Southampton City College Taster Day
On Tuesday, 11th July the whole of year ten attended a taster day at Southampton City College. Our pupils were able to pre-select two different subjects from a considerable list to experience. Our pupils choose a diverse range of subjects to experience: Hospitality and Catering, Art, Design and Photography, Business, Forensic and Criminal Investigation, Engineering, Creative Media and Digital, Bricklaying, Carpentry, Marine Engineering and Boat Building and Production Arts. The whole day was such a valuable experience giving pupils the opportunity to try something new and help them make more informed choices when planning their transition from St Edward’s next year. The feedback from the pupils included ‘it was super fun’, ‘the tutor was really good’ and ‘I found it very interesting and I want to do this when I leave school’. The majority of the pupils would recommend attending a taster day to another pupil or friend.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Training Centre
On Wednesday 12th July a small group of pupils were lucky enough to visit Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Training Headquarters in Netley. It was a thoroughly informative and engaging day. We started off in the recruit's classroom finding out about all the different roles in the police and the importance of excellent communication skills. We then really got ‘behind the scenes’ and observed public and personal safety training. We saw different scenarios being acted out involving rubber knives, rubber bricks and water pistol taser guns, but the handcuffs were real. The pupils were able to ask lots of questions about the officer's experiences in the police. Later we observed public order training, this time the taser guns were real and the pupils got to get hands-on with the equipment used to gain entry into properties. We felt very privileged to visit and this is what the pupils had to say.
“All the staff were very professional and quick to answer my many questions. It was a very insightful trip into the future I want to have. The best bit of the day was watching the officers doing their public safety training. Finally, it was a really good trip, I would recommend it to anyone who gets the opportunity”
“It was an outstanding trip and an excellent experience.”
“It was an amazing day, I really did enjoy everything”
Work Experience at IBM
Charles, one of our very talented pupils has just finished a work experience place at IBM in Hursley in the App Connect department. The App Connect team are having to do some work to manage a type of alert and tasked Charles with writing code to make the alerts easier to manage. Charles worked alongside his IBM mentor Chris who reported ‘the code that Charles wrote makes it easier to manage the alerts so I'm using it instead of what I used before. I've shared it with the rest of the team so they have the option to use it, the next time they have to work in the same area. We might be able to take parts of it and use it in our longer-term solution to the problem’. Chris rated him as excellent in all areas and concluded ‘It was a very pleasant surprise to discover how enthusiastic and knowledgeable Charles is about so many areas of Computing and how keen he is to pursue a career in the industry. He has a solid understanding of the basic principles in multiple areas which puts him in a great position moving forward. Well done, Charles.
Work Experience at Roofing Matters
Jamie started his Work experience with the Roofing Matters Group in Wokingham on Wednesday 7th June 2023. This is intended to be a weekly visit on Wednesdays. Jamie is very eager to learn and his attendance at school has improved greatly since this has been set in place.
The ‘Team’ at Roofing Matter Group are very impressed with his ability to learn. He has 1:1 training on-site from the company director, Daryl Cooke (ex-pupil). Daryl has organised his weekly Diary to accommodate this work experience.
Jamie has worked on-site, under close supervision with the roofing team, and also in the office at their Headquarters. The office staff were happy to show Jamie how jobs are priced and a roof is measured from Architects drawings.
Due to his ability to learn, and the enthusiasm shown towards the work, the offer to attend Work experience has been extended to the end of Jamie’s time with St Edward’s school.
Photographic evidence of Jamie at work is in his Pupil file. Jamie's last day this term will be on Wednesday 12th July 2023. It will resume in September at a date yet to be set.
Victoria Barnett
Careers Coordinator