Our Future Aspirations (Careers)
At Ryedene Primary and Nursery School, we are committed to inspiring our pupils to become lifelong learners and to have high aspirations for themselves. We believe that every child in our community can be whatever they set their minds to and strive to give them the best possible start in their future career journeys. Our School Values underpin this belief and are at the heart of our commitment to our pupils.
To enable us to do this, we participate in the 'My Future, My Basildon' programme that invites pupils to learn about a wide range of careers (many that they may never even have heard about). This programme informs the children of what the job entails, the skills and knowledge needed to be able to succeed in that job and shares some of the successes and possible pitfalls that they might face. This programme takes place online every half-term, which means that children have the opportunity to learn about 18 different careers across the year.
To add to this, we held our first ever Careers Week in the Summer Term 2024. We were lucky enough to have a wealth of family and friends of the Ryedene School community visit us to talk to the children about their careers, as well as other local businesses. This gave the pupils a far greater insight into the world of employment and the possibilities available to them. Amongst our visitors, we had: a vet, a florist, nurses, a local councillor, a Youtube influencer, a beautician, Southend United FC staff, a train driver as well as a host of others. The children ended the week with a dress-up day where they could share their hopes and dreams for the future careers.
My Future, My Basildon...
We are pleased to be a part of an exciting initiative called My Future My Basildon, this is soon to be expanded across other schools in Essex. This is a project that aims to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and broaden horizons.
This is achieved with half-termly Zoom meets with a range of career professionals who talk to all classes from Years 1-6. The children engage in a fun warm-up activity (involving golden envelopes!), listen to professionals talk about their careers and ask questions of their own to find out more about their profession.
We are also aiming to expand the project further by offering career focused school trips and workshops. Please be aware that these opportunities are targeted depending on the availability of the employer and appropriate age range. We believe it is essential for our children to be exposed to opportunities to think about the broad range of careers that are available to children when they come of age.
my future my basildon presentation for families november 2024.pdf
What is ‘My Future My Basildon’ and why is it good for our children?
‘My Future My Basildon’(MFMB) is a chance for your child to meet some great role models from the world of work.
This will give them the chance to think about what they might like to do in their future as well as learning what work can be like and how this links into their education.
Why so young?
National research shows that from the age of 7, children can have fixed ideas of what they can and can’t be when they’re older.
These ideas are strongly linked to their gender and where they are from. The research shows that many of these ideas come from TV, film and radio.
The research also shows that these job goals often don’t relate to the jobs that will actually be available which affects the economy as well as the child’s own future life satisfaction.
So what actually happens in MFMB?
Every half term there are sessions on Zoom where children meet 3 guests from different jobs.
The children have to guess what the guests do and then they hear about what their jobs are and some of their life stories of how they got there.
Each class opens a ‘golden envelope’ and has to solve a fun puzzle related to that industry.
The older children (Year 4 and above) get the chance to ask questions about the guests’ jobs.
Feedback from the children shows that they love meeting the guests and it is helping to shape their views on all the possibilities that are available for them in this area when they grow up.
They also start to learn about university and apprenticeships.
How big is the programme?
So far, the My Future Programme has reached 15,081 children, worked with 62 schools, featured 57 employees and enabled over 280,550 encounters between a child and someone from the world of work.