Foundation Magazine 2021-2022 | Mount Kelly

ACADEMICS
YEAR 9
CAREERS & UNIVERSITY
ACADEMICS
Over the May Bank Holiday
weekend 54 Year 9 pupils set off
on their LOTC programme to the
Mendip Hills with a number of visits into
Bath and Bristol.
The pupils began the week with a caving
experience, despite initial nerves everyone
successfully navigated the caves and we
were incredibly lucky to see both the
lesser and greater horseshoe bats on our
journey. Some tight squeezes saw the
nerves tested but fantastic team work and
encouragement to each other made for a
really enjoyable trip.
Whilst half the group were down the cave
the others were trying to escape from an
alien invasion back at camp by solving the
puzzles and getting the key to escape.
Once settled into camp pupils then split
to have a go at orienteering and frisbee
golf which were great fun on a summer’s
evening.
Saturday saw the first of two days in
Bristol where we visited the Aerospace
Museum and watched the Meaning of
Zong at Bristol Old Vic. Pupils and staff
got a chance to go on Concorde and see
how flight technology has developed over
the years.
Sunday was a trip into Bath to visit the Jane
Austen and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
centres. We also had a very informative
and fun tour of Bath’s highlights with a
Jane Austen twist. The afternoon was
spent shopping and enjoying the Bath
architecture before heading back to camp
for a quiz and debate on which books you
would take to a desert island.
Monday was our second visit to Bristol,
pupils were toured around the graffiti
areas and then got a chance to try their
hand at their own Banksy spray paint art
work. The Geography department then
took over for the afternoon and pupils
have completed their fieldwork study
looking at the different areas of Bristol
and conducted their own survey by
interviewing the local people. Dinner out
at Three Brothers Burgers was a delicious
experience and then an hour at the fun fair
was a great way to finish the day.
After striking camp the final day saw
pupils head off to the Mendip Water
Sports Centre where they all had a go at
the 20 obstacle assault course. After a
rather dry start, all teams found the water
obstacles and ended up covered head
to toe in mud. A very varied programme
allowed all pupils to really test themselves
and develop their Mount Kelly values -
some fantastic examples were seen over
the 5 days and staff are very proud of all
the pupils for the way they approached
the week and conducted themselves
throughout.
WORKSHOPS
Year 12 pupils attend Careers and
Guidance workshops on Thursday
afternoons, allowing them to start the
process of making decisions about
their next steps after Sixth Form. Pupils
have been creating or updating their
CVs, looking at how they can make
themselves stand out from the crowd
on job and university applications, and
starting their university research. They
have also been particularly interested
in making the most of online lectures
and virtual work experience options
on Springpod, and some have signed
up for additional online courses with
Massive Open Online Course provider
Future Learn, which offers everything
from Norwegian for Beginners to
Atmospheric Chemistry.
CAREERS FAIR
Pupils in Years 9 and above attended a
Careers Fair in Big School where they
were able to meet representatives from
universities in the UK and overseas, and
several other employers. Exhibitors also
gave detailed talks to Sixth Form pupils,
ranging from preparing for interviews
and writing CVs to studying Medicine,
working in construction and property, or
joining the Army.
RECRUITMENT PROCESSES
Year 11 GCSE Business Studies pupils
have been learning about internal and
external recruitment as well as selection
processes. This has included letters
of application, CVs, interviews and
psychometric testing. Pupils role-played
an interview for a National Trust Visitor
Experience Officer, discovering that the
role of interviewer and interviewee are
equally challenging.
PERFORMANCE SPORT
INSIGHTS
The PE Department welcomed OMK
Alun Carter (1981-83) to speak to Years
12 and 13 A Level and BTEC pupils. Alun
is currently a Performance Sport lecturer
at Cardiff Metropolitan University and
was able to give pupils a real insight into
the course and the job opportunities to
which it can lead. It was an informative
session for pupils and staff and made all
the more relevant by the fact that Alun
used to be in Conway House and played
for the school rugby teams in his time at
Kelly College.
CAREERS IN MEDICINE
Year 6 pupils were excited to welcome
OMK Lulu Kharas (2010-17) to talk to
them about studying medicine. They
were all fascinated and asked Lulu a lot
of questions.
WOMEN IN INDUSTRY DAY
Women in Industry Day aims to raise
the profile of women in engineering
and focus attention on the career
opportunities available to girls in this
exciting industry. Twelve girls from Years
10-13 spent Thursday 25 November at
Schneider Electric UK, an international
company focused on climate positive
digitalisation in a more sustainable
electric world. They toured the factory,
took part in an engineering challenge,
and spoke to a range of women working
in technical careers.
VISIT TO SCHNEIDER
ELECTRIC
A group of Year 9 pupils visited Schneider
Electric, a Plymouth company which
specialises in Smart Home apps and
appliances. Engineers from Schneider
are mentoring two teams to complete
this year’s National Engineering
Development Trust (EDT) Bronze Award
and competition, in which they are
designing two unique products aimed at
improving sustainability and car security.
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