Member Article

Get involved in this year's World of Work day

Pupils in North East schools have never needed contact with employers more than they do now. If you’ve never helped out in a career-related activity in a school before maybe now is the time to try?

Pupils love to learn about the world of work because they all know that this is where they will end up one day. But they want to hear about that from the people who know – you! The government agrees and back in 2013 launched its ‘inspiration agenda’, encouraging schools and businesses to work together to inspire young people about they jobs they could do.

This partnership has two immediate benefits: pupils receive up to date and authentic information about the labour market and different occupations, whilst employers can impress upon the next generation of workers the skills, attributes and knowledge they need to replace the ageing workforce. They can tell them how important it is to be involved in activities outside school and how they can stand out from the crowd. Equally they can confirm what their teachers and parents tell them everyday – English and Maths are core subjects for a reason and really do have an application in some way to nearly every job.

From a wider, economic perspective, pupils are able to structure more coherent and fulfilling learning pathways into the world of work and employers see a higher retention rate of apprentices and graduates because there is a much better fit between the employee and their role in the organisation. This should help to reduce the skills gap in our region and thus increase further our GVA.

There are a number of ways employers can become involved in work in schools; you could sign up to become a volunteer speaker through inspiringthefuture.org, Business in the Community (bitc.org.uk), the Careers and Enterprise Company (careersandenterprise.co.uk) or your local chamber of commerce. All these organisations offer suggestions about how you could contribute in the way that suits you and your business, whether you are happy delivering a talk in a lesson or an assembly or whether you would prefer to do one-to-one mentoring with a pupil.

Another way is to attend annual careers fairs and display your business in an engaging and interactive way. Our academy in Ashington, Northumberland, has its World of Work Day on Tuesday 21 March from 10.00-13.15 and you would be most welcome to attend. Perhaps this could be your place to start a new relationship with schools? Please see the link or email mark.fox@ncea.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Fox .