Careers Education at Primary

It is so important that our pupils gain skills and knowledge about careers and therefore we are so proud at the school where I work to have recently attained the ‘Primary Careers Mark’. Quality Careers Education activities, and subsequent knowledge, enable pupils to understand and develop characteristics such as resilience and patience- required for their future. Information given is free from gender bias and develops knowledge about careers in their local area; it also helps them to identify their own characteristics and potentially, what kind of jobs they might like and suit. We work to give our children the appropriate IT skills and confidence to be flexible as they travel their learning journey. This really enhances pupil self-esteem as their confidence grows.  

Our school has included a careers element within its curriculum for many years, particularly in Year 6 as the pupils have been undergoing transition to Year 7. The Careers Mark programme was brought to our attention through a session run at a nearby school that had achieved the mark themselves. This coincided with my research project taking place whilst undertaking my Masters in Education- which was regarding STEM careers information in Year 6 and the effect on attainment, engagement and enthusiasm- this time last year. At school, we were keen to develop further and to ensure our pupils were attaining the best Careers Education programme that we could provide therefore we signed up to participate. Having received support and guidance from Complete Careers (Career Mark’s Consultancy service) an audit was undertaken to ascertain the position of the school. Policy documents, action plans and a timetable were subsequently produced by myself with some support; further actions were identified and implemented, resulting in an assessment (which in this case was online, due to the Covid 19 pandemic). This was a brilliant experience for our pupils, who felt very strongly about the positive effect of gaining careers knowledge and were happy to share their opinions and ideas with the assessor. They shared research and work they had created and discussed their ideas about what jobs they felt would suit their characteristics. They discussed the importance of having a positive growth mind-set and being resilient and shared their enthusiasm regarding visits, visitors and the positive effect they had felt from them.  It is fair to say that the programme had a deep effect on the children from Year 6 who took part during this time and the school are now very keen to ensure that over time, Careers Education is evident right across the whole school. 

We expose our pupils to as many various jobs and experiences as is possible- again, allowing them to develop ideas and make more informed choices when they are older. Visits, visitors and key learning points, such as how they might start to run a local business or manage their money in the future, have enhanced and supported our Y6 pupils through transition to Secondary school. Our Careers Event- working with Primary Futures- has brought a variety of professionals to school, which the pupils thoroughly enjoyed. Our online links include those with Farmer Time, the Challenger Learning Centre in the USA and BP, amongst other remote visitors. We are also building links with BASF and CIEC. We link with East Riding College where our Year 6 pupils learn about educational pathways such as apprenticeships and courses which can lead to University.

We aim to continue to develop links with parents in order to give pupils access to many varied career options from them- and people from within our community.  We feel that it is important to sew the seeds of interest regarding jobs- enabling children to develop informed views as they progress. Stereotypical misconceptions can be addressed and pupils can learn about jobs in a real way including what jobs may be available to them in the future. We are really proud to have attained this accreditation and look forward to developing further, as a result of actions identified in the final assessment, in the months ahead. This is such an important area of education as we strive to ensure we provide the next generation of adults with the key strategies and information they require to ensure they can maximise their life chances and develop into responsible, happy and fulfilled citizens.

Thanks for reading and see you soon,

Kate

Funding for the Careers Mark accreditation- Skills Support for the Workforce, European Social Fund Humber Local Enterprise Partnership.

BASF- basf.com

BP- bp.com

Careers Mark contact@careermark.co.uk

Challenger Learning Centre- http://www.esclakeeriewest.org/ChallengerLearningCenter.aspx

CIEC- ciec.org.uk

East Riding College- eastridingcollege.co.uk

FarmerTime

Primary Futures- primaryfutures.org

 

For more information and key reading, see my most recent article-

Primary Science Journal, Edition 165 Nov/Dec 2020. Gender in Science

Bridging the STEM Skills Gap: careers information at primary school- Kate Sutton

Including- 

Careers Strategy (2017)

Drawing the Future (2018)

Disconnected: career aspirations and jobs in the UK (2020)

OECD Dream Jobs (2020)