Kloodle and Holy Cross College

Kloodle is delighted to welcome Holy Cross College to its community. The college is based in Bury, Lancashire and is a member of the prestigious Maple Group. 70% of students continue their studies onto degree level, and the remaining 30% opt to commence employment. Holy Cross currently has a strong careers department, and hopes that Kloodle will further enhance the fantastic work that the department already undertakes. The college chose to implement Kloodle to assist students with UCAS applications, helping those seeking employment to market themselves and to improve pupils’ employability progress. Students are developing their Kloodle Profiles during their college tutorial time. The college is already experiencing the benefits of Kloodle, with students finding the intuitive nature of the site, and ability to market themselves effectively, particularly useful.

“The college already has very proactive careers staff, which works alongside students to facilitate engagement with future employers”, says Jennie Fairclough, a senior tutor at the college.

“We also have a dedicated pastoral team whose members oversee students’ academic progress in college. Kloodle will be a valuable addition to both our extensive careers programme and our targeted goal setting for each student. We hope that Kloodle will enable students to develop and understand the importance of developing and showcasing key transferable skills. It will also allow them to view appropriate apprenticeships, placements and internships that are directly relevant to them.”

Additionally, the college plans to use Kloodle to help students with their UCAS applications. Josh Baird, a student at the college who aspires to study medicine, had previously felt daunted by the university application process.

“The whole idea of UCAS, university and the future is really terrifying. Suddenly, out of nowhere there is a huge pressure to decide what to do with the rest of my life. I don’t want to regret the decision I make, and I don’t want to postpone making a decision either.”

Josh feels that Kloodle has helped him in to navigate this process, by facilitating step by step career decision making and providing a tool for reflection.

The folk at Kloodle know that it is really important to be able to not only articulate, but also to EVIDENCE the skills that students include in their Kloodle profiles, as well as at interviews and in their UCAS statements. There is so much competition for jobs and university places, that being clear and coherent is something that is really important in setting students apart from each other. Kloodle doesn’t just help young people to practise articulating these skills, but it provides a really clear, concise and interesting way to get across the achievements (academic and extra curricular) and learning that lie behind a message which students need to convey to an interviewer, rather than giving a robotic, disorganised and unclear answer.

Students develop their Kloodle profiles during tutorial time as part of their goal setting activities.

Jennie Fairclough explained, “Kloodle will be introduced in the first few weeks of college as part of students’ target setting process. They will follow a four week scheme, designed to objectively assess their academic strengths, and consider their passport to higher education or employment. Each lesson, of 50 minutes in length, will target a different aspect of their Kloodle profile; this is then consolidated by students working on their profile in their own time. Each student’s Kloodle profile will be formally reviewed during our target setting sessions in November and March.”

Kloodle’s intuitive platform, designed to be familiar to students already au fait with social media, is also proving to be an attraction.

“Things that are fun and interesting to create and view, like blog posts and examples of college work, give so much more substance than a CV or application. It’s also far more interesting to make, which helps organise my thoughts about my future and I think that comes across when reading my profile.” says Baird.

The way in which students have engaged with the site has also surprised Fairclough,”To date, our students have found using Kloodle to be a very instinctive experience. 16–19 year olds are very confident using social media. It is designed to be user-friendly and allows students to quickly and effectively record their achievements and their skills. Students quickly identify gaps in their skill-set, which immediately prompts them to seek targeted opportunities to widen their skills portfolio. I have been surprised with the imaginative ways, students have found to evidence their skills.”

The college will continue to roll out Kloodle over the coming weeks. It is clear from the support members of staff will provide, and enthusiasm they have for the platform, that Holy Cross will continue to support students in maximising their future employability prospects via students’ individual Kloodle Profiles for years to come.