Meet Bethan: Participation & Progression Officer
Meet Bethan, our Participation & Progression Officer! Our experienced careers advisor works with pupils at The Rosewood School to help them understand the world of work, make choices about their future career paths, and equip them with endless knowledge and opportunities!
Hi Bethan! Please could you tell us about yourself and your role at TRS?
I am a Careers Adviser and have worked at TRS for just over 5 years now. My role is to support students with their ideas for the future and post 16 plans. I work 1:1 with pupils, particularly Year 11s and work with the Careers Leader to plan and organise a Careers Programme for the school which all pupils can access, this includes a variety of careers related activities.
What opportunities are available to pupils to support them with their career paths?
TRS offers a variety of activities to support pupils with their future plans. We arrange for outside speakers to share information about the world of work and their career journeys as well as on topics such as post 16 options, apprenticeships, CV writing etc. Pupils have regular opportunities to meet with myself to discuss their ideas for the future. Prior to lockdown we arranged some workplace visits (which we hope to do again soon!) and the school also delivered some enterprise challenges for pupils such as ‘Create a Strapline’ competition, set by an outside business. For this initiative, the winning Strapline will be used on the businesses YouTube channel!
This week is National Apprentice Week, what are you doing to support this initiative?
We had a presentation from ASK to raise pupils’ awareness of apprenticeships, this was delivered virtually to all our schools. This week students are completing some short activities on apprenticeships to encourage them to think more about this future option.
What age does the careers programme start?
All secondary pupils are offered the activities on the careers programme, some are targeted to particular year groups. We try to offer all pupils a 1:1 meeting with us during their time at TRS and work closely with our Y11s across all schools and provision and post 16 pupils at Staplehurst too.
What would you say pupils should consider when they are deciding which career path to take?
What are their priorities? (For example, is it enjoyment, money, job opportunities?)
What do they enjoy and what are they good at?
What will they be motivated to carry on learning about?
What have your pupils gone on to achieve?
I could write pages about this! One of the best parts of this job is hearing how successful students are in pursuing their plans after leaving TRS. We have many pupils who have gone on to study at a range of 6th forms, colleges and who have gained jobs and apprenticeships.
And finally, what is the best piece of careers advice you have to pupils of TRS?
Think about what you enjoy and are good at, and remember not everyone follows the same path.
If things do not go according to plan there is lots of support available and other options that can be looked at, people often have to try some different things before finding what is right for them. All our pupils have so much potential.
To find out more about careers, education, information, advice & guidance at The Rosewood School, click here.