Developments so far…

Futures Friday newsletter

This weekly email goes to students in Years 9 to 13 and is a compilation of opportunities for work experience, internships, apprenticeships, gap year planning and higher and further education, allowing students to gain valuable insights into a wide range of careers and industries - both for those with a career in mind and those who have yet to discover their chosen paths by process of experience and elimination.

Most of these opportunities are held virtually, are open to large numbers of students and have simple sign-up processes, making them a great way of gaining insights with minimal effort.

To date, over 100 unique work experience, insight opportunities, apprenticeships etc., have been offered since the first Futures Friday newsletter was published in February 2023.

Futures Fireside Chats

These exclusive Friday lunchtime gatherings of an industry expert with small groups of students allow those interested in further exploring specific careers the chance to ask their deep and burning questions, as well as to network.

At the end of last term, senior government policy advisor, Kayleigh Robson, and a recent recruit to HM Treasury, Rowena Duncan, talked about their very different application and career journeys into the Civil Service.

This term, we have the CEO and Founder of publishing business illumicrate, Daphne Lao Tonge, who is also an award-winning blogger and WHS parent, talking about how she turned her hobby into a business with over 20,000 subscribers every month. New Fireside Chats will be offered for students to sign-up for every term.

I have found the service a great way to explore future career opportunities as not only are there a huge range of different subjects and careers included, but also a range of formats, whether this be work experience, conversations with professionals, or just general tips for applications/CVs.

Jennifer,

Year 12.

Futures Surgery

Every Thursday and Friday afternoon, students from Years 9 to 13 can walk into the Futures Surgery for an individual discussion about careers, perhaps highlighting the areas in which they would like more support or in order to ask about CV writing or work experience applications.

Futures Access beyond WHS

This new scheme allows our students and recent alumnae to access careers advice for up to five years after leaving the school by emailing futures@wim.gdst.net. This ongoing career provision was put in place following feedback from some of our recent alumnae around the lack of satisfactory careers advice being provided by their universities.

I found the Futures service to be useful to help narrow down my options on what I wanted to explore for work experience.

Martha, Year 11

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Please encourage your daughters (Years 9-13) to check the Futures Friday newsletter each week and explore ideas for possible careers, as well as update their CVs with the opportunities they have taken part in. As far as we are aware, WHS is unique in providing such a regular and comprehensive list of opportunities for our students.

With one of the largest female networks in the UK (and possibly beyond), spanning every profession possible and dotted around the globe, the GDST and WHS provide an exceptional opportunity for young women to find role models, mentors, sponsors and potentially career opportunities.

We aim for Futures Access to provide another avenue through which to get connected and to make links within the broader GDST Alumnae Network.