Careers
Welcome to Careers at Parkstone
Careers Convention
The following local employers were at to our Annual Careers Convention on Monday 16th March:
Anglo European College of Chiropractic, Army Careers Adviser (S) Dorset & Wilts, Borough of Poole - Strategic Planning, Bournemouth & District Law Society , Bournemouth & Poole College, Bournemouth & Poole College - Hairdressing, Bournemouth Libraries, Bournemouth University, Cobham Plc, Coles Miller Solicitors, Connexions in Poole, Crown Prosecution Service, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Dorset Expeditionary Society, Dorset Fire & Rescue Services, Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust, Dorset Police, Dorset Scope Supported Living, EDT - The Year in Industry, General Practitioner, Harold G Walker Solicitors, Institute of Legal Executives Bmouth & District Branch, Institution of Chemical Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers/Exxon Mobil, Kingston Maurward College, Lynwood Veterinary Group, National Trust, Paragon ITE & Training, Parkstone Grammar School - Sixth Form, Parkstone Health Centre, Partners in Care, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Radiotherapy, Poole NHS Trust - Occupational Therapy, Poole NHS Trust - Pathology, Poole NHS Trust - Physiotherapy, Poole NHS Trust - Radiography, Princecroft Willis LLP, RLM Architects, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Siemens Mobile Communications, Siemens Traffic Solutions, STA Travel, The Actuarial Profession, The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, The Register Office, University of Birmingham, University of Exeter, University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton, Up to Speed Journalism Training, Vinvolved, Weymouth College, Young Enterprise South West.
Southampton University
Sparsholt College
Occupational Therapy
National Trust
Poole Hospital
Army Recruitment
NHS Radiography
Borough of Poole Civil Engineering
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
Physiotherapy
Crown Prosecution Service
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The Careers department is run by Connexions, the government initiative to offer advice on issues relating to health, housing, relationships, money, careers and learning options.
We have a careers library adjoining the main library. This is available to all students and is especially useful to those in years 11, 12 and 13 as they consider their future careers and university applications. Appointments can also be made with the Connexions careers advisor, for advice on all areas of the working world.
To find out more about Connexions in Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset visit their website.
Year 10 Mock Interviews
Each Year 10 girl has the opportunity of a mock interview with a real life employer. A virtual company is created and a wide range of employment opportunities offered. Job descriptions are found on the school’s It’s Learning website. Students chose a position for which they would like to apply then complete an ‘Interview Application Form’ along with a covering letter to the employer. Applications are received by a strict deadline. Each interview lasts 30 minutes, including feedback and it was a very successful programme.
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Further events for Year 10 students
Year 10 World Games Challenge May 2008
Over a period of two days (half year group per day), all students in Year 10 participated in a mini Olympic Games. Taking on the role of countries, their main aim was to be the best country of the day by competing in several challenges e.g. mini games, country presentations, designing T-shirts and baseball caps culminating in a fashion show. Students worked to tight budgets arranging transport and hotels while preparing business style presentations for sponsorship money which could be the difference between winning silver and taking the gold. Students learnt that through proper delegation and working to tight deadlines anything can be achieved that they set their mind to.
Year 10 Company Challenge Oct 07-Jan 08
"Twelve Year Ten students took part in a challenge; to create a product to sell at Christmas themed events around Dorset. Although this seems like an incredibly simple task, we found that producing a product actually takes a whole lot of work, especially since we had to find our own funding. After many weeks of deliberating [or perhaps arguing!] we finally had our product sorted out – we had decided to make phone socks, a protective material cover for a mobile phone. Fund raising was one of the most difficult tasks as we had to somehow get money from nowhere. Luckily, the school let us have a cake sale, in which we made over £150, which was more than enough to get our product made. The time flew by, and all of a sudden the Christmas sales began. We had a really great time at these and it really made us realize that people trying to sell you things on the street really have a hard time. Half of the people approached either said no or tried to avoid eye contact and run away! Even through all this turmoil, our overall profit was something like £425, which we got to keep! At the end of it all we attended an award ceremony at a posh hotel where we met the other teams and had a lovely meal, no expense spared. Unfortunately we didn’t win any awards other than one for taking part; however we still had fun. It is different to anything else offered us before and we were surprised at the amount of control we had over the situation – we could do whatever we chose except selling homemade food! On behalf of the group I would definitely recommend any new Year Tens to take part in this challenge and make the most of the opportunity!"
Written by Managing Director of Oval, Emma Rowland
Yes Chef! Competition February 2008
The programme was divided into three parts, heats, semi finals and finals. We had three Year 10 students involved. The first heat was held on 19th December in Bournemouth. Students met and worked with kitchen staff at the Brasserie Restaurant at the Lansdowne College site of Bournemouth & Poole College. This involved discussing career routes that might be open to them, an understanding of the working kitchen and finally preparing a three course dinner for the judges. Two of our students qualified for the semi-finals, held on 10th March 2008 at The Sandbanks Hotel. Their task was to prepare a main course and desert from a list of ingredients. One of our students qualified for the final. The finalists were required to cook two courses for 10 guests, stretching them in both time management and culinary capabilities. All three students thoroughly enjoyed their experiences and are hoping to transfer their new found skills – at school and at home!
"Yes Chef! was useful because I gained the experience of cooking independently outside the classroom environment. I learnt cooking techniques and received valuable tips from professional chefs which will benefit me in the future. I had to adapt quickly to using industrial sized equipment and the pressure of cooking to a deadline. It was hard but I really enjoyed the overall competition."
Written by finalist Steph Nash
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The Enterprise and Skills Company
The Enterprise and Skills Company is an organisation dedicated to the development of enterprise, entrepreneurship and employability skills through educational and innovative programmes themed around the Olympics, Media, Politics and many more. The programmes are aimed at engaging students aged 14 - 19.
Over the past five years we have worked closely with Parkstone Grammar School delivering the following enterprise activities:
- The World Games Challenge - where students take on the role of countries with the objective of attending, competing and winning the 2012 Games
- Media Mogul - students working in teams become an advertising agency attempting to develop the best showcase of promotion involving video and radio production
- The Enterprise Challenge - Year 10 students create a real company trading at locally established trade fairs in the build-up to Christmas gaining a real experience in the business world
- Hold the Front Page - A team of Year 8 students launch a School newsletter and report on all aspects of School life. The result is 100 copies of an original newsletter that gets distributed throughout the school.
- 'Yes Chef!' - Culinary students take part in a Hospitality supported event competing to be crowned 'Yes Chef! Champion'. The event progresses through various Heats and stages culminating in a Grand Final at the Haven Hotel, Sandbanks.
Parkstone Grammar School understand the value of offering students opportunities to work with outside employers bringing real business experience into the school. The Enterprise and Skills Company would like to think that the success of our programmes contributes to the student's excellent communication skills and innovative thinking.
Information about the Enterprise and Skills Company at www.enterpriseandskills.co.uk
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Work Experience
Year 10 students do two weeks Work Experience in May. More information can be found on the School Policies page of the website.
Young Enterprise Companies (One Year Programme)
Year 12 students are able to take part in the Young Enterprise Company Programme, run outside school, and have the option to sit a vocational related certificate Level 2 in Enterprise. The Young Enterprise company scheme works on a learning-by-doing principle that aims to inspire young people and forge links between schools and industry. It is run Nationwide and involves a series of competitions to create a more realistic business environment with deadlines and presentations. The judging criteria is based on four main parts: a company stand; presentation given in front of the judges and the other groups; report compiled by members of the group and initiative, shown through the choice of product and the other judging criteria.
2008 Young Enterprise Company Programme
Forty-one Year 12 students took part. The Young Enterprise county finals were held at Carrington Hotel. Five of our groups (linked with another school) went through to the regional finals to represent Dorset. Team Iconic, won 2 trophies, Team Eden won 1 trophy and Team Scintilla won 1 trophy. Another very successful year.
"I decided to do Young Enterprise in Year 12 because of the interesting experience it offered. I was placed at JP Morgan, and every Monday, from September to the end of April, I met with my team for two hours. We were called ‘Scintilla’, the inspiration coming from the Italian spelling of ‘spark’. As a team we set out to try to get as far as we could in the competition, winning as many awards as we could. Unfortunately the group wasn’t as proactive as we hoped, and we soon began facing problems, mostly based around the lack of communication amongst the group. This resulted in a disastrous club night in Bournemouth when only about thirty people turned up."
"However, despite such setbacks, we managed to produce a final product, a child’s play beanbag. We won an award for it! Although this was our only award we felt we deserved it because of all the effort we had put in. We also managed to reach stage 2 of the competition. This was held in a hotel in Bournemouth with plenty of free food!"
"My group didn’t make a lot of money through the company. However I think that every group member left with a greater understanding of what is needed to successfully run a business. Young Enterprise was definitely a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Although it can be hard, when you get to the end you feel like you’ve achieved so much because you have successfully run a business for the last seven months."
Written by Hannah Owen
2007 Young Enterprise Company Programme
"In 2007 United Fire, with screams of excitement and pure relief, made their way somewhat noisily through the Dorset heats of the Young Enterprise competition to represent Dorset in the South West regional finals. The team was made up of ten Parkstone Grammar girls and five boys from Winton Arts and Media College. Their advising company was Proctor and Gamble where their weekly meetings were held, with Darren Trim and Chris Case as their acting advisors. Alongside the company advisors Miss Kelly, the young enterprise coordinator at Parkstone, provided invaluable advice and guidance."
"The company operated for nine months, from October 2006 till July 2007, and succeeded in organising and holding a number of events for their peers along with selling kits that test for the presence of date rape drugs in drinks. During their time they won a number of awards as well as getting through both the regional and Dorset heats. They were also awarded the CISA award and the Community award, with the added bonus of their lead advisor Darren Trim winning the best advisor award."
Miranda Camping received the Young Enterprise Achiever 2007 Award.
"My company, Pinacle, consisted (by the heats) of six people, four from PGS, and two boys from Winton and Porchester Schools. This was a very small group for a Young Enterprise Company, but we managed to assign the roles within the company so everyone was working in areas that they were strong in. Pinacle was based at JPMorgan where our main adviser, Sue Tattersall, was based. JPMorgan gave the two Young Enterprise Companies based there good support, including allowing us a stall at their Christmas Fair, and letting us use the free hot chocolate machines in breaks!"
"The Dorset heats of the Young Enterprise competition were definitely my highlight of the whole year. To our surprise and delight we had made it through the Bournemouth heats, with a lot of last minute rushing and chaos, and found ourselves at our second competition. This time round everything ran smoothly, including the planned “surprise” in our presentation; where one of our member’s dog made a guest appearance modelling our product: waterproof dog coats. This was also a great evening for me as I received the Achiever 2007 Award, which I had been nominated for by my advisers for all the hard work I had put into the company over the company year."
Enterprise & Skills Company Programme
Twelve students took part in the Enterprise and Skills Company Programme with a Business Adviser.
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Dorset Skills Festival
"Today, on Friday 10th October 2008 my year group went to the Dorset Skills Festival. The festival was divided up into nine zones each focusing on a different selection of jobs. The event was held in Canford Arena over three days. The aim was to help our age group out when it came to the difficult task of deciding what to do when we left school. The jobs varied widely from jobs in the armed forces to journalism and health care. I really enjoyed the day although I think we could have done with more time to fully take advantage of the wide range of opportunities and advice. The people manning the stalls were helpful and encouraging. At the end of the day I came back with plenty of information and a much clearer idea of what I want to achieve in my future career."
Year 8 Hold the Front Page - February 2008
Twenty-five Year 8 students worked with a local business advisor to gather information and materials to form their own newsletter. The day culminated in a newsletter printed by the team containing students own stories and pictures over a four page document.
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Year 9 Media Mogul July 2008
In teams, students formed a media company. Each team recorded a radio jingle, produced a television trailer promoting a ‘forthcoming production’, created articles for a magazine and designed a tabard. Students showcased their achievements in a gala performance and screening. The programme helps students prepare for employability including teamwork, decision making and marketing.
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