“Our most important task is to make sure all our young people can achieve their dreams.”
Barack Obama
Our Vision for Career-Related Learning at Simonside
“At Simonside, we dream big and believe that anything is possible. We raise aspirations, broaden horizons and develop enthusiastic, motivated and skilled young people who have the confidence to be anything they want to be when they enter the world of work.”
Why is Career Related Learning so important to us at Simonside?
We know that even at the very young age of three or four, children are already starting to form their first aspirations. By six, they are beginning to have opinions on what they think they can or can’t do in the future. And by the time they’re 10, young people start to make decisions which could go on to limit their future options, often discounting career choices based on stereotypes and bias.
We believe that the inclusion of a careers education is essential in ensuring that the children at Simonside grow up with ambition, attributes, skills and behaviours that will leave them in the best possible position to access any and every career path they can imagine.
“The vast majority of 7 – 11 year olds want to be sports stars, teachers, work in the media or take on a technical / manual profession – largely because they see people doing those jobs.”
Education and Employers Report
A child cannot aspire to be something, if they do not know what that role is, therefore, our children are taught about a variety of careers throughout their time in school and understand how their learning links to the world of work.
At this age, it is not about children choosing their future jobs – it is about helping our children to have ambitions and aspirations for themselves, to open their eyes to the range of possibilities their futures hold and provide them with ‘food for thought’.
“Career-related learning is not about asking eight-year olds what they want to do in the future – children must be allowed their childhood…It is work that builds on children’s growing awareness of themselves and the world of work, and weaves what they know into useful learning for now and later.”
Watts, 2002
Our curriculum helps our children to learn about the variety of jobs open to them at local, national and international levels, and allows them to gain a broad understanding of the routes to get into work, including the essential skills and attitudes required to be successful in the workplace.
If you would like to know more about Careers Related Learning at Simonside, or if you are a business/company who would like to get involved with our CRL programme, please contact our Careers Lead, Mr Charlton, via the school email address ([email protected]) or by telephone on 0191 489 8315.
Useful Websites
Addressing the Gatsby Benchmarks
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework of 8 guidelines that define the best careers provision in schools. At Simonside, we are at the beginning of our journey to meet these benchmarks. More information on the Gatsby Benchmarks and what they involve can be found here.
