Even this school’s youngest pupils are exploring the world of work
DOCTOR, CLOCKMAKER, NURSE AND NINJA ARE AMONG THE CAREER IDEAS OF FIVE-YEAR-OLDS
DOCTOR, clockmaker, nurse and ninja are just some of the professions that pupils at a city primary school hope to secure when they grow up.
Children in The Bemrose School’s primary phase have been focusing on careers work and even the youngest pupils in year one have taken part in the sessions.
The work is part of the school’s drive to raise aspirations among its cohort and underlines its commitment to making sure all its pupils succeed in life.
Staff begin exploring careers and aspirations as soon as children start at the allthrough school and the work continues until pupils leave at the end of year 11 or 13.
Claire Pavitt, lead in careers delivery said: “We are in a unique situation because we are an allthrough school – it means we can ensure the work we carry out in primary is seen through into secondary.
“This means all members of staff try to link the curriculum with careers, so that the learning is more meaningful, and we have fantastic links with many employers who come in to work with children.
“Talking about future jobs with children as young as five is really interesting. Many of them thought that a nurse could only be a woman and being a builder was a man’s job – so it’s good to address these stereotypes at an early age.
“And it’s interesting hearing what kinds of jobs they want to have. While it was to be expected that some would say YouTuber, gamer and footballer we also had some lovely ideas, including one little lad who wanted to be a clockmaker so he could set his own time.”
Claire has developed links with a host of major employees including Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Toyota and the Army which all support the school with enrichment and enterprise activities.
All teachers are encouraged to embed careers into the curriculum so that children understand the relevance of topics to real life while employer talks, university visits and work with outreach organisations such as DANCOP and D2N2 take place across all year groups.
Every child in year 10 takes part in a week’s work experience with local employers and pupils are supported with mock interviews and CV writing from members of the business community via Enterprise 4 Education.
Ms Pavitt added: “Drip-feeding careers work into every year group is so beneficial. We talked about whether they were on time for school and why they think uniform is important, all these things relate to jobs as much as classwork.
“Many of our children speak two or even three languages, which we explain can be a really positive thing especially when applying for a job, as it will certainly make a potential candidate stand out and be unique.
“You’re never too young to have aspirations.”
One little lad wanted to be a clockmaker so he could set his own time.
Claire Pavitt