On Thursday 21 March, Ipswich School will welcome pupils from Years 10-13 and their parents to our annual Careers Convention. It takes place between 6pm and 9pm and will provide a fantastic opportunity for students to be informed about their future career paths.

We will be joined in Great School and Little School by over 35 local and national employers. There will be a further exhibition of 25 stands in the Sports Hall, dedicated to universities including Bath, Exeter, Nottingham and York plus companies specialising in studying overseas and gap year providers.

At this event students can talk directly to industry professionals and learn about the various entry routes into their profession of choice. Additionally they will be able to talk to individual universities about specific courses and entry requirements. There will also be a series of seminars taking place during the evening. These will give you a chance to hear in detail about the different routes into careers that people have taken, with a number of Old Ipswichians scheduled to be taking part.

Links to book the seminars have been shared with parents and students and will remain live until 10pm on Tuesday 19 March. If you have been unable to secure a space for your chosen seminar please do still come along and if there is sufficient standing room you will be welcome to attend.

The first talk in the New Dining Hall will be given by four apprentices from different industries talking about their reasons behind choosing the degree apprenticeship route, what their day to day job involves and how they balance work and study. These industries are engineering, technology, pharmaceuticals and accounting. Nick Ames, an Old Ipswichian, will be delivering a talk in the Library at 6.30pm. Nick is currently the European Sport Correspondent, for The Guardian and he will be talking about his career path and the multiple entry routes into a career in journalism. At 8pm we will be joined in the Library by OI Tim Kiddell Tim is the speechwriter to the Prime Minister and he will be talking about his career in the Civil Service and the role of speechwriter – a role that he didn’t even know existed!

Mrs Hayes, Careers Office said: “Please do try to join us on Thursday evening – this is the biggest Careers Convention we have ever hosted and students will have the opportunity to gain first hand advice from employers and universities. We also have some amazing talks taking place. I can’t decide which ones to attend and really need to be in more than one place at the same time!”

She added: “This promises to be such an informative evening. Tea and coffee will also be available in the foyer by Great School and we are kindly asking for a donation to support our chosen charity – Operation Smile. I look forward to welcoming you to the event.” We hope this event will provide a head start for students in future research of their chosen career and learn more about the different options available after leaving Ipswich School.

Article written by Alex K and Teju A-T, Year 10