Careers at Usworth Colliery
At Usworth Colliery Primary School, raising aspirations is at the heart of what we do. We want our children to understand that their early education is the first step toward an exciting future, full of possibilities. By introducing pupils to a wide range of careers from an early age, we help them explore the world of work, challenge stereotypes, and broaden their horizons.
We offer meaningful, first-hand career experiences through visits from professionals, workplace encounters, and themed events that reflect the needs of our pupils and local labour market information. These opportunities allow children to imagine a future they may not have considered and begin to connect their learning in school with real-world careers.
All staff play a role in highlighting career links across the curriculum, helping pupils to recognise the skills they are developing and how these may be applied in future roles.
Our Careers Programme and the Gatsby Benchmarks
Our approach is guided by the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance, which ensure a high-quality, structured programme:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Through this whole-school approach, we aim to inspire, inform, and prepare every pupil for the opportunities ahead.
We are proud to have participated in The Careers and Enterprise Company’s Start Small: Dream Big Primary Careers Pilot Programme.
Careers Fair in Key Stage 1
Aspiration is one of our core values, and we strive to help children see their early education as a stepping stone to future careers. To broaden their horizons, we’ve integrated first-hand experiences into our curriculum. On Friday 4th April we held our first EYFS and KS1 Careers Fair, themed People Who Help Us. The children had their own careers passport and had the opportunity to talk to the RNLI and the police as well as firefighters, nurses, mechanics, dentists and paramedics. Back in class, they reflected on the experience and discussed if there were any careers they would be interested in doing in the future.
Careers Fair in Year 3 & Year 4
We were pleased to host our second careers fair for Year 3 and Year 4 based on apprenticeships on the 22nd May. We welcomed various construction companies, HMRC, Siemens, New College Durham and Springboard. The children were able to discuss various apprenticeship options and discover how they are a fantastic way to start a career of your choice, learn invaluable, hands-on skills and also get paid while you learn.
