Peter Dunscombe (Director of Careers and Higher Education at RGS Guildford) recently had the opportunity to visit RGSG Dubai to discuss a range of exciting opportunities to work collaboratively to develop a comprehensive programme for Careers and Higher Education provision in Dubai.
During his three-day visit he gave presentations to students in Years 7, 8 and 9 which focused on the schools’ shared values and learning habits and how these should be embraced and leveraged to build a portfolio of transferable skills that will support any future career or university plans. There was also an opportunity for Mr Dunscombe to engage in some valuable and insightful one to one meetings with students to discuss their individual plans and aspirations.
A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to give a presentation to parents about how the programme of careers support and guidance at RGS Guildford is rolled out to parents throughout the students’ time at the School, culminating in helping them gain places at the very top universities including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial (all in the global top 10) or to secure offers on highly-competitive degree apprenticeship programmes.
One key strand of RGS Guildford’s Careers and Higher Education programme is the idea of Scholarship for All, a theme that was further explored in a podcast with Matthew Pearce (Principal of RGSG Dubai) and Kate Salisbury (Careers Lead at RGSG Dubai).
Ms Salisbury and Mr Dunscombe had a number of other meetings during the course of the visit which looked at further opportunities to collaborate and discussed in more detail RGSGD’s ambitious plans for project R.O.S.E – Russell Group, Oxbridge, Scholarship and Employability – a project which was recently launched in Dubai.
The trip coincided with a meeting of the Principals of RGSG Dubai, Muscat and Qatar in Dubai and there was a welcome chance to discuss, in person, the possibility of future collaborations in Muscat and Qatar.
Throughout the trip what consistently came through was how closely aligned the schools are in their ambition for their students and how, in an ever-increasingly gloabal workplace, how valuable this continued hands-on collaboration will be in the coming years. Mr Dunscombe is excited by the ongoing discussions between the schools and the opportunities to return to Dubai and other schools in the RGS Guildford family to further develop these programmes for the benefit of all of its students.
This is just one example of the genuine collaboration and sharing of best practice that goes on between all schools in the RGS Guildford family. For further information about becoming part of the RGS Guildford family of schools do get in touch.