National Careers Week is a celebration of the very best of careers guidance and opportunities available across the UK – and it proved to be one of the busiest weeks of the year for us!

For 5 days, we played host to an incredibly busy and thoroughly inspiring event. There were over 300 mock interviews for Year 8 and Year 10 students. The 31 interviewers came from a myriad of backgrounds – including many local businesses, the police and fire brigade, representatives from Colleges, Southampton University, East Hampshire District Council and past students. There was an amazing Career’s Fair which was visited by over 500 students with demonstrations and details of potential careers and apprenticeships. There was the incredible James Golding – a truly motivational speaker who spoke to Year 9 students on surviving cancer (twice) and breaking the world record for the most miles cycled in 7 days.

The week culminated with a visit by the Secretary of State for Education and local MP, Damian Hinds. He said:

“National Career’s Week is a very important initiative in schools because it is an opportunity for young people to see the full breadth of the options available and what they need to do to get there.”

Mr Hinds took part in a memorable Eggar’s does Question Time, with Head Teacher Patrick Sullivan playing the part of David Dimbleby as host for the relaxed and very entertaining Q&A assembly. The MP answered many probing questions from the students which covered a wide variety of topics including:  'In your opinion do you think schools have enough funding?' and 'What do you think of Donald Trump wanting to arm teachers?' 

The students had a rare opportunity to see a key government figure as a real person.  

It  served as a fitting conclusion to our participation in National Careers Week.