In June we celebrated Careers week with a bang!
Tuesday, we kicked it off with The Buzz Workshop with Lindsay from the National Careers service. All children took part in an interactive session with Lindsay in which they were able to find out about their personalised skills and attributes, and which careers these may be suited to. It was super fun finding out what animal we all were!
We then went on to research many local businesses. The year 3’s focused on the police, what they do and how many different responsibilities they have. The year 4’s looked at Chartwells, Amazon, Bishop Auckland College and Kleek. The Year 5s, have been researching a range of professions such as Quantum Pharmaceutical companies, DWP Work and Health, J and C Coaches and Education Psychologists which have surprised us how they are available locally as well as nationally!
The children took time to dive deep into the company websites and created a presentation to give in front of the whole school. The children did a fantastic job and we learnt so much about the companies that would be visiting us later in the week. This enabled us to have burning questions ready for the companies who visited us later in the week. We finished the day with a whole school presentation to show what we had researched during the day.
On Thursday, parents and carers were welcomed back into school for ‘Believe and Achieve!’ Employers from our local area joined us in school to talk about what they did and gave the children the opportunity to be curious and ask lots of big questions. At St. Francis’ we want all of our children to be the very best they can be, and hope that events like this give them the confidence to dream big and reach for the stars!
Children were split up into family groups and went to many different companies to learn more about them. We got to practice our hairdressing skills, learnt how to make fresh pasta and all about the responsibilities of a firefighter, to name a few. There were 14 companies that came to school to work with our amazing children.
What an amazing, inspiring day we had during ‘Believe and Achieve!’. We got to meet so many different companies and people to explore and dive deep into the world of work!
The feedback we got from the companies about the day and the children was amazing! We know how amazing the children at St. Francis’ are, but it warms our hearts to hear others compliment them on their manners, engagement and having fantastic questions.
I was amazed when “Seeing a young lads face light up when I told him I had asthma as a child, yet still got in the Fire Service.” I was surprised by “the interest shown by all of the children and the depth of the questions they were asking. I think the parents will have picked up lots of useful information as well as their children.” Daniel Loader, Fire and Rescue.
“I loved speaking to all the children, they were engaged and very polite. The children asked some fantastic questions which were wonderful!” Jennifer Phillips, Bishop Auckland College.
I was surprised by “the vast interest from students for such a young age.” I was surprised by “lots of technical questions i.e coding, motherboards, solar power.” Emily Walsh, Husqvarna.
“The creation of this event is inspiring for your kids, giving them a chance to engage with a wide variety of employers is amazing – Trail Blazing!” Sgt Boys, Aycliffe Police.
A huge thank you to all the companies that spent the day with us, inspiring us and getting a glimpse into life at St. Francis’. A day we won’t forget.