U4's World of Work Day

World of Work Day took place on Friday 19 January 2024 and was an amazing experience for our U4 students with 97% agreeing or strongly agreeing that they enjoyed taking part.

The day was designed to introduce students to the importance of understanding and reflecting on their skills and strengths, identifying and thinking about what is important to them and their future, and all the considerations that go into making an informed decision.

We discussed the difference between skills and strengths, we thought of examples and evidence of where we use them in and outside of school, and we talked about the importance of self-reflection to help inform about career choices for the future.

This highlighted to students that skills are developed in every part of their lives from academic lessons to cooking meals for family and friends.

75% of students now have a better understanding of their skills and strengths due to their participation in the event.

There are many considerations when making decisions, such as the effect of external influences, opinions of parents, siblings, teachers and friends, the information we need to collect to help inform our decisions, and what we need as individuals to make us happy, content, and ready for the future.

The Decision-making Triangle activity helped students to visualise their decisions and articulate everything they need to consider before they make their choices. Some students chose to explore the decision of selecting their GCSE subjects, some students opted for a bit more light-hearted choice and tried to decide what they were going to do at the weekend. 100% of students said they now have a better understanding of how to make important decisions.

Students had the opportunity to hear from some current GCSE and Sixth Form students to learn more about life in Middle school and during A Levels. Mrs McGrenary and Mrs Jones were on hand to answer the many questions U4 had which helped them to gain a deep understanding of their journey ahead.

We were fortunate to be joined by Mrs Robinson who introduced the year group to the importance of money management. This was especially significant to those students who had identified money as being the one thing that was most important to them!

The day culminated with a speed networking event supported by thirteen volunteers made up from a mix of alumnae, Queen Anne’s parents, and external guests.

Students used their newfound networking skills and engaged with each guest to learn more about their careers and day to day work. Careers included Cyber security, Human Resources, Computer science, Law, Air Traffic Controller, the Royal Air Force, Psychology, Chemistry, Engineering, Finance, and Business.

89% of students agreed that meeting and engaging with our wonderful guest speakers raised their awareness of different careers.

Mrs Odell’s parting advice to U4 was, “you can only be what you see, so see as much as possible.”