The Sixth Form’s Professional Skills Programme has culminated in a celebration evening, organised and hosted by Year 12.

Run by Head of Biology Dr Elyse Waites and EPQ co-ordinator Jemma Roye, the programme is designed to help students develop and promote the practical business skills they will need as they move into the world of work. Skills such as communication (online, telephone and face to face), networking, reflection teamwork, problem-solving and resilience.

Taking place every fortnight, students have been undertaking a mixture of school-based workshops and activities alongside challenges that required them to head into London and get a feel for the corporate world. This included the opportunity to work with mentors in the City who provided them with an insight into working life and professional career options.

The students devised, directed and led the special evening to which their mentors were invited, along with their parents, their teachers and students from other years. Several students explained the activities they have been undertaking, the vital lessons learned and the benefits delivered, such as work experience in some of their target careers.

Highlight of the evening was a tower building challenge to test teamwork and problem solving skills. Guests were pre-grouped into teams of similar professional skill areas and then challenged to building the tallest tower possible out of spaghetti and marshmallows! It was intriguing to see the different strategies adopted by each group. In the end the team of finance and STEM professionals won, narrowly beating the creatives.

At the end of the evening, as guests departed they left their business cards in several bowls to offer further assistance with the programme – with work experience, mentoring or career talks.