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Exploring My Future

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.

Why should primary schools consider embedding high quality career-related learning in their curriculum and enrichment provision?

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:

  • 6 years old - The age at which children start to adopt stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, and social background. Such stereotypes can go on to influence career and subject choices.
  • 9 years old - The age at which children start to abandon fantasy careers and start to become more aware of potential constraints on their futures.

(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.

Learning from our experience

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:

  • developing pupils’ knowledge about work
  • developing pupils’ skills for work life
  • challenging stereotypes formed about careers and the world of work
  • enabling pupils to make the link between what they are learning and the world of work.

The Importance of Raising Aspirations

The Importance of Parental Engagement

How does the 'Exploring My Future' programme work?

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

Next Steps

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.