Weymouth College’s Career’s College is an annual week-long festival of learning, in which students from secondary schools across the county get to sample different workshops.

The workshops are an insight into the variety of vocational and academic courses on offer at the college.

Students from schools all over Dorset from Lyme Regis in the west to Poole in the east and Gillingham in the north get involved.

Students taking part in the Journalism workshop have produced the reports below.

 

Zach, aged 14, who attends Beaminster School, participated in the Law class at Weymouth College, because he wants to learn more about the consequences of people’s actions, and says he recommends the course to others.

Samuel, 14, who attends Atlantic Academy, also chose the Law course, because he wants to become a lawyer in future, and he says that he really enjoys Law. The Law course looks fun because they have the opportunity to dress up for role-play (as a defendant, claimant, witness or judge) and then perform a mock trial.

By Quinlan, aged 15, from Woodroffe, and Cameron aged 14, from Beaminster

 

Lucie and Ruby, 14, and Finn, 13, from All Saints attended Weymouth College for Careers College and chose Journalism as a workshop. In Journalism, they were asked to interview people from different workshops, and they chose Pottery to report on.

They spoke to two students – Gracie and Eleanor, both aged 14 and from All Saints – who chose the Pottery workshop because it sounded fun and they enjoyed it. “It was ‘claytastic’!” they said. All the students looked like they were having a wonderful time with their clay. Eleanor said, “Clay is fun to play with”; and they were both considering being potters in the future, despite mostly producing lopsided cups.

By Lucie and Ruby, 14, and Finn, 13, from All Saints

 

As part of their Journalism workshop, Laura and Rosie, from Swanage, and Oliwia, from All Saints, all aged 14, interviewed Bayley, a student from Poole High, who was pleased with his choice of Music.

They asked him whether it was something he wanted to pursue as a career. He said “Yes, probably, because I really enjoy music.”

They also asked him what he’d learnt during his participation in the taster session. He responded, “I’ve learnt how to play the drums - and it was much harder than I thought!”

Finally, they asked whether he’d recommend Music to anybody else – and why? His reply was, “Definitely. It was really fun and everyone’s included, even the tutors!”

By Laura and Rosie, 14, Swanage School, and Oliwia, 14, All Saints

 

Sam, 13, and Oscar, 14, from All Saints and Leo, 14, from Poole High interviewed Charles, 14, from All Saints, who was studying Animation. When asked what his favourite part of the course was, he replied: “The designing of the animation, frame-by-frame.” He found the action of making a zombie walk in weird and wonderful ways exhilarating.

They also spoke to Milan, aged 14, from Poole High, in an Art workshop. When asked what he was making, he told them: “a tree on a board of rubber!” He thought his piece of Art was brilliant, and he really enjoyed creating it.

By Sam, 13, and Oscar, 14, from All Saints and Leo, 14, from Poole High.

 

Chelsea and Elizabeth, both aged 14 and from Poole High, were interviewed in the kitchen at Weymouth College. At the time of the interview they were making pizzas and seemed cheerful whilst doing so. “It’s really fun,” they both said. Elizabeth told her two interviewers that she’d been interested in cookery from when she started school, as Poole High have a good food curriculum for the students. Chelsea said that she wanted to be a food teacher, because it seemed really fun being able to do something you love, whilst helping other people achieve something they love too.

By Lara, 13, and Polly, 14, Poole High

 

Today Abi and Katy, 14, and Joshua, 13, from Poole High interviewed a young lady named Jessica, aged 15, who attends Thomas Hardye School. Jessica was more than happy to answer the questions they’d set for her.

Jessica was participating in the Hair & Beauty workshop. She told them that the workshop was “pretty good” and that she was glad she got her choice, because it was something she had been “interested in” for some time now. She explained how she wants to “extend her knowledge further” and to turn Hair & Beauty into a career. The workshop had inspired Jessica to become a hairdresser in future.

 

Another student, Andee, was also interviewed by these young student reporters down in the Motor Vehicles workshop. He explained that it “was not something I would like to do in future”. He told them they were learning to take apart pistons. The work looked pretty tricky!

By Abi and Katy, 14, and Joshua, 13, from Poole High

 

Sam, 15, from Blandford and Skyla and Rebekah, 14, from Swanage interviewed Weymouth College Principal, Nigel Evans, who’s also a pianist with a jazz band, about his path to becoming a teacher and eventually Principal of the college. He started out working for the RSPCA, as he had a passion for animals. However, seeking greater remuneration, he moved into Education and, soon after that, got into middle management at Weymouth College. He became Principal after “helping with financial difficulties and being the last man standing”.

Nigel believes that Careers College is beneficial, because it’s a “half-way house between school and employment”, with more independence and responsibility required from students. “It enlightens students to explore a wide variety of career pathways and to have more freedom.”  

Nigel also owns and adores his dog, Louis, who he takes good care of in his spare time. Louis’ image even appears as his screensaver on his wall mounted screen!

By Sam, 15, from Blandford and Skyla and Rebekah, 14, from Swanage

 

Tierney, 14, and Tanisha and Alexa, 15, from Thomas Hardye School wanted to explore their interest and understanding of Journalism during the Careers College event, as they felt it would give them an insight into their potential futures.

Being aspiring young journalists, they took the opportunity to interview Polly, 14, from St Aldhelm’s in the Beauty Salon. After being asked why she’d chosen Beauty, Polly revealed her aspirations to ‘pursue Beauty’ as a career in the foreseeable future. She then went on to explain how she wanted a diverse array of clients, to develop her skills. Being interested in Dance, Polly also felt she could incorporate her passion for Dance into Beauty by specialising in stage make-up. Alongside this, there would be opportunities for travel and exploration in the ‘make-up industry’.

By Tierney, 14, and Tanisha and Alexa, 15, from Thomas Hardye School

 

Zoe, Abbye and Josh, 15, from Thomas Hardye School interviewed aspiring midwives at the Careers College event. First, they interviewed Rubi, 15, from Thomas Hardye School. She’d decided to participate in the workshop, because she was hoping to pursue a career in this area. She claimed she enjoyed “watching babies being born” – perhaps that’s one of the perks of having access to social media, or just personal taste?!

They also spoke to Imogen, 15, from the same school. Imogen was less set on her future career choice and was juggling between the ideas of Biochemistry and Midwifery, hoping the course would build on her “basic understanding” of what it entails. Both Rubi and Imogen believed that a job such as midwifery would provide “emotional benefits” for postnatal care.

By Zoe, Abbye and Josh, 15, Thomas Hardye School

 

Evie, 14, and Isla, 13, from Gillingham interviewed students taking part in a cookery class, being welcomed with a comfortable and enthusiastic environment upon entering the kitchen. Laila, 14, from Gillingham was half-way through shaping a pizza base, when they questioned her about her experience. She said she was ‘interested in learning how to cook, not just for fun but for a practical life skill too.’

They then moved on to speak to the chef, Alan, who seemed extremely passionate. While shouting instructions, he showed off his knife skills by slicing a green pepper absent-mindedly. He also insisted they take an action shot of his expert skills and posed nonchalantly for the camera, as students ran around him, trying to find toppings for their pizzas.

It was obvious that the pupils taking this cookery class were enjoying it; and many of them seemed more prepared for working in a kitchen, whether it be with a background full of hot-headed chefs or not!

By Evie, 14, and Isla, 13, from Gillingham

 

Adele and Thomas, 14, and Harry, 13, from Gillingham were drawn to the Fashion Design workshop. They decided to interview Katy, 14, from Gillingham about why she chose this workshop:

“Katy described her interest in the area of Fashion Design, telling us how much she enjoys the freedom of the course.”

When asked how she was finding the workshop, she told them how important it was for her to have independence in her work, so that she could be free to express her ideas for new clothing. Katy also said she would consider working as a designer for a big clothing retailer, such as New Look, if she could introduce her own ideas to the company – adding ‘I enjoy designing clothes’ and ‘it’s a really fun workshop’.

Katy felt that the workshop helped draw out the creativity in her and her peers – further inspiring her to pursue a career in Fashion Design. We shall look forward to seeing her amazing clothing designs in future!

By Harry, 13, and Adele and Thomas, 14, from Gillingham School.

 

Jack, 13, from Swanage and Maddison, 15, from Thomas Hardye School interviewed two students in the Acting workshop, Amelia, 14, from Swanage and Cameron, 14, from St Aldhelm’s.

Amelia told them she was using this course to help find an answer to her vocation in Musical Theatre; and that Performing Arts gave her ‘open opportunities to sing her heart out and dance till she drops.’

Cameron said he was open to all opportunities, and was not worried about the insecurity that comes with a career in acting. He told them he ‘aspires to be like Robert Downey Junior and give others the same appreciation for the movie industry.’ He also said he was considering a future in forensic science.

Overall, both students felt the Acting workshop was helping them find their own ‘happily-ever-after’.

By Maddison, 15, from Thomas Hardye School, and Jack, 13, from Swanage School