Careers

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2024, all pupils this year will be learning how to be more like an apprentice and the ‘Skills for life’ that are needed.  This will be in the form of an assembly led in-house. Although pupils may not be directly involved in making decisions about their next steps beyond school, we value the opportunity, at a critical age, to address possible myths and stereotypes about apprenticeships.

HSBC Spotlight on Apprenticeships

To dive deeper into apprenticeships, take the time to watch the following video links.  Pupils can access these, or they are a good starting point for discussion between parent/carer and child.

02:02 – Why did you choose an apprenticeship?

07:37 – What did your family and friends think?

11:53 – What skills have you developed?

02:13 – What support is in place for you?

05:36 – How have the skills you’ve learnt prepared you for your future career?

08:47 – How has the apprenticeship affected your life?

Apprenticeship  exposure in the curriculum

Key Stage 2

Our Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to engage with apprentices with one of our partner organisations – Egger in Hexham.  This provides a meaningful encounter for our pupils, at an early age, to explore what an apprentice can do and why they may find their employment satisfying.  This year we have plans for our year pupils to visit the Egger site in Hexham building on their studies in design technology exploring the material products that Egger manufactures.  Our collaboration with Egger provides us with employer engagement linking to the area of opportunity focusing on advanced manufacturing of sustainable building materials.

Key Stage 3

We have planned opportunities for apprenticeships to be discussed in Key Stage 3 PSHE lessons that focus on careers and living in the wider world. By the end of Year 8, we endeavour for our pupils to know that there are four types of apprenticeships from Intermediate to Degree level. Apprenticeship opportunities are referenced in our Year 8 Group Career Guidance sessions led by Career Wave. Pupils will also know how to access sources of information that they can refer to in order to gain further knowledge of apprenticeship opportunities.  Our Year 8 pupils will have also explored, in a visit by Performance in Education about careers opportunities in the NHS, including those with apprenticeship routes. Health and Life Sciences is an area of focus in our broader careers programme, putting a spotlight on this sector as an area of opportunity and strategic importance for the north east of England.

Pupils in Year 8 will have the opportunity to explore apprenticeship routes further in the Year 8 partnership careers event that we have planned for Summer Term 2024.