Careers and Futures provision

This past fortnight has been a careers and futures focused one. Much has been written about the importance of careers advice provision in schools; a recent report by the Sutton Trust (Paving the Way - Sutton Trust) highlighted that as many as 36% of students in the UK reported they had not taken part in any careers related activity at all, these numbers are higher in the state sector due to funding difficulties. 

Careers advice helps guide young people in their educational journey by revealing what careers require specific skills and qualifications. It is the vital ingredient in enabling young people to maximise the value of what they study and the qualifications they are awarded. Young people tend to only know jobs of which they have experience: doctor, bus driver, teacher, YouTuber or pop star. It is therefore absolutely vital to broaden horizons and be inspired by the variety of different possible pathways.

It is never too early to introduce different roles and pathways to our students, so it was particularly lovely to see our Nursery and Primary One children meeting PC Susan and PC Sam from Edinburgh police force and learning about the functions of a police car last week. At an age when stereotypes can easily take root, it is particularly important for our nursery girls and boys to see every career as open to them.

In Upper School, Mrs Hall organised an impressive biennial Careers and Insights morning of presentations, taster lectures and workshops for our Upper 4 to Upper 6th students. A whole array of different pathways were represented at the morning including: studying in Europe; Law; Finance; Engineering; Careers in Climate Change; healthcare; AI, Computing and Technology; Cookery School; Veterinary Medicine; Navy and Airforce and Conservatoire amongst many others. The students came out of the event buzzing with what they had heard and, hopefully, having opened their minds to some different future opportunities. 

I am extremely grateful to Mrs Hall for all her hard work on this, and all the other many opportunities and advice she shares with the students.