Developing SJS' Student Futures (Career) Programme

Supporting our students in their career options has been critical for St. Julian's, so we are excited to have launched two web-based careers exploration platforms for secondary students, the START careers platform and UNIFROG. 

The START platform will be used primarily with students in Years 7, 8 and 9. This fun, engaging platform has multiple activities for students to explore the myriad of opportunities available to them in the wider world of careers. Students are encouraged to make connections between their own interests, subject preferences and skills and the wider world of work with a personalised careers exploration tool, called the Start Profile. In addition to this, with our students in Year 7 and Year 8, we are using this platform to encourage students to actively seek out and act upon opportunities for self-improvement. In particular, we are focusing on improving critical employability skills such as communication, problem solving, creativity and teamwork. The integrated activities from the Skillsbuilder Hub allow for each student to self-report the level of each skill and then find tailored activities to improve target skills. This term we are focusing on improving speaking and listening as part of our focus on Communication as an integral part of St Julian’s 6 C profile. We also look forward to using this platform to support our Year 9 students in making informed choices for their iGCSE subjects later this year. Each student in Y7 to 9 has been given a login to this platform and we encourage parents to spend some time exploring this fun tool with their children.

In Years 10 to 13, we have introduced the UNIFROG platform. This platform is specifically targeted at older students and contains a huge amount of information not only about application processes but also guides on how to write CVs, motivational letters and how to effectively approach interviews to name a few. There are links to courses students might want to take for self-development and pre-recorded webinars on subjects varying from higher education opportunities and application procedures worldwide to suggestions for university courses linked to particular subjects at school. This platform has an integrated search function that allows students to search for courses taught in the English language worldwide, whilst making a shortlist of those institutions they are most interested in. We have enjoyed launching this site with our older students this week and are receiving very positive feedback as students become more proficient at navigating the platform. Once again, all students have personal usernames and passwords to enter this platform and we encourage parents to explore this site with their children. 

Helena Blanchard
Student Futures Coordinator