As part of the Activity Days held at Kirkwall Grammar School at the end of May, we teamed up with the Hospitality Department to put on the Great KGS Bake Off!

The day started with a cake decorating masterclass from Ingrid Groat, Hospitality Lecturer at UHI Orkney. She showed pupils how to make sugar paste monkeys and gave them tips on decorating cupcakes. The pupils then made their own cupcakes and were able to decorate them however they wanted to.
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In the afternoon, Ingrid returned with Callum Budge from Callum’s Cakes, Kerry Leask from Orkney Food and Drink and Rachel Scarth from DYW Orkney, who all unleashed their inner Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith to judge the cupcakes. The judges selected their top three based on decoration, before tasting a cupcake from each of the top three to decide who would be crowned Star Baker and win the coveted ‘Great KGS Bake Off’ wooden spoon.

They didn’t have an easy job with pupils coming up with some fantastic, creative ideas for their decoration which showcased their skills with piping, making sugar paste figures and attention to detail.

Pupils also had a chance to learn more about the Hospitality courses available at UHI Orkney and the career journeys that Ingrid, Callum and Kerry have all taken into their current jobs.

Thank you so much to the fantastic pupils who did a fab job decorating their cupcakes, and the judges for taking part.

Check out some photos from the day below.

Pupils at Kirkwall Grammar School were given an insight into a career as a Paramedic earlier this week, thanks to staff from the Scottish Ambulance Service in Orkney.

​Pippa, Clinical Team Leader, and newly qualified Paramedic, Catherine, visited the school and spoke to pupils who are interested in a career as a paramedic, giving them information about the routes into the role, advice about the university application and interview process, and talking about their day-to-day duties as paramedics.

An event to help senior pupils take care of their mental and physical health and wellbeing in the run up to the SQA exams was recently held at Kirkwall Grammar School.

The time between January and the end of April is very busy, with pupils in S4, S5 and S6 sitting their prelims, focusing on their final practical assessments and preparing for their exams in May.  Many feel the pressure to perform well so they can take the next step in their career and education journey.

An event to showcase the variety of careers connected to the Heritage sector was held at Kirkwall Grammar School recently as part of Heritage Careers Week.
 
Heritage Careers Week is an annual week of activity held in October, which aims to raise awareness of the variety of heritage careers and pathways into the workforce.  It also aims to inspire young people to consider a career in the historic environment.

Pupils at Kirkwall Grammar School have been given an insight into medical careers by local GPs, to encourage them to consider applying to Medical School in the future.

Targeted to pupils in S3, 4 and 5 who are taking two or more sciences, the Medical Insight Session was offered by NHS Orkney and run by Doctors Ingrid Seatter, Anne Nicolson and Angus Lyon from the Heilendi Medical Practice.  They were joined by Merin Manoq, a fifth-year medical student.

Pupils at Kirkwall Grammar School have recently completed a course which gives them an insight into early childhood development, helping them to gain the skills and knowledge they will need in their future career.

This is the third year the Solihull Approach for Young People – Understanding Yourself and Parenting has been delivered in the school by staff from the OIC’s Early Years Team.  The course is offered by pupils interested in working with babies and young children.  It gives an insight into early child development and looks at how babies and teenagers’ brains develop and how relationships are built between child and adult.

Twelve pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School took part in this year’s programme.

The Solihull Approach is also being delivered to pupils at Stromness Academy as part of their Friday afternoon activities, with 12 pupils from there also taking part.  This is the second time the programme has run at Stromness.

As part of the course, pupils got to meet a mum and their baby, giving them a chance to put into practice some of the skills they have learnt.  The course concluded with an additional session focusing on Early Years careers. Pupils heard from Early Years Managers and Practitioners, to learn about the different routes they could take into this career, as well as the opportunities to progress their career into more senior roles.

A huge thank you to Lorna Barry and Nicola Moar who ran the sessions at both school this year.

The third Orkney Careers Fair was held earlier this month at the Pickaquoy Centre and was attended by over 900 young people and adults from across the county.

As well as being attended by members of the general public, over 550 S4-S6 pupils from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School, and S3-S4 pupils from Stronsay, Sanday and Westray Junior High Schools came along and accessed a wide variety of careers, education and training information, all geared to helping them understand the options available to them locally and further afield.

Along with local school pupils, 13 senior pupils from Farr High School in Bettyhill, made the trip over the Firth to attend the event.

Earlier this week, we offered an information session to parents and carers, to help them support their young person or adult ahead of the Orkney Careers Fair.
 
This session provided an overview of the event, the support that will be in place on the day and the information that is in place to help those visiting the event to plan who they want to speak to, and to prepare to get the most out of the event.
 
If you were unable to attend the event, a recorded version is available to view below:

Earlier this week, we held a Farm to Fork event in partnership with the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET).

Farm to Fork was an early career event for S1 pupils that had been developed to help them explore the wider careers associated with the agricultural sector.  Pupils were able to speak to exhibitors to learn more about how food is produced by farmers then used by local food and drink producers in the final product.

Young people across Orkney will tomorrow (Tuesday 6 August) receive their SQA results.  If your results are not what you expected, don’t panic you still have options – and there will be experts on hand to help you navigate the next part of your journey.

​From 8am on Tuesday 6 August, a dedicated Results Helpline from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will run with Careers Advisers waiting to answer calls and offer advice, information and support to young people and their parents or carers.

During June we have been working with our partners at Skills Development Scotland to speak to the new senior pupils at Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School as part of their school inductions.

School pupils undertaking a Skills for Work Construction course were recently visited by two local employers who spoke to them about their businesses and the opportunities that exist locally in the construction industry.

Stephen Kemp from Orkney Builders (Contractors) Ltd. and Martin Flett from Alfred Flett Ltd. both came to UHI Orkney to speak to pupils from local secondary schools.  Pupils were given an overview of the businesses, the variety of work they undertake, some of the different roles within the business and the opportunities to undertake work experience to get a taste of working in the construction industry.  They also spoke about apprenticeship opportunities and explained how young people would be supported to become fully qualified tradespeople.

Alfred Flett Ltd. are currently recruiting for apprenticeship vacancies in their business, including for an Apprentice Joiner.  If anyone is interested in this opportunity they can contact Colin or Magnus on (01856) 781 209, or by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Last week, the Royal Navy visited Orkney to speak to local young people about the different roles available with the organisation.
 
At Kirkwall Grammar School, all S3 pupils attended a presentation that highlighted the different types of work the Royal Navy do all around the world, with no two days being the same.

​During Kirkwall Grammar School’s recent Health and Wellbeing week we offered pupils a chance to gain an insight into careers in Orkney’s food and drink industry.

​The day started with pupils making dough which they left to prove while they headed through to Stromness to visit Argos Bakery where they were treated to a behind the scenes tour.  Pupils got to see where and how Orkney Fudge is made and were all surprised at how much manual work is involved in the process.  They then got to see the packing area which was a hive of activity packaging all the different cakes, rolls and biscuits that are made on site.

Local school pupils have been given an insight into careers in social care thanks to a partnership initiative between Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney and St Rognvald’s House in Kirkwall.
 
Throughout the past academic year, pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School have been developing and delivering a range of activities to residents of St Rognvald’s House, giving pupils an opportunity to engage with residents and learn more about some of the roles available in social care.

​An event to help school pupils explore the range of careers available in the agricultural sector was recently held at Orkney Auction Mart, delivered in partnership by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney and the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET).
 
Developed as an early careers input, the Agricultural Careers Event was targeted to all pupils in first year at local secondary and junior high schools.

A marketplace event to showcase the variety of apprenticeships available in Orkney was held at Kirkwall Grammar School during Scottish Apprenticeship Week.
 
Scottish Apprenticeship Week is an annual campaign which celebrates apprenticeships and promotes the benefits of work-based learning.  This year’s campaign focused on ‘Skills Generation’ and aimed to show the high quality opportunities an apprenticeship can offer.

​A partnership initiative between NHS Orkney and Developing the Young Workforce Orkney has enabled local school pupils to gain an insight into the career of a Midwife.
 
Throughout the year, senior pupils from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School have been given the opportunity to participate in a Midwifery Insight Programme which has given them the chance to learn more about the role of a Midwife and gain insight into early childhood development.

Are you a parent or carer supporting a child to make their senior phase option choices?

Skills Development Scotland and National Parent Forum Scotland are hosting a joint webinar to help you learn more about how your child can get a head-start on their career with a Foundation Apprenticeship.

This session will be held on Thursday 22 February 2024 between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.  It is aimed at parents or carers whose child is making subject choices for S5 and S6.  At this session you will:

• Find out how Foundation Apprenticeships work and where they can lead to – from a Modern or Graduate Apprenticeship to college, university, or employment.
• Hear parent and teacher perspectives of the benefits of Foundation Apprenticeships as they share their own experiences and advice.
• Get information on support available and how to apply for a Foundation Apprenticeship.

To support accessibility, this webinar will be recorded and British Sign Language translation available.

Find out more and sign up for the webinar here.

A course which provides an insight into early childhood development has concluded at Kirkwall Grammar School, enabling pupils to gain knowledge and skills that will support them in their future career.

The Solihull Approach for Young People – Understanding Yourself and Parenting was delivered by Lorna Barry and Leonie Scott, both Lead Early Years Practitioners (Community Based) with the OIC’s Early Years Team.  The course gives an insight into early child development and looks at how babies and teenagers’ brains develop and how relationships are built between child and adult.

This is the second year the course has been offered to KGS pupils following a successful pilot in 2022.  Twenty-five pupils took part in the course, all of whom are interested in a career working with babies or young children.  The course concluded with an additional session focusing on Early Years careers.  Pupils heard from Early Years Managers and Practitioners, including a current Modern Apprentice, to learn about the different routes they could take into this career, as well as the opportunities to progress their career into more senior roles.

​Senior pupils from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School who are interested in a career in Midwifery were recently given the opportunity to visit the Maternity Department at The Balfour.

​While Midwifery is a popular career choice for young people, it is not easy for school pupils to undertake work experience to gain an insight into the career.  Following discussions with DYW Orkney, NHS Orkney developed a programme of activity to help pupils gain valuable experience and knowledge which will be a huge help when applying for College, University or future employment.

Earlier this week, as part of the employability inputs we are currently delivering at Kirkwall Grammar School, we welcomed Sheetal Revis from the Hospitality Department at UHI Orkney.

This session was arranged to give pupils an insight into the range of careers available in the hospitality industry, highlight the transferrable skills that can be developed and some of the opportunities that working in this industry can offer.

Sheetal spoke about her own career journey from school in Orkney, to moving away to attend university then working for international hotel chain Hilton and setting up her own business. Working in hospitality has enabled her to travel and work all over the world, developing skills she has been able to take with her on her career journey.

Many of the pupils attending the session work in local hotels, restaurants and cafes, so they are already playing an important role in a sector that is important to our local economy.

Giving the pupils her top tips for skills to learn while working in hospitality, Sheetal advised them to learn how to: make good coffee; carry a tray of drinks and, talk to people.

Pupils took part in the discussion by speaking about the jobs they currently do in hospitality and explaining why they did or did not want to work in the industry when they left school. Those who didn’t want to work in the industry were asked the reasons why, and Sheetal did some myth busting about perceptions of working in hospitality.

This was a great session which helped pupils to see the opportunities working in hospitality could offer them.

A partnership initiative to support young people gain confidence, skills and knowledge was held in The Hub for Skills, Work and Employability over the summer.

Delivered by Orkney Island’s Council’s Community Learning, Development and Employability team (CLDE); Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney, the programme was developed to help young people develop the skills they would need as they move on from mainstream education onto further education, training or work.

​An event showcasing the variety of careers available in the construction industry was recently held in the Orkney Auction Mart.

​Organised by Orkney Construction Training Group (OCTG) and supported by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the Construction Careers Event was developed to showcase the different trades available, highlighting the variety of skills that are needed across the industry.

A series of employability inputs have started at Kirkwall Grammar School this year to support pupils to identify a positive post-school destination.

The sessions have been developed by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney and are supported by local employers and local education and training providers.  The sessions will help pupils with their skills development, raise awareness of the variety of jobs available in Orkney and the different pathways into them and support them to develop their employability skills.