Many of the Year 12 IBCP students have been fortunate enough to join this year’s Career Ready programme. On Wednesday 26th January the programme was launched and those students met their mentors who will be coaching them for the remainder of 2022. The mentoring programme at Career Ready allows students to reach their full potential by assisting them in real world situations and networking. This will benefit all students, both now and in the future. Many students, I'm sure, will be glad of this opportunity as it will aid them in professional development and prepare them for the real working environment. Students have been paired with a mentor who shares their interests, which helps the students bond with their mentors.

Hearing from our Principal, Dr Wood and the Lord Mayor on the Zoom call at the launch was incredible; it inspired many students and demonstrated the value of the Career Ready programme. After the introduction, the students competed in a quiz against the mentors. The quiz was exciting since we were in such close competition with the mentors, this was also a great way for everyone to come out of their shell and bond with each other. The students ended up drawing with the mentors, but the quiz was never really about winning because it was all about fun and games, which I know all of the students thoroughly enjoyed. The quiz also made students collaborate as a cohort in order to compete against the mentors. Towards the end, we were able to have a 1-1 session with our mentors which enabled us to ask questions and find out more about them and the Career Ready programme. 

The introduction to Career Ready was successful, from joining the Zoom call with the Lord Mayor, to completing quizzes with our mentors and finally meeting our mentors. I think this was a great start to the programme and I can't believe how many opportunities have been presented to us over just the first few months of being introduced to the scheme. I'm really looking forward to working with my mentor over the course of the year.

Siraj Hachem, Year 12