July 2024
Work Exploration Day
Year 7 students enjoyed their Work Exploration Day on Thursday 11th July. Students attended a vast range of organisations with friends or family members, including the Mayor’s Chambers, Microsoft, the School of Fashion and Textiles, Stevenage Football Club and so many more. Students were also able to work on careers related projects from home.
Pictured below is Claire at Crest Nicholson in St Albans learning about the development and marketing of properties. Thank you to all of the parents, family and friends who supported year 7 students with Work Exploration Day.
June 2024
Year 10 Work Experience
Since Year 10 went on their work experience in June, feedback has poured in from employers. There are too many to print, but here are a few examples:
“It was a pleasure having Xavier… he is a great ambassador for your school”.
“Just wanted to say it was an absolute joy having Aiden with us at Rennie Grove Peace last week”.
“Julia enjoyed the week and was really engaged”.
“Rosa is working hard and is very friendly”
“Aaron is happy and engaged”
“Lucas is very friendly and proactive”
“Cerys is extremely positive and polite”
Our photo is of Charlie, working hard in London.
Some student quotes:
“It is a really good experience, particularly as I am gaining a deeper understanding of how businesses work first-hand”
“I value the opportunity to look at how a business operates, as I am keen to take Business at A Level”
“I am following routines and learning key skills, like being patient if the pupils (primary school) are having behaviour issues”
Pictured below are Thibaut on his placement in London and Laura and Emily at a local nursing home.
The feedback is a joy to receive. Well done to all of the year 10 students.
May 2024
Year 8 Careers Assembly
On Tuesday 7th May, Louise Hardy from Balfour Beatty gave a careers presentation to all year 8 students. Louise spoke about her own career path into Engineering and gave an interesting insight into the various roles in the field. It was particularly fascinating to hear about the huge role Louise played in planning the infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Students were engaged throughout and we are sure they were inspired by this assembly. Huge thanks to Louise for taking the time to present to year 8.
March 2024
The latest of our series of Careers Assemblies for Year 8 took place on Tuesday 5th March. We were lucky to host Renee Ramsay-Nicol from Computacenter, who spoke about her career and the different opportunities open to school leavers, including apprenticeships and degrees.
Huge thanks to Renee for visiting our school. We are sure that the students found the talk interesting and informative.
ARCHIVED BLOGS
February 2024
National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2024 is the 17th annual celebration of apprenticeships. The theme this year is ‘Skills for Life’.
We would like to celebrate the value, benefit and opportunity that apprenticeships bring and have picked out some fantastic virtual events you can access each day, which you can find here.
Aimed at Years 10, 11 & 12, the week sees a mix of talks, events and advice from key figures and a range of employers to help you see how apprenticeships can help develop skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career.
There are many more events you can access – use the hashtags #NAW2024 #SkillsForLife to search for updates and go to https://nationalapprenticeshipweek.co.uk/
@Apprenticeships @AmazingApprenticeships
NAW 2024
December 2023
Year 9 Aspirations Morning:
Part of our careers provision at Sandringham includes speakers by employers, employees and apprenticeships providers to students, to give them an insight into the world of employment and the different routes into careers. On Wednesday 8th November, we hosted an aspirations morning for year 9. There were speakers from Google, Sky, Computacenter, BEAR and the Met Police. They gave fantastic careers presentations and were able to take thoughtful questions from the students.
We are extremely grateful for their time and are sure that the students benefitted greatly from the sessions. Some of the speakers are also parents here, so a huge thank you to them!
Year 8 Careers Assembly
Year 8 were lucky to attend a careers assembly run by Lauren Christie from Sky. Lauren spoke about the creative industries and routes in to this field. It was fantastic to hear about the training programmes, apprenticeships and graduate roles offered by Sky.
October 2023
Apprenticeships:
Rate My Apprentice runs a parent hub, which you can sign into here, to receive newsletters about apprenticeship opportunities for students. This is particularly aimed at parents of students aged 14+
HOP:
For students interested in finding out about career options over half term, the Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal (HOP) runs webinars on a variety of career choices. Find out more here.
Spotlight on Marine Biology:
Inspired by Steve Backshall’s tour to St Albans, we took a look at the routes into Marine Biology
June 2023
Year 8 Careers Talk IT Customer Service Management
We were delighted to host Jon Stacey from Computacenter. He came in to talk to year 8 in assembly about his role and how he got there. Jon is a certified, multilingual IT service management professional with 20 years’ experience in the field.
He spoke about the different pathways into Customer Experience Management and the importance of finding a role that interests you.
We hope that year 8 found the assembly useful and would like to thank Jon taking the time to speak to our students.
Visit to Oaklands College
Some of our year 11 students enjoyed visiting Oaklands College. 
They were able to visit their curriculum areas of interest, watch a presentation about college life and a go on a campus tour. The photo shows a group visiting the Animal Care team. If you would like to find out more about Oaklands, please visit their website here.
Careers Guidance
Sandringham is pleased to welcome Sarah Timberlake who will work alongside
Nicky Honeywell to offer Careers Guidance to students.
Both Nicky and Sarah are from Herts Services for Young People
and offer impartial careers advice.
Year 8 Careers Talk Film and Television
This academic year, our year 8 students have been treated to a series of careers talks in assembly. Lauren Christy visited to talk about careers in the film and TV industries. Lauren works with the apprentices and new starters at Sky, based in Hertfordshire and London. There are many opportunities at these growing studios and many pathways to working there.
After Lauren’s talk, a few students approached her to say how much they had enjoyed the talk and we hope that it has helped them to know a bit more about the careers they can aspire to work in. In Lauren’s words, “there is something for everyone in the world of film, television and gaming and every student has a skill to suit the industry”.
Huge thanks to Lauren for taking the time to visit us at Sandringham.
FEBRUARY ’23
National Apprenticeship Week.
Download the PDF for more information.
February Open Events at Oaklands College:
For anyone interested in attending Oaklands College, there are open events at both campuses very soon in February. These events give students the chance to visit the campuses, learn more about the courses offered and to meet staff. Students need to check the list for their preferred subject areas prior to booking, as the two campuses will showcase different subjects.
Please take a look and register here:
Oaklands College Open Day Events
Work Experience:
Calling all parents and carers! We are currently allocating students to work experience placements. We are hoping you might be able to help us! Can you support a year 10 work experience student from 13th – 17th June? We would love to hear from you. Thank you, the Careers Team (eadyc@mysandstorm.org)
Extended Learning Day – Year 11 You’re Hired:
In January the school was treated to visits from more than 40 volunteers. Parents and volunteers from the local community attended Sandringham to host mock interviews for our year 11 students. Each student was able to attend an interview during the day and the feedback from both volunteers and students has been excellent. For many students, this will have been their first interview and we are very proud of how they handled it. The volunteers spoke very highly of the students’ behaviour and interview skills. The day also included an interview preparation session, a CV writing class and presentations from Herts Services for Young People, Computacenter (on apprenticeships), Elstree Screen Arts Academy, West Herts College and Oaklands College.
Huge thanks to all of the college staff and volunteers for making this a memorable day for the students.
On the same day, year 10 went on a trip to the University of Hertfordshire to find out more about the world of higher education. We hope they enjoyed the day and are pleased to report that some students contacted us to thank us for the day and express their hope to go to university.
Computacenter Apprenticeships
Computacenter have been in touch as they enjoyed presenting to year 11 last week. They have asked me to share the following link with any students interested in doing an apprenticeship:-
Computacenter Apprenticeships
Twitter
When new careers opportunities arise for all age groups at Sandringham we try to tweet about them from @SandCareers . Please do follow us there
for more updates and anecdotes.
December ’22
Guest Speaker Event
On Tuesday 1st November, the whole of year 8 were treated to a fantastic assembly by Louise Hardy, Non-Executive Director, Belfour Beatty about the various pathways into the engineering sector. Louise spoke about her 30 years of experience in engineering, how much she enjoys her role and the challenges she has faced.
The students were particularly interested in the six years Louise spent on project managing the infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games and the different groups engineers need to work with to make a project successful. Huge thanks to Louise for your time this week.
We are often looking for parents and carers to speak to the students about their careers and our aim is to showcase as wide a variety of fields as we can. Thank you to the parents who have already filled in our survey. If there is anything you can help with, for example, mock interviews, work experience or a talk, please fill in this survey:
Parent/Carers Careers Survey
Thank you for all of the support for Sandringham Careers.
Computer Centre Apprenticeships
The Computacenter Apprenticeships Team is running a popular apprenticeships information
session at
5:45pm on Tuesday 31st January. First come, first served and free of charge.
This is suitable for any student interested in doing an apprenticeship after completing year 11, year 13
or a university course.
Computacenter Apprenticeships
Year 9 Futures Day
All year 9 students attended our Futures Day on Tuesday 8th November, as part of the Extended Learning Day. Four excellent representatives from Herts Services for Young People gave a talk on career options and the different pathways available. There were also four fantastic Student Ambassadors from the University of Hertfordshire who kindly gave talks on life at university.
Another highlight of the day were the careers talks from employees. Students were treated to presentations by representatives of Google, Portland Design, Computacenter, Moody’s, Capcom, Vodafone, GSK, Amber Mountain Marketing, Bear and Urban Fruit, the Met Police, Amazon Web Services, Stephanie Belton Photography and a fantastic former journalist. We are extremely grateful for the time these representatives, some of whom are parents of students at this school, put into their presentations.
The year 9s also spent time with some of our own helpful sixth formers here at Sandringham and spent time documenting their thoughts on the day.
A huge thank you to everyone involved.
HOP have presented careers in Estate Agency, Hairdressing, the Police, Cyber Security and lots more. These are virtual sessions and therefore easy for students to access:
Virtual Careers Encounters (HOP)
Financial Reporting Council:
There is a Work Experience Opportunity for 16-19 year olds at February half term 2023 (13-17 February) at the Financial Reporting Council. Please contact hr@frc.org.uk for more information and an application form, which needs to be in by 16 December 2022.
More work experience planning:
Springpod has information on more work experience opportunities, which might be of particular interest over February half term 2023. There are introductions to a variety of careers, including engineering, technology, banking and lots more. (Most are aimed at age 13+)
Springpod Website
October ’22
The Careers Team is looking forward to an exciting year, with many more in person opportunities for students, as the world opens up following the Covid Pandemic.
This year we will be welcoming speakers in school from many different fields and the plan is to be able to arrange more visits to universities and work places. Nicky Honeywell from Herts Services for Young People will continue to visit Sandringham weekly to offer impartial careers advice. Parents, carers and students are invited to follow our Twitter account @sandcareers and keep an eye on our careers blog here. These are both regularly updated.
The Connexions Room on the first floor of K block is open to students looking for information on different Careers. There are flyers for various career related events in here, as well as university prospectuses and college brochures.
Springpod:
Springpod is a useful resource for students and is advertising numerous virtual work experience opportunities for the October half term week. Students can read about these opportunities and apply for free here. There is an explanation of each course, as well as a certificate for those who complete! Most of them are aimed at students in years 10 to 13. From designing the next Pret product, to careers at Volvo, as well as in agriculture and healthcare, there are many to read about.
Medicine:
West Herts hospitals are hosting a half day event for 16- to 17-year-olds, living in Hertfordshire and North London, who may be thinking of pursuing a career in Medicine. This will take place on Friday 28th October 2022. Students need to send in a form to apply and can contact West Herts Medical Education Centre on 07816196278 or via email m.roughani@nhs.net.
Veterinary Medicine:
Students in years 10-12 interested in becoming a vet might be interested in attending this half term conference:
Saturday 22nd October from 10am – 3pm. Students can register using this link: https://airtable.com/shrs1hEiPfdSSgnI2
Chief Vet Mentors Dr James Taylor and Dr May Yean Chua will provide insight into what it’s like to work as a Vet, and a full guide to the UCAS application process, including:
– Application Timelines
– How to Tactically Choose Veterinary Schools
– CV Building
– Personal Statements
– Interview Schools
– Medical Leadership and Awards Programmes
– Accessing Work Experience
– Accessing Scholarships to study Veterinary Medicine at university
Year 9 Futures Day
We look forward to welcoming industry speakers to talk to year 9 about their careers on 8th November. Many of them are parents and we are very grateful for their time.
Twitter:
This week (17 October) we have also posted information on our Twitter page (@SandCareers) on careers in occupational therapy, sports development, marine biology and dietetics! More opportunities will be shared as they come in.
July ’22
Work Exploration Day
On Thursday 14th July year 7 students enjoyed their ‘Work Exploration Day’. Students were encouraged to work with a family member or friend for the day and we’ve been pleased to hear about what they have been doing. From assisting in excellent local schools, to Google, Morrisons, Airbus and the House of Lords, we were grateful for the time given to these students. It was also fantastic to host activities online for those working at home or unable to find a placement (which we understand is difficult following the pandemic) and we hope that all students found the day beneficial.
Opportunities
This week we’ve tweeted about an open day with Herts Police and Springpod Virtual Work Experience opportunities for the summer which can be found here. This includes opportunities at Airbus, Siemens and Barclays. Please do follow us @sandcareers so that you can see the news as soon as we share it!
Year 10 WEX
Year 10 students attended their Work Experience Week placements during June. We have continued to receive wonderful comments about how they got on during their placements. Here are some comments from the students themselves:
“I really did enjoy myself… I wanted to say thank you so, so much for this truly wonderful experience at Bar Meze”
“My placement was useful because it gave me first-hand experience assisting the Tennis coaches who mentor individuals of different age groups as well as a greater understanding of the role and techniques required to improve their game.”
“Overall, I found it a fun experience and it has taught me a lot of things that I consider to be important about working life such as; what are appropriate working hours?, how to schedule for the day and the rest of the week, and how to take a lunch break at appropriate times. Overall it was a fun experience and one that I believe was worth it.”
Here are some comments from the fantastic employers who gave students their time:
“He was a pleasure to have, hopefully he learnt what construction can offer and may, in the future, be interested in joining the sector.” Borras Construction
“It’s our pleasure I think we enjoy it as much as the pupils do. We look forward to it.” The 2 Wheel Centre
“It was a pleasure to meet her and provide her with a week of observation and insight into interior design practice. I hope she enjoyed her time with us.” Caroline Campbell Design
We are very proud of our hard-working year 10s.
June 2022
In May many students across years 10-12 took part in a Morrisby Assessment. This involves an online testing session, followed by a careers interview with a Morrisby Advisor. The Advisor reported that all of the students were stars and she very much enjoyed meeting them. We hope they found the sessions useful.
Work Experience
Work experience takes place 13-17 June for year 10 students and we wish them well as they visit a variety of work places. Huge thanks to Nuffield Health, Barhale Ltd and Runners World, local businesses which have gone out of their way to offer more placements than usual! We are grateful to all of the organisations offering placements and time to our students. They will be heading to gyms, schools, banks, law firms, van hire services, supermarkets and many more to learn directly in the world of employment.
Springpod have been in touch with information about opportunities for students aged 13+ in a wide range of careers. Take a look here for more information:
https://www.springpod.com/
Please do follow us on twitter for more information on interesting events, online sessions and general goings on:- @SandCareers
April 2022
Work Experience
We would like to thank the year 10 parents for taking the time to work with us to find work experience placements for students in June. We look forward to hearing about their placements and speaking to the employers involved!
Spotlight on opportunities:
The Royal Navy reached out to Sandringham School to let us know about their Role Finder tool for anyone interested in joining. There are also scholarship and funding opportunities.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/role-finder
Borras Construction Ltd
This could be of interest to our year 13 students. Borras Construction is looking to employ 2 apprentices starting September 2022, to join their Management Trainee Programme. AS or 2 A levels required. Driving licence and own transport (preferrable although not essential). Students should ask for a job description and forward their CV and covering letter before 6th May 2022 if interested to dchapman@borrasconstruction.co.uk or jshields@borrasconstruction.co.uk
GSK Virtual Work Experience 2022 Sign-Up
30th May – 2nd June GSK are offering virtual work experience suitable for students in year 10-13
- Learn about how GSK takes products from molecules to marke
- Take part in virtual team building exercises to develop their skills
- Learn about different career opportunities across Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
- Gain job application hints and tips
- Gain an industry-accredited Bronze Industrial Cadets Award.
Find out more and fill in the survey here: https://survey.gsk.com/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=m4KM4554J#
Please contact Mrs Eady for any Careers information or insights eadyc@mysandstorm.org
March 2022
The Sandringham Careers team is delighted to be sharing its first Careers Blog post.
New Careers Coordinator – Mrs Eady
Mrs Carly Eady has joined the team as the new Careers Coordinator and looks forward to offering support to students of every year group.
Mrs Eady can be found in the 6th Form Centre and her email for all career related matters is eadyc@mysandstorm.org .
Work Experience Week
Work Experience Week for year 10 is fast approaching and letters have been distributed with the details. Students are encouraged to arrange a private placement where possible and we are delighted that placements will be attended in person. We are looking forward to finding out about the experiences assigned and hope that some students will be able to contribute to this blog by documenting their experience in the summer. Students interested in doing this can email Mrs Eady
eadyc@mysandstorm.org . There are also some pre organised placements available through our Link2 system if students are unable to find one privately, ensuring that there is somewhere for everyone to gain this important experience in a working environment.
Meet Nicky Honeywell
Personal Careers Advisor, Mrs Nicky Honeywell, from Herts Services for Young People continues to visit Sandringham weekly to offer one-to-one careers advice for students.
These sessions are confidential and Mrs Honeywell works with students to offer personalised, impartial support and advice. If a student would like to arrange an appointment, they can email Mrs Eady making a request.
Follow our Twitter Account!
Sandringham regularly tweets about careers webinars, internships, talks and other opportunities for students. Follow @SandCareers for more info! For Sixth Form info, there is also the useful @SandSixth twitter feed.
We look forward to offering further future updates both through this blog and our Twitter feed, as well as the Sandprint.
The Careers Team
Students aged 15-18 interested in being a doctor of medicine might be interested in The Young Doctor Summer Experience. Information is offered here: 
