Why teach careers in primary school?

Did you know that careers-related learning is referenced four times in the Ofsted framework?

And did you know that primary schools/children are referenced seven times in the 2017 DfE Careers Strategy?

The Careers and Enterprise Company states:

Careers stereotypes are harmful to children

Between the ages of 6 to 8 years, most children start to develop gendered ideas about careers. These stereotypes follow them into the world of work, affecting the rest of their lives.

By the time they’re age 10, they’ve typically begun assigning social value-based ideas about social class and intelligence. They internalise long-lasting assumptions about what opportunities are available to them and start to abandon fantasy careers, becoming more aware of potential constraints on their futures.

This is where Careers-Related Learning (CRL) comes in.

CRL could include activities that:

• Develop pupils' knowledge about work
• Develop pupils' skills for work life
• Challenge stereotypes formed about careers and the world of work
• Enable pupils to make the link between what they are learning and the world of work

A report published by The Careers and Enterprise Company in December 2018, ‘What works? Careers-related learning in primary Schools’, states that:

A future career seems a long way off for most primary age children. Making a connection between what they learn in primary school and the jobs they might one day pursue is not easy, particularly for those from challenging backgrounds, where local unemployment is high, and horizons may be set low.

Research also suggests that career-related learning provides pupils with the opportunity to explore and practice non-academic skills demanded during working life and in the transition to secondary education. Non-academic skills are distinct from academic knowledge and can include empathy, communication, and resilience. These skills are associated with improved educational, work, health and wellbeing outcomes, such as higher academic attainment, employability and good physical and mental health.

The Careers and Enterprise Company has produced a free toolkit to support primary schools to deliver careers-related learning, which includes questions to assess the current careers-based learning at your school and resources to help implement careers learning.

Whilst this is good practice for all of our primary children, it is essential that our children looked after (CLA) and previously looked after (CPLA) have specific CRL to improve their life chances.

Statutory guidance for designated teachers of CLA and CPLA requires that thought is given to the future, careers advice and guidance ... further and higher education, training and employment.

A culture should be promoted where CLA and CPLA believe they can succeed and aspire to further and higher education or highly skilled jobs (DfE 2018).

For more information on CLA and CPLA please contact Deena Moorey deenamoorey@warwickshire.gov.uk