Hundreds of students from schools and colleges across BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) area attended the Careers and Apprenticeships Show (CAS) on Thursday, 14th March 2024. The show is a two-year event held to help students with their career path choices for the future – in terms of their studies. Along with IMI Thompson Valves, Bournemouth and Poole College were a headline sponsor.
The open day, aimed mainly at students in Years 10 and 11, was held from 9 am until 3 pm, with a later slot of 4 pm-7 pm (which was open to all - parents, carers and students) at the Bournemouth International Centre (also known as the ‘BIC’). Bournemouth and Poole College staff held a central space in the room with interactive welding activities from the Engineering department, a stand from the Esports and Media team and other activities, including the spin-the-wheel to win an Amazon voucher, which had queues of students hoping to win their prize.
One hundred and fifty other businesses and organisations were represented, including BCP Council, Curtiss Wright, Sunseeker, Parker Heatric, PFK Francis Clark and MSA Foams. The room was consistently a-buzz with activity with students arriving by bus from their respective schools and colleges in half-hour slots. SEND Students had a separate area with another for Careers Information in the main hall including a college careers advisor stand.
Media and Esports at Bournemouth and Poole College Lecturer Rob Forrester, said: “It has been great to meet all the potential students. I had spoken to at least 100 by midday alone, and I’d say at least 20 per cent of those are quite seriously thinking about taking this route.”
Jack, from The Bishop of Winchester Academy in Bournemouth, who tried out the welding exercise said: “I’ve never had a go at welding before and I’d say based on that experience as a first go I’d give myself 7/10 on how well it went. It’s really good.”
James Hills, who was running the welding stand and is the Director of Learning for Engineering said: “Students are achieving very good scores with the welding exercise. One student just came out with 86 per cent on their first go. For a ‘good’ ‘strong’ weld, we’d expect to see a 90 per cent weld so this is very good. It’s dependent on their level of dexterity and some of the students are showing real flair at this already.”
Another student attending the event, Tyler, 15, from Twynham School in Christchurch said: “The show is really good, it’s really interactive.”
The next bi-annual CAS Show will be in 2026, catering for the then current Year 10s and Year 11s. This year's show saw 3,200 booked in for the morning session and 1,600 for the afternoon session.
