Careers Education
Our Vision
At Eaves Primary School, we believe it is important for children to begin exploring the world of work from an early age. Through our curriculum and enrichment opportunities, we aim to raise aspirations, broaden horizons and help pupils understand the wide range of opportunities available to them in the future.
Although formal careers guidance becomes a statutory duty from secondary school, introducing careers education in primary school helps pupils to develop positive attitudes towards learning, challenge stereotypes and understand how their skills and interests can link to future opportunities.
Our approach supports pupils’ personal development, helping them to grow in confidence, resilience and ambition while developing the knowledge and skills needed for later life.
Our Approach to Careers Education
At Eaves Primary School, careers-related learning is embedded throughout our curriculum and wider school experiences.
We aim to help pupils:
Develop aspirations and ambitions for the future
Understand the link between education and future opportunities
Learn about a wide range of jobs and careers
Challenge gender stereotypes and assumptions about roles
Develop important life skills such as teamwork, communication and resilience
Children explore careers through:
Curriculum lessons linked to real-life careers
Visitors from different professions
Educational visits and enrichment opportunities
Enterprise and problem-solving activities
Assemblies and themed events
Discussions about ambitions and future goals
'Ready, Set, Career!' Programme
At Eaves Primary School we support our careers-related learning through the 'Ready, Set, Career!' programme, which helps pupils explore their interests, strengths and future possibilities.
Through My Path Unlimited resources, pupils are encouraged to:
Reflect on their skills, talents and interests
Explore different jobs and career pathways
Understand how education and effort contribute to future success
Develop confidence when thinking about their future aspirations
The programme provides age-appropriate activities and discussions that help pupils begin to think about their future in a positive and meaningful way.
Careers in the Curriculum
We believe that careers education should be woven through everyday learning.
Teachers make links between subjects and future careers so that pupils can see how their learning connects to the real world.
Examples include:
Science and STEM – exploring careers such as engineering, medicine and technology
English – developing communication and presentation skills needed in many professions
Mathematics – understanding how numeracy is used in finance, construction and business
Geography and History – learning about industries, communities and global opportunities
Art and Design – exploring creative careers such as design, media and architecture
This approach helps pupils understand the purpose of their learning and how education can shape their future.
The Careers Impact System and Gatsby Benchmarks
The Careers Impact System is a process that drives continuous improvement in the quality of careers education in schools and colleges.
It’s a systematic approach to raising standards, provides confidence in and an assurance of quality to the education policy community and is directly linked to wider school and college improvement. Our careers-related learning is informed by the Gatsby Benchmarks, a nationally recognised framework for high-quality careers education.
These include:
Developing a clear and structured careers programme
Linking curriculum learning to real-world careers
Providing encounters with employers and role models
Helping pupils understand different education and career pathways
These experiences help children begin to understand the opportunities available to them and the skills they will need in the future.
The Careers Impact System is a step-by-step staged and integrated approach to improving and assuring quality in the careers system, with peer and expert support all the way through. It is founded on the following approach:
Internal leadership reviews - undertaken by and within schools and colleges bringing together key colleagues to examine current performance, identify what good looks like and how best to achieve it.
Peer-to-peer reviews - administered regionally at scale through trained Careers Hub or Trust facilitators - involves Careers Leaders in a local area sharing practice and progress against the Benchmarks to identify what works well and areas for improvement.
Expert reviews – administered centrally to moderate the peer-to-peer approach and to inform continuous improvement of the Careers Impact System and to feed into longer term impact evaluation.
National system reviews – a deeper dive into exploring system-wide themes, good practice and shared challenges which build system wide intelligence to influence targeted action for improvement to encourage whole system improvement.
The Careers Impact System follows six themes, directly linked to the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Promoting Aspirations and Equality
At Eaves Primary School we are committed to ensuring that every child develops high aspirations, regardless of background or circumstance.
Our careers-related learning encourages pupils to:
Believe that they can achieve their ambitions
Explore careers they may not have previously considered
Challenge stereotypes about jobs and roles
Understand the importance of education, effort and perseverance
This work supports our wider commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Working with Parents and the Community
We recognise that parents, carers and members of the community play an important role in helping children understand the world of work.
We welcome support from:
Parents and carers who would like to talk about their careers
Local businesses and organisations
Community professionals
Further and higher education providers
If you would like to support our careers programme, please contact the school office.
Dreamcatcher Workshop- Urology Consultant
During Careers Week, Year 5 and Year 6 had the wonderful opportunity to learn from one of our fantastic school parents- Kayleigh Hughes, who visited us to share her work as a Urology Consultant. The children were fascinated to hear about this important medical role and how it helps keep people healthy.
A Urology Consultant is a specialist doctor who diagnoses and treats conditions affecting the kidneys, bladder, and urinary system. In her day-to-day work, she may meet patients in clinic, review scans and test results, perform operations to remove kidney stones, treat infections, and help patients with conditions affecting how the body stores and passes urine. She also works closely with other healthcare professionals in hospitals to make sure patients receive the best possible care.
The session was packed with exciting, hands-on activities that brought the science of urology to life. The children took part in a “Kidney Stone Hunt”, using play dough to search for hidden kidney stones just like doctors sometimes remove during procedures. They also examined pretend ‘urine samples’, learning how doctors can use science to identify clues about a patient’s health.
Other activities included dressing up in real scrubs, exploring the anatomy of the urinary system on worksheets, and learning about the organs that help filter waste from our bodies.
The children were completely engaged throughout the session, asking thoughtful questions and eagerly participating in every activity. It was a truly inspiring experience that gave pupils a fascinating insight into the world of medicine and the many careers within healthcare.
A huge thank you to Kaylie for giving up her time to inspire our pupils and make Careers Week such a memorable experience! 👩⚕️🩺
Dreamcatcher Workshop- Stuntman
During Careers Week, we were delighted to welcome one of our parents, Shaun Brown, into school to lead a special Dreamcatcher Workshop with our Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2 children, while sharing the story of his exciting and unique career as a stuntman.
Before stepping into the world of film and action, he told the children about his previous career working in a science laboratory. However, his lifelong passion for martial arts eventually led him down a very different and thrilling path — becoming a professional stuntman in the film industry!
The children were amazed to learn about the intense training and wide range of specialist skills needed to become a stunt performer. Shaun explained that stunt professionals often train in activities such as scuba diving, specialist precision driving, abseiling, and advanced martial arts, all of which help them safely perform the spectacular action scenes we see on screen. the children enjoyed looking at photographs and videos of his work in action.
Pupils were especially fascinated to hear about the films he has worked on, including appearing as a ‘bad guy’ in the Spider-Man movies. Hearing first-hand stories about life on a film set made the experience even more exciting and inspiring for everyone.
It was a truly memorable session that left the children inspired and full of curiosity about the many different and unexpected career paths people can take. We are incredibly grateful to Shaun for giving up his time to share his experiences and make Careers Week such a special event for our pupils! 🎬✨
"I liked the part where we learned about the kidney stones and how they occur." Florence Y6
"My favorite part of our sessions with Kaylie was our final activity, involving three parts:1. Stacking small sponge squares on top of each other, 2. Putting polos and beans on pipe cleaners and 3. looking and finding small beans and pom poms in fake play dough to look for kidney stones. I also enjoyed when we changed into the scrubs and sterile hats and masks. Kaylie told us that she used cameras in operations to look inside the human body." Audrey Y6
"The visit off the stuntman Shaun followed a variety of experiences and the pictures explained a lot for young people who wanted to be come a stuntperson in the future." Frederique Y4
