theatre, IT suites and our very own mock shop. Lecturers at the FRA have diverse retail experience, offering a wealth of knowledge about the industry.

 

Our current course offering for 2014/15 entry includes:

 ·         Level 2 Fashion Retail Art & Design Diploma

·         Level 3 Business for Fashion Retail Diploma

·         Level 3 Art & Design – Fashion & Clothing Diploma

·         Level 3 Art & Design – Graphic Design for Fashion Retail Diploma

·         Level 4 Fashion Retail Diploma

·         Level 4 Fashion Retail Merchandising Diploma

·         Level 4 Fashion Retail Buying and Range Planning Diploma

·         Level 4 Fashion Garment Technology Diploma

·         Level 4 Visual Display& Retail Branding for Fashion Retail Diploma

 We also offer short courses and a representative from this area will be available to speak to on the day.

 To register your place please visit our website: http://www.fashionretailacademy.ac.uk/joining-fra/open-days

Calling all year 12 students

Excellent presentation in 6th form yesterday from Andy Young of Youth Connexions, all about this great scheme for 16 and 17 year olds.  Have fun at half term, learn new skills, support your community, looks good on your CV and on your applications for beyond Sixth Form.
More about the programme at the NCS website or contact me via the usual routes.
(Year 11s - your chance for this great opportunity will be in the summer - look out for the information coming out later this term).

Talking of beyond Sixth Form, now would be a great time for year 12s to start to consider (if not started already) what their path will be beyond Sixth Form.  Don't forget this can include any or all of UCAS, uni overseas, Higher Apprenticeship, School Leaver Programme or employment (aim to have a back up plan, or several).  Don't know what some of these are?  Find out! Ask people, do some research. Look out for information on events, taster days, careers fairs and conventions, etc, then commit to go and make best use of them - no one will do it for you, it's your choice. 

You don't have to choose a career now (although you can).  All you need to decide on is what your next step from 6th Form could be, and being informed about your various options will help you make that decision, depending on your own priorities.

Transform your city!

Smart phones, smart meters, smart cars – the world is going smart!
You only have to look around to see that technology and innovation is everywhere.
Capgemini are sponsoring a competition open to 14-18 year olds to create a unique and innovative way to use technology.  Prize is up to £250 to spend on technology, via challenge experts MyKindaCrowd.  5 weeks left to enter.  More here.

Freecycle in Hemel Hempstead

I've recently discovered this useful network locally in Hemel, which helps save tangible items going to landfill: it's a free online noticeboard for things you want to dispose of or acquire, for free.  Hemel Freecycle
Now the Herts Freecycle network have launched a Freecycle Cafe.
This is "a great way to keep tangible items out of landfill but what happens if you missed a voucher for a holiday? Want to know where to find a particular tradesman? Need a particular recipe? Have a skill and would like to swap skills to get jobs done? Maybe someone can help you with an issue? Offer money saving tips and advice? Or anything else that may be of interest?"
Here's the link.

Last chance for Morgan Stanley event

1st Jan is the last date to apply for the Morgan Stanley "Step In, Step Up" event in February for yr12 and yr13 students, to find out more about a career in investment banking.  See the main blog post on 16 Dec for more details (quick route via the category/label "opportunities" on the right of this page).

News from Careers Room 18/12/13

Dragons Team 1 are on HemelToday!  See the article and video of their great giftwrapping service here…  The team will be  gift-wrapping twice more this week on Thurs and Saturday.  Happy wrapping and happy Christmas to everyone!

Save the date!  On Friday 17^th January, the two Dragons teams will combine to organise a mega Quiz Night – look out for more details early next term.

Careers Week 2014:  From 3^rd to 7^th March, Cavendish will celebrate National Careers Week which coincides with Apprenticeship Week.  I am inviting several speakers into school during the school day to tell us about their work and career route.  We hope this will inspire our students to think about their own future and consider possible routes they haven’t thought about before. 
Do you know of someone with an interesting career who could inspire our students?  Please ask them to contact me, or let me know how to reach them.  Look out for more information about this exciting event next term in Contact!

College applications: If you are applying to college, I can send off the application for you.  I will keep a copy on file in case of any query.   Hand in the neat, signed application to me at Careers Room.  Sixth Form application process takes place in January.