Five Wokingham Borough schools - Shinfield Infant, Shinfield St Mary’s, Lambs Lane, Farley Hill and Grazeley - came together to co-organise a Careers Week involving parents and carers who were willing to share experiences about their jobs and careers.
The schools invited as many visitors as possible to inspire the children, and explain to them what the world of work involves and the opportunities that exist.
Wokingham Borough Mayor Cllr Parry Batth visited all five schools to talk to the children about his long career with National Grid and subsequent work as a borough councillor.
See photos of the Mayor with pupils at Farley Hill Primary.
The Central Berkshire Education and Business Partnership (CBEBP) went into each school for a day, organising ‘job safaris’ for the older children. A number of organisations including Price Waterhouse Cooper, Reading Football Club and Thames Water also visited them and talked about opportunities in their areas of work.
“The children had a fantastic week and thoroughly enjoyed hearing from so many adults about their careers and their learning journeys,” said Emma Clarke, headteacher at Farley Hill Primary School.
“Everyone was inspired and gave the children lots of ideas and knowledge about the skills they may need in the workplace. The Mayor was much appreciated and the school council enjoyed talking to him afterwards.”
Headteacher at Shinfield St Mary’s Junior School, Sue Runciman agreed. She said: “Our children particularly enjoyed the visit from the Mayor. They had lots of questions about his civic role and in particular it was very useful to them to understand he’d had a previous career.
“I particularly liked the fact he explained to the children on a personal note that he’d wanted to be a pilot, but hadn’t been able to because of a bright spot in one eye. It gave the children the clear message that while there may be some things in life one cannot do, other doors will always open.”
