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The Education People are excited to announce that we are launching our new 'Exploring My Future' (career-related learning) programme with the aim of introducing primary school aged children to the world of work and challenging vocational stereotypes.
In 2018, 250 primary school teachers were surveyed by Education and Employers and '96% agreed (with 57% strongly agreeing) that introducing children to the world of work was important, as it helped children link school subjects with the world of work.'
Now, in 2021, there is an increasing body of research that shows that children make decisions about what they can and cannot do at an early age:
(Careers and Enterprise Company, 2021)
There is so much that can be done to either improve or start to embed career-related activities in primary schools; that are designed to give children a wide range of experiences of and exposure to education, transitions, and the world of work.
“The importance of appropriate exposure to the world of work at primary level cannot be understated. Children form stereotypical views of the world from an early age. Biased assumptions lead to a narrowing of career aspirations and an inability to relate learning to a world beyond school… Embedding your activity within the curriculum will support learning outcomes too.”
The Education People are committed to preparing and inspiring young people for the fast-changing world of work. This mission extends to primary level, where we know career-related learning is important.
The 8 Good Career Guidance (Gatsby) Benchmarks have been successful at secondary school level and in colleges by providing a framework for improving career guidance.
There is now a real desire to embed meaningful careers, enterprise, skills, and employability opportunities from an early age by:
Professionals* from across The Education People have come together to produce a six-week programme specifically for Key Stage 2 pupils, which can be delivered from October 2021.
The programme is delivered direct to Year 5 pupils in schools by a team of The Education People’s primary education and skills & employability practitioners, bringing in a wealth of expertise in the form of Employer Encounters.
This six-week programme involves challenging stereotypes, looking at different career paths and exploring choices for when the pupils become adults.
This programme has been designed to be inspirational and raise aspirations for young people, so they understand the relevance of working hard and being resilient so to achieve great things in their lives.
There is an added homework section so that learning is consolidated further and an optional Children’s University element. The Children’s University element allows children to earn Learning Credits for taking part in a Skills and Employability Challenge. If the school were to join Children’s University at a later date, this Learning Credits would be transferred to a real Passport to Learning.
* Careers and Enterprise Advisors, Kent Children’s University, Kent Supported Employment, Inclusion Support Service Kent, and Skills & Employability
Through Children’s University, our programme also relates to the Skills Builder Framework
You can read more about the programme and its Learning Objectives here: 'Exploring My Future' - Overview of the Programme
From October 2021, schools will be able to commission this programme for their school.
We would welcome your views on career-related learning in primary schools so if you would like to share your thoughts, find out more about this programme, ask us questions, or express an interest in participating in the future, please fill out the 'Exploring My Future' enquiry form.
We can help you #RedrawTheBalance.
