Futures Week 2023

Last week, all Year 12 students were involved in Futures Week, where pupils were able to participate in talks and workshops to help prepare them for applications to university, apprenticeships and careers during Year 13 in their final year of school. 

During the week, students heard from the University of Hertfordshire about the benefits of getting a degree, as well as debunking some myths about student loans and finance. They were also able to register with UCAS and explore courses and universities on Unifrog. 

Each year, more Year 13 students consider and apply to degree apprenticeships and so our Year 12 students attended workshops from ASK Apprenticeships about how to find, apply and search for Apprenticeships.

Additionally, students heard from our Alumni Nikowe Ngache Ikaka (2022) and Hassan Aziz (2022) who left Year 13 last year and are currently completing apprenticeships at Kaplan in HR and Lloyds Bank in Software Engineering.

Finally, students heard from Grant Thornton about the Degree Apprenticeship opportunities they offer. One Year 12 student commented how she "especially enjoyed this aspect of Futures Week, as it gave her insights into alternative routes to get a degree which would allow her to 'earn whilst she learns' in addition to gaining valuable experience in the industry." 

Furthermore, throughout the week, students also heard testimonials from a variety of people including Hatch End High School staff, Ted Wigzell who is an entrepreneur and has owned 10 businesses over the course of his professional life and also Hatch End alumni Olachi Akin (2018), Lara Askari (2018), Arshad Hashmat (2018) and Harry Measure (2020), who shared some very honest and valuable tips about applying to university and what university life is like, as well as telling us about the graduate opportunities they are exploring. 

All of our Year 12 students are now feeling a lot more knowledgeable on the wealth of possibilities that are awaiting them once they finish Sixth Form and are equipped with the resources necessary to make competitive applications to their chosen institutions and/or companies. 

Well done to all of our students who participated and a huge thank you to all the external organisations and our Hatch End High School Alumni for taking part.

Mr Fernandopulle, Head of Year 12