You will find links on this page to support your careers journey.
Supporting your child as they move onto their next phase of education or training.
The autumn term is the time to start thinking about you child applying for College or Sixth Form and taking time to discuss these options with them before making informed choices for their next steps in education or training.
Starting College or Sixth Form can be a big change for your child. They will come face to face with experiences and responsibilities they may not have come across before, for example:
Catching a bus to a new area and/or campus
Taking more responsibility for the planning of their work
Adjusting to a new timetable
Meeting and dealing with a variety of new people
Leaving their friendship groups and making new friends
To help your child with this transition:
Attend Open Events at Local Colleges and Sixth Forms. Further details can be found in the Careers Section of our website.
Apply for Colleges and Sixth Forms – Always have a back-up plan!
Encourage your child to develop their skills and make the most of opportunities such as volunteering or being part of a club and work experience.
Encourage your child to make full use of the help available to them in school.
Speak to your child about any concerns or worries they have after their first week.
It will take your child time to adjust to a new study environment.
Talk about your own experiences and life lessons
As parents/carers you are key influencers.You will also have experience, positive and negative, of education, working with others and stepping out of your comfort zone and how best to handle such situations. Encourage your child to see that it’s good to step out of comfort zones and get new experiences.
Talk to them about:
Working or being in a classroom with people they do not know or may not like. The skills and qualities they get from this such as experience of working with others, tolerance, listening to others, working in a team, will be valuable to add on a CV or application form.
Taking responsibility for attending and arriving to lessons / lectures on time and completing work to deadlines. It is their responsibility to ask for help, and seek help if they are struggling with a piece of work. These are key skills to tell an employer about.
The importance of research and planning for assignments, finding work experience and to apply for their next steps.
Help your child to start planning their next steps
Giving your child a focus to work towards will help keep them motivated in College or Sixth Form. This could be planning their next options such as considering studying further; a higher-level course at college, researching:
Reassure your child: If you or your child needs more help ask Head of Year 11, Pastoral Support, Form Tutor and our school Careers Advisors. These challenges and new experiences can have positives, for example, developing independent learning skills and being resilient to any setbacks in the future. Also remember that Essex Youth Services are there to offer help and support: https://youth.essex.gov.uk/
Interview Tips
In an interview the questions you’ll be asked will be a mixture of:
general questions about you, your skills and your experience
specific questions about the particular job - sometimes called technical questions
The general questions can be the same for many different types of job. Below are a selection of useful links to various websites, providing advice and tips on the interview process:
FutureLearn partner with over 170 world-class universities, institutions and industry leaders to create world-class courses to help you with your career. At FutureLearnCareers, you'll find a career that matches your education and skills. Their mission is to help everyone fulfil their potential in a changing world and explore which new job could be the right fit for them. For more information, please follow the link below:
