From Cosmetics to Combat – Careers Carousel at Lansdown Park Academy
Students from Lansdown Park Academy were given the opportunity to spend the morning trying a variety of different career options in a Careers Carousel with five different employers.
This hands-on day had lots of interactive activities, giving students a good insight into what different jobs really entail. Employers from PHC Parts, the Army, Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel, Kitchen Cosmetics and Avon Wildlife Trust shared their personal career journeys and experiences during mini-sessions – with much learning and laughter along the way!
Sparking interest in all things heating and plumbing, PHC Parts brought along lots of interesting technical parts for students to inspect and work out what they do. Impressively, some students successfully pointed out some of their functions and materials before even being told! By the end, students gained knowledge about the different roles and routes into a career involving heating supplies, and the importance of these roles in all our lives…nobody wants a faulty boiler or toilet!
Standing to attention in the Army session, students had a great time trying on all the gear – including weighted vests, combat helmets and even a sleeping bag! Different routes into the Army were discussed – showing there are many different options and paths to follow. The different, yet equally important functions within the Army were explained, and how each of these depends on the others to do a good job (e.g., logistics, communications and catering).
Over to the Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel room, students discovered all about the world of Corporate Events Planning, where they were given clues to objects to match them to events and activities – including items used for table settings and hot stone massages! Students were curious about the diverse world of team-building events – and were especially intrigued by the axe-throwing events that take place on the grounds of the hotel!
Students got to try out the wonderful and ethical Kitchen Cosmetics products and learnt much about being an entrepreneur, setting up a business, and how you might plan a social media campaign. Encouragingly, Kitchen Cosmetic’s owner took a non-traditional, vocational route to success – showing there is no ‘one size fits all’ with jobs, and that they may want to create their own businesses in the future. Taking a closer look at branding and marketing, learners compared some of their own favourite clothes brands, learning some of the marketing skills involved to stand out amongst competitors.
Then it was off to the Avon Wildlife Trust session for an entertaining and informative game of ‘WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!’! Students were invited to put their hand into a cardboard box and guess the item/s within…including deer skulls, GPS collars, and human ear-like fungi! As well as being great fun to guess, the items in the game all had a tangible link to different job roles and functions Avon Wildlife Trust, with students learning about roles they had not heard of before.
After a productive morning learning about an array of jobs and hearing about personal career journeys, students felt it was entraining and informative, ‘gave them different ideas for the future’, and expressing they’d recommend this event because ‘it was helpful for what job you want’. An excellent day, with a huge thank you to all the students, staff and employers that made this Careers Carousel successfully spin!
This work in provisions out of Bristol has been funded through the Careers and Enterprise Company & The West of England Combined Authority.