Careers Fair gets girls thinking....

On Saturday, 9^th March St Catherine’s hosted its own Careers Fair in the Main Hall. The event was compulsory for all Years 9 to 13 and proved to be a real success. It was clear that for many girls this was the first time they had had an opportuity to meet adults from a wide variety of professions and discuss with them what the career involved in depth. We are very grateful to all the stand holders (many of them either parents or representatives of companies with close links to the school) who had clearly taken a great deal of time and effort over their displays and material. Whilst we had 24 stand holders, we are aware that not all professions were represented but hopefully if word gets around, the event will expand so that in two years’ time we can have nearer 50 stands.

We are particularly grateful to our two speakers, Ms Nadia McCarthy from BP and Mr Rob Dykes from UBS for delivering such informative and inspiring talks; the points they raised were especially relevant.

If you did have any suggestions on how the event could be developed please do email them to apearson@st-catherines-twickenham.org.uk

Careers Fair at St Catherine's- this Saturday!!

Don't forget that this Saturday from 10am until 1pm St Catherine's is hosting its Careers Fair in the Main Hall. 

There will be 30 or so stands representing numerous professions and 2 key-note speakers:

10.45am               Ms Nadia McCarthy (Resourcing Manager, BP)

12.00pm               Mr Robert Dykes (Director, UBS)

Ms McCarthy will talk about:

·         Her role in sourcing the best possible graduates, giving an idea of the global reach and scope of BP

·         The types of disciplines, roles and scarce skills required for a career in the oil and gas industry

·         What job applicants should look for when researching a leading global company

·         How to use social media as a means of researching the top jobs

·         How to make a strong job application and planning your career

Mr Dykes will talk about:

·         Interview techniques for job interviews

·         The selection process for graduate employers

·         Internships and other routes into employment

Year 12 visit UCAS convention at Olympia

Last Friday all Year 12 went with Mr Pearson to Olympia to attend the UCAS convention in order to speak to representatives from hundreds of different universities. Few of us were prepared for the sheer size of the event and the number of universities that actually exist in the UK! Not only did we have the opportunity to ask pre-prepared questions of all the universities we have been considering but we also had the opportunity to attend seminars on personal statement writing, student finance and Oxbridge applications.

After 3 hours we all felt exhausted and daunted by the prospect of the journey home laden with bags full of university prospectuses. All together it was a really useful day and has got our minds fully focused on UCAS!

Matt Dickinson returns with tales of harrowing voyage

A year ago, Matt gave a fascinating account to the Siena Society of his adventures climbing Mount Everest. On Thursday February 14^th, the renowned explorer and author returned to present a riveting lecture about an exhibition he organised to Antartica in which he and 8 others planned to trace his own father’s footsteps from half a century earlier. We learnt that Dickinson Senior had been posted out to Antarctica as a naïve 19 year old to set up one of the first stations in this most inhospitable part of the world. Matt planned to sail from the southern-most tip of South America, around Cape Horn to Antarctica with the particular aim of climbing the highest mountain down there; a feat his father never sadly accomplished.

Matt punctuated his lecture with video clips and some of the images we saw of the voyage across the Southern Ocean in their 60 foot yacht, Pelagia, were truly terrifying! Not being a sailor himself, Matt found this aspect of the journey especially exhilarating and demanding. As the expedition neared Antartica they came across widespread evidence of the old whaling industry. The black and white footage we were shown illustrated very vividly what a brutal and efficient industry this was, out of the sight and mind of most humanity. It was good to hear that whale stocks in the region have since recovered from near extinction but it was a startling reminder of how close to annihilation these remarkable creatures were. One particularly striking video shot, was of one of the crew-members standing on deck playing his clarinet to the whales in sub-zero temperatures! The whales were clearly very appreciative!

What must have been a particularly poignant moment for Matt was when they came across his father’s camp, abandoned 50 years earlier; tins and debris lying undisturbed for all that time. With abandoned toxic material threatening the local wildlife, especially the penguins, Matt was fortunate to be able to call on the goodwill of the Royal Navy to come and clean up the mess!

As always with Matt, he passed on much good advice to the girls; this time he recommended that any girl interested in a career in journalism, should find something meaningful to campaign for and then write articles in support.

And yes they did manage to climb the highest mountain in Antarctica and sail safely back!