Earlier in the week, our Year 7 and 8 excitedly gathered in our Sports Centre to meet over twenty professionals for our first PSB (Pre-Senior Baccalaureate) Skills for Success Careers Evening. Aside from talking to our children about their current roles and career path, our guests shared one other thing in common; being a current St Andrew's parent.
Professor Andrew Bastawrous OBE Founder & CEO of Peek Vision, opened the evening with a heartfelt and insightful talk about his journey to developing a smartphone vision-testing app that anyone, even those in the hardest-to-reach locations, can use. Andrew was recognised in the King's Birthday Honours last year with an OBE for his services to eye health overseas.
Next, entrepreneur and co-founder of The Bump Class, Marina Fogle, explained how her flair and skills for setting up and running a business, developed during University, helped her accomplish what she has with her sister, Dr Chiara Hunt, today. Besides teaching Bump Classes - preparing parents for pregnancy, birth and beyond - Marina regularly writes for publications including The Telegraph, The Times, Baby London and Nurture Magazine.
The PSB event, organised by our Director of Studies, PSB Lead and Head of Geography, Kirsty Stokes, was also attended by current Year 7 and 8 parents. During the half hour interval, pupils networked and chatted with the other professionals who included the
Chief Digital & Information Officer at the blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Europe, Middle East & Africa for Monster Energy, the Head of Organisation Design and Development at ITV and a Consultant cardiothoracic anaesthetist at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Kirsty Stokes said:
"It was incredible to see the support we had from our parent body for our PSB evening in helping our pupils understand the importance of developing skills for their future."
After our pupils networked, everyone returned to their seats to hear from our final guest of the night, Lisa Humphries, Director of Marketing at Xbox Game Studios. Lisa shared that one of her favourite things is to bring stories to people through video games, and explained how she works across the globe with every team within Xbox. She went on to describe how her role involves working out the most effective way of reaching gamers through imaginative and exciting methods.
Kirsty Stokes concluded:
"Knowledge and skills are both important, and our pupils were so lucky to be able to speak to so many people with such varied and interesting careers, about the skills that have helped them succeed."
An enormous thank you to our guest speakers and to Kirsty Stokes and her team for organising such a buzzy and informative event.
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