Preparing for Life after Heathfield

Heathfield School offers timely careers guidance to students from Form I to the Upper Sixth.

In Form I, students have a structured, individual interview with a member of careers staff. This takes place in the Lent term, once the students have settled into the life of the school. The aim of these interviews is to encourage students to focus on subjects they enjoy, their interests and in order for staff to get to know them.

Students in Form II commence a process that provides independent careers advice. This is a well-respected service that focuses on identifying interests, possible future industries/careers and potential GCSE options. As an external service, this meets the statutory duty of providing independent advice. The resulting reports are reviewed with the students in an individual interview with a member of careers staff.

The profiles are refined or updated as the students progress through to Form III and meet to discuss their GCSE options in an individual interview with a member of careers staff. In addition, we hold an Options Fair at the school, where students speak to the teachers and Heads of Departments about the different GCSE subjects offered.

This independent service is then extended in Form IV to include aptitude and psychometric tests that measure natural strengths and weaknesses in key areas, in order to target education, career and therefore, potential A Level options that present a good match. As part of this process, students have a one-to-one meeting with an independent Careers Advisor who interviews them individually.

Form V students collate this information to help inform potential careers, degree options and relevant A Levels.

The Sixth Form years are overseen by the Sixth Form office, which helps them focus on the A Levels they will require to access certain degree courses or careers.

In the Sixth Form, the main focus is on application to higher education. To enable our students to make informed choices regarding courses and universities, a full programme of preparation is provided, beginning in the Lent term in the Lower Sixth and continuing until applications are submitted in the Upper Sixth.

Heathfield School runs a highly successful speaker programme. Many speakers visit the school, representing a wide range of career options. These speakers are often successful women, including Old Girls, who are excellent role models for the students.

The school also offers numerous opportunities for students to network, including visiting speakers, attending external talks and a popular annual Networking Evening for current students to develop their network with Old Girls representing a wide variety of careers.

Additionally, the Careers and Outreach department has established links with neighbouring schools to enable our students to engage with other students in an academic capacity. This includes reciprocal attendance of talks, discussions and workshops.

Networking workshops are delivered to Sixth Formers to ensure that when students are presented with networking opportunities, they are able to maximise the potential of these. These include visiting speakers, speaker suppers and offsite visits to attend lectures. The Careers and Outreach department also works with the Fellowship co-ordinator to organise Fellowship Networking Events. These enable the Sixth Form to spend an evening speaking to alumnae across numerous industry sectors, establishing important contacts and work experience opportunities.

Sixth Form also participate in workshops and discussions that cover a wide variety of topics to ensure students are able to independently manage their lives when they leave Heathfield.

If you are a provider of careers services for young people, please email reception@heathfieldschool.net FAO: Careers.