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!

UEA admissions tutor highlights the key requirements for a student applying to university

On Thursday, 24^th January, the Siena Society hosted a talk by the University of East Anglia’s admission tutor, Jess Smith. The older sister of a girl currently studying GCSEs, Jess was ideally suited to speak to the girls at their level about entry to university.

She gave good advice as to what questions a girl should be asking when researching a degree course and university: 

What is the reputation of the course?

What are the entry requirements? (An applicant must be realistic about her academic potential)

What is the content and structure of the course?

How is the course taught and assessed?

Why do you think you would enjoy the course?

Do you want to move away from home?

Do you want a city or campus university?

Do you want to be part of a large (eg 40,000 students) university or a small one (6000 students)?

What will the living costs be like? (Accommodation at the UEA ranges from £59 per week for a shared room to £110 per week for a single en-suite room)

What is there to do nearby the university?

Further excellent advice that Jess offered centred on the 3 key areas university admissions tutors look for in a student’s application:

1.       Academic ability (evidenced by GCSE and AS results)

2.       Motivation (evidenced by relevant reading, experience and skills)

3.       Research- the applicant needs to demonstrate an understanding of what the course will involve.

The earlier the girls at St Catherine’s grasp the importance of this advice, the simpler will be their task in Year 12 when they actually have to make the decision as to which course they want to apply for and at which 5 universities they will apply to read it.

Our next Siena Society lecture sees David Rice from Birmingham University also present a talk on university admissions; it will be interesting to compare his advice to Jess Smith’s.

Staff outplay the Sixth Form in Netball carnage!

Despite sub-zero temperatures, the match everyone had been waiting for, between the Sixth Form and selected staff, took place yesterday lunchtime.
It was clear that some staff were ignorant of the rules, failing to recognise that netball is a non-compact sport....But despite Mr Pearson's repeated fouls, the students were unable to match the shooting prowess of our new Head of PE, Ms Healey: After the 2nd quarter, the match was all square (0-0) but a tactical change which saw Ms Healey move from WD to GA saw the score line rapidly move to 4-1 in favour of the staff. Well done to all who played but particular thanks to those who came out and stood on the touchline. It was freezing!

Life as a Personal Injury Lawyer- a view from the inside

On Thursday, 6th December, the Siena Society was treated to a highly insightful talk on Personal Injury law from Ms Tracy Head, a solicitor who works for the firm Kennedys.
She spoke to the girls about the possible career paths to becoming a lawyer: initially you would need a degree, not necessarily a Law degree; if you did a non-Law degree you simply need to do a year's Post Graduate Diploma in Law. After this you would need to make a decision whether to train to be a solicitor or barrister. To train as a solicitor you need to do a year at Law School to qualify with an LPC followed by 2 years training in a firm. To become a barrister, you would do the BVC exams followed by one year's pupillage in a barristers' chambers. Ms Head also mentioned alternative routes into the profession: as a Chartered Legal Executive or through a new scheme, as a Legal Apprentice. Whichever route you might take, she put us in no doubt of the competition for places in firms and chambers. Becoming qualified is no guarantee of a job!
Ms Head then got us all to 'think as lawyers' by showing us some CCTV footage of a road traffic accident involving a pedestrian and a bus. She got half the audience to argue the case for the defendant (the bus driver) and the other half to come up with a case on behalf of the claimant (the pedestrian hit by the bus). On first looking at the footage most us felt that the pedestrian had acted negligently in the manner in which he had crossed the road and seemed largely responsible for the (serious) injuries he sustained. However, with Ms Head's guidance, the case was shown to be rather more complicated, with the law generally favouring pedestrians over motor vehicles. In the end we learnt that damages has been awarded to the claimant with responsibility being split 40%:60% in favour of the claimant.
What became apparent from Ms Head's talk was that there is no such thing as a 'right answer' in a court of law. Both sides need to argue the case and either a judge or jury will provide a verdict.
For most of the girls present, this was their first introduction to law and the sorts of issues that lawyers have to deal with. Ms Head's lecture provided a perfect picture of the uncertainties and peculiarities surrounding the law, as well as some very useful advice on what you should do if you want to become a lawyer. We are extremely grateful to her for giving up her time to talk to us.

Skills London 2012 this weekend!!!!

London’s biggest careers and skills event for young people (15 – 24 years old) is being held on 23 – 24 November at ExCeL.  The event is supported by the National Apprenticeship Service, London Councils, the Mayor of London and London First. Visit the LondonSkills2012 website for further details of which organizations will be attending.

Don't forget, we are also holding our own Careers Fair here at St Catherine's on Saturday, March 9th!