CAREERS NEWSLETTER
2017-‐18
ISSUE 15 – Friday 25 May 2018
As well as saying goodbye to the talented Class of 2011, we wish everyone an excellent half term. We trust all GCSE and A level students will enjoy a healthy
programme of revision, while hoping the other year groups have the chance to
relax after completing an exacting week of end of year examinations in school.
DO YOU MATTER AS MUCH AS YOUR SUBJECTS?
The experience of seeing Bablake students succeed and feeling fulfilled in every possible profession imaginable always reassures me that it is the person that impresses potential employers as much as the subjects taken. Languages, sciences and the arts are all crucial for the UK’s overall economic success, while almost £100 billion alone is brought to the national economy each year by the arts. In the last issue of The Wheatleyan, when discussing whether the arts or sciences were ‘boss’, quite correctly we concluded both complemented each other.
With this in mind, I was pleased to see 100 of the UK’s leading artists condemn the absence of the arts in the new EBacc. Fortunately Bablake’s curriculum has the flexibility to offer all subjects to its students, so those with a flair for the arts may show and develop the skills mentioned in the artists’ letter to The Guardian:
“We are writing to express our grave concern about the exclusion of arts and creative subjects from the new English baccalaureate, or EBacc, for secondary school children, which we believe will seriously damage the future of many young people in this country. There is compelling evidence that the study of creative subjects is in decline in state schools and that entries to arts and creative subjects have fallen to their lowest level in a decade. Young people are being deprived of opportunities for personal development in the fields of self-‐ expression, sociability, imagination and creativity. This places one of our largest and most successful global industries at risk, one worth £92bn a year to the UK economy. That is bigger than oil, gas, life sciences, automotive and aeronautics combined. This is at a time when economic growth is of critical importance to the UK’s international position. A good education fit for the 21st century, must be broad and balanced. The EBacc in its current form is not the way to achieve this. We call on the government to reverse its decision to blindly press ahead with the EBacc, regardless of the consultation responses and in the face of overwhelming evidence against this policy. If we care about social mobility, wellbeing and economic growth – and if we want our creative industries to continue to flourish – we need to rebalance our education system so that the arts are valued just as much as other subjects. Every child should have equal access to the benefits that the arts and culture bring, not just a privileged few.” See https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/may/08/british-‐artists-‐ebacc-‐will-‐damage-‐creativity-‐and-‐self-‐ expression for m ore.
@BablakeCareers
STELLAR STUDENTS
Each year group has individual students who gain public office & regular praise for their excellence. In the #18Before18 spirit, we highlight over 18 students who quietly achieved the following while at Bablake:
1 Grade 8 in Musical Theatre 2 Park Run volunteer 3 Academic resource worth publishing 4 AECOM apprenticeship offer 5 JLR apprenticeship offer 6 Specsavers employee 7 Reinvented Bablake badminton 8 Internee after competitive interview 9 U nconditional offer for Lincoln University 10 Content/ design advice for #18Before18 11 Events manager – Leavers’ Concert 12 Captain for two major school sports 13 International charity work 14 Acclaimed photographer 15/ 16 Four Medical School offers 17/ 18 Bablake ambassadors at Capgemini 19/ 20/ 21 Invaluable musicians of note 22/ 23/ 24 Excellent work experience reports from Barclays & Bristol City FC 25/ 26 N ational sports stars 27 M agazine editor 28+ DJ; Gold CREST; librarians; volunteers; NCS; Industrial Cadets etc.
What talented, impressive young people!