Ascend Learning Trust Careers has been super busy. 6th – 11th March the celebrations were in full swing for National Careers Week.
Ascend Learning Trust (ALT) Careers is led by Catherine Young, Kingsbury Green Academy’s Career Leader.
Catherine has been busy pulling together activities for multiple schools in the trust to celebrate Careers along with millions of others across the UK.. The week hosted a trust wide competition using the NationalCareers Week crosswords and word searches, with the winner receiving a £20 Amazon voucher.
The ALT Careers and Employability Development group has beenset up to allow all the Careers Leaders within the trust to share their resources and support each another. A new innovation called the Career Insight launched where, based on student request, pupils have the opportunity to speak with people in different roles. Recently the students have had Q&A’s with Firefighters and Archaeologists. Many of these Career Insights are virtual and are recorded, making them accessible to all children within the trust.
This week Kingsbury Green and Noremarsh Junior School sparked debates between the teachers and pupils, after the teachers shared their own Career Paths. Mrs Kelly RS & Citizenship Teacher explained that she is a bit of a chatterbox, with her career starting in customer focused roles in Supermarkets and Corner Shops. Mrs Kelly then went on into a career at Glasgow University as a Research assistant for the Department of Health and Social Care, following on to becoming a Sale Executive working on magazines. In her roles she said she learnt
essential life skills such as how to speak to people. One student joked with Mrs Kelly saying how she was already very good at speaking to people so why did she need to learn due to her chatty nature.
Mrs Durham went on to say how allowing students to see their career path gives them hope that no matter where they begin, they can still reach where they want to get to. In her role as a History teacher, students presumed that she must come from a museum background or another background history related. Not only that, but they’d realised that teachers too begin their careers in part time jobs to pay for their education. Miss Parson Maths Teacher went on to explain how her career path began in cooking; the students were amazed that she had now gone on to become a Maths Teacher.
Careers has also been busy recently with lots of ongoing trips. Kingsbury Green Academy Careers Ambassadors were the winners of the Amazing Apprenticeships school display board national competition back in November 2022. As a team they planned and voted for how they would like to spend their winnings. The final decision was a Careers Trip in March to Bowood House and Spa to see the facilities and understand the breadth of careers in the hospitality industry, followed by discovering what it takes to set up your own business at The Best Ever Brownie Company. Another upcoming trip is to PwC in Bristol, where students will be presenting their elevator pitches to employees, pretending that they have bumped into them in an elevator and have to impress them in that short space of time.
Catherine Young went on to say “In my career path, I also have had many different roles and each one has led me to where I am today. I believe it is important to do something you enjoy and I find it very rewarding helping our
students at Kingsbury Green Academy envision their own careers path. “If you believe you can, you will” is a quote that I think is important in everyone’s lives, as everyone has the opportunity to grow. National Careers Week is a great opportunity to celebrate each and every career and raise awareness of the diverse and broad range of pathways that can be taken, which is why we decided to help celebrate it here in the Ascend Learning Trust.”
Please follow @altcareers on Instagram for all the updates on careers. You can also use our website to discover current career opportunities which is currently undergoing a rebrand and at the moment can be found on kgacareers.com but will soon be altcareers.org.uk
