On Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 January 2024, pupils in Year 11 had the opportunity to rehearse important life skills as they prepared for and attended their Mock Interviews with people from the wider community who were meeting them for the first time.

Having the opportunity to come into school in smart dress gave some a real confidence boost. The year group had been working on their CVs through their PSHEe lessons in preparation for this event. We would like to extend a big thank you to Mr Reed, Mrs Crew, Miss Hope and Mr Carmichael for their work through those lessons.

Many pupils provided excellent draft CVs to support their ‘applications’.  Our young people have a lot of brilliant experiences and skills to talk about and it is great practice for them to start to get used to telling someone just how brilliant they are! The interview schedule was planned and coordinated by Miss Brace and Miss Walford. The feedback from our pupils and our ‘guest’ interviewers has been really positive.

One of our interviewers commented: 'The Year 11 mock interviews are a real pleasure to be a part of.  It's wonderful to see the diverse set of skills, aspirations and passion each student has and how they hope to use their exams, experience and future studies to support those ambitions. I heard everything from designing and writing comics, to building an electrician business, to being a vet in Australia (and much more in-between). It's really encouraging to hear what they are achieving beyond school - whether it's building their own websites, learning other computer codes, teaching themselves other languages on Duolingo or electric guitar on YouTube. It was really good to see the students reflect on their recent mock exam performance and what that means for the preparation in the few months ahead of their GCSEs. It's also clear how much they value the support they are receiving from school as well as from families and friends.' 

From the first impressions they gave wearing their sharp business attire (I need to raise my sartorial game), to their conversations with people from a wide range of public and private sectors, Year 11s impressed our guests, once again proving to be fine ambassadors for the school. The year group have passed through another rite of passage extolling the values of the school. They must now take on these experiences and craft them into a purposeful next few months as we move towards the summer exams. I am very proud of their efforts through the interview process.

Mr Clutterbuck, Headteacher

A massive thank you to everyone who helped and assisted Year 11 in the Mock Interviews. The two mornings were a massive success and our pupils made an excellent impression on the interviewers who were very complimentary about all of the year group.

Miss Brace, Assistant Head