160 local state school students were invited to Fettes College recently to join 140 students from Fettes for a Higher Education and Career Exploration Day. The event helps S5 students make important decisions for their transition beyond school.
The session on 10 February commenced with an open panel discussion with Michael Gammell and Duncan Keith, the Founders of the successful non-alcoholic beer brand, Days. After graduating from Fettes in 2007 Michael Gammell studied History at the University of Bristol before landing a role at the world’s largest beer company where he gained expertise in drinks and innovation. Co-founder, Duncan Keith, left Fettes in 2006 and went on to achieve a BSc in Politics and Economics from the University of Bath followed by a career in the health and wellness food market. Gammell and Keith work alongside a talented team and are set to
become the UK’s next great beer business.
Mike Gammell, Co-Founder of Days, commented: “It was great to be back at Fettes. Duncs and I were delighted (and a little surprised) to be given the opening slot at Careers Day and we hope the students found it useful! We enjoyed chatting about our career journeys to date and we hope that our message ‘failure can be a great thing – if you learn’ came across to the students. Duncan and I both worked for several organisations before we set up our own business and we’ve been fortunate to learn from some success but also ‘failures’ within those environments. There are tons of exciting opportunities out there and we’d encourage all the students who attended to harness the fact that they are all digitally native and to not be afraid to try something different. We are very lucky to be running a business that has a positive impact and we loved having the opportunity to come and speak to the students.”
Over fifty stand holders were present at the event giving students from local state schools and Fettes the opportunity to meet and connect with GAP year organisations, employers and Higher Education institutions from across Scotland and the UK including The University of Edinburgh, The University of Glasgow and Imperial College London.
The day received lots of positive feedback from students. Cristina Elliot, a student at Portobello High School, reflected on how it was useful to see the breakdown of courses offered by the different universities, commenting how, “it narrows it down into what areas you want to go into, from the different psychology courses you can go into or all the varying geography courses, like urban
planning or physical geography. I think it’s good to know the options in the course.”
Stella McGregor, also from Portobello High School, added how she found the universities a lot more approachable in person than online or via email, saying “It’s great coming here today and having everything available to us in one space and being able to talk to the universities, as it can be quite nerve-racking emailing universities, I don’t know if I’d be up for doing that, however, here I
find it really fun asking questions.”
Lyle Baleigh, from Firrhill High School, realised he may consider staying in Edinburgh after learning about the local courses available in Edinburgh, commenting “Today has got me thinking about where I can go. I was thinking of leaving Edinburgh, but have found out that there are courses that I can do, so I might end up staying here.”
Caroline Davies, Head of Higher Education and Careers at Fettes College, said: “Fettes is pleased to have hosted Higher Education & Career Exploration Day, it is an incredibly helpful event for our students and students from Edinburgh High Schools providing them with additional knowledge to help them to make decisions about their Higher Education choices. This can be a daunting and
stressful time for those in S5. With our range of speakers, HE stand holders and experts we are glad to have provided the opportunity for students to take the time on Friday morning to focus on their next steps.”
