Careers Events

There are many Careers Events which take place a Hedingham School.  Please see the brief description of each event below:

Year 7 Careers Morning

Year 7 take part in a 'Guess the Profession' careers morning designed to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the vast number of career opportunities open to them. The students benefit from seven 'people of industry' coming into the school to answer questions about their chosen careers. In the past, we have had an entrepreneur, a mechanical engineer, a teacher, a policeman, a chartered accountant, retail manager and a resource advisor. Each year we strive to provide students with a genuinely broad cross section of jobs and careers which enthuses and engages our students about the world of work.

Year 8 ‘Face to Face’ with Enterprise

The annual 'Face to Face with Enterprise' event involving Year 8, allows students a first chance to see how a small independent business is run. Students get the opportunity to run a catering business which allows them to get to grips with all aspects of running a small business such as finance, marketing and all-important decision making. The event is supported by local entrepreneur Sally Kerr (Splinters Catering Services) who gives the students a presentation on the various factors involved in running a small business. Sally is able to give the students real life examples of how her company had grown from a small start up to one which currently employs over 60 staff during peak times.

Year 9 Higher Education Visit (Essex University)

In Year 9 students travel to the University of Essex for a Higher Education Insight Day. The students learn all about what it would be like if they chose a career path that included higher education. Lecturers give taster sessions on a variety of subjects before the students are taken on a campus tour by current University of Essex students. Finally, the students are entertained by a myth busting question and answer session where they get to ask anything about student life, including social life, finance and different study opportunities.

Year 9 Careers Fair

Year students also get the opportunity to speak to local businesses and education providers at our ‘in-house’ careers fair. We offer a wide range of employers and providers during the day where students can come and speak to them about potential career pathways in each industry. Some of our recent exhibitors are shown below.

Year 10 ‘Kickstart to Enterprise’ Events

During Year 10 students experience the whole job seeking process from start to finish during ‘Kickstart to Enterprise’. The event kicks off with a CV and letter of application writing morning, where students are taught the skills necessary to write an application for a fictitious job of their choice. We make use of an online learning platform called Kudos which provides students with a wealth of labour market information as well as useful features such as a CV builder which helps them with structure and format of their CV. Students then experienced an 'Industry Day' where they spend a day working for their chosen company. As with all of the events, we are keen to get as many outside people/companies to work with our students as possible. Who better to engage our students with a career or profession than a person who is actually doing the job for real! The students got to interact with staff from NHS Ipswich Hospital, and a small catering company called Splinters during the day as well as our own 'in-house companies'. Finally, every student in Year 10 will have an interview with someone from a local business to allow them to experience what it is like to go through the interview process. It is hoped that this will better prepare our students whenever they have an interview next whether it is Sixth form or College or a part-time job or apprenticeship. We benefit from huge support in the local community where business leaders from Sible Hedingham and surrounding area take the role of interviewer, as well as Braintree Rotarians and our own Governor, Mr Martin Lee, help guide our students through what is for most a daunting and stressful experience.

Year 11 Careers Fair

Early in the autumn term, Year 11 are taken to Chelmsford Racecourse where they are able to access over 100 different education institutions, employers and apprenticeship providers. Students can talk ‘face to face’ with people immersed in their field about what their experiences of the career path are and ask any questions they may have. Students pick up prospectuses, information pertaining to their desired career path to read and research at a later date.

Year 11 Careers Mentoring

During Year 11 students will have a 1 to 1 careers interview with a Level 6 trained Careers Adviser. The students will explore their aspirations and desired career path as well as receiving information related to their chosen intended destination. At the end of the meeting the students are given an agreed ‘action plan’ for them to take away and complete. A second mentoring meeting is scheduled for later in the year to review progress and provide support where necessary.