Exploring the world of work: a hands-on careers carousel with St Matthias
Students at St Matthias Rush Hill recently had an exciting careers carousel packed with interactive and engaging activities to highlight a range of careers and pathways. This carousel showcased local and national employers from Avon Fire Service and Bath Spa Hotel to Yunex Traffic, Wogan Coffee, and Overbury and provided students with a taste of diverse career paths that could be available to them. 
The Avon Fire Service captivated students with hands-on demonstrations of firefighting equipment and fire safety practices, showcasing the skills and teamwork needed in emergency response roles. Meanwhile, Bath Spa Hotel offered students an insight into the hospitality industry, giving them the chance to try their hand at elegant napkin folding. They also had the opportunity to explore the diverse range of local roles within the hotel, from the spa to the restaurant, to event management, by examining and engaging with the various objects and materials used in each area.
Yunex Traffic gave students a deep dive into the world of smart transportation systems, challenging the young people to program their own light sequences. Forget the usual red, amber and green, as students at St. Matthias created a variety of fun and dynamic light patterns for the traffic lights! Wogan Coffee offered a sensory experience, teaching students how to identify different smells and explore the powerful connection between scent, memory, and taste and why this is important in their work.
With Overbury, students suited up in hard hats and safety gear, learning the crucial role these items play in protecting workers on construction sites. They also discovered the importance of problem-solving skills in the construction industry, taking on a series of puzzles and brain teasers to test their critical thinking.
This carousel of hands-on experiences proved invaluable for students, sparking curiosity and providing real-world insights into potential career paths. Staff commented that the event helped to give students the chance to meet “businesses they would never get access to” and that the employers were “confident, engaging and knowledgeable” and “good at encouraging the students to get involved”. By engaging directly with professionals and trying out industry-specific tasks, students said it was helpful to “see how things actually work” and to “explore new jobs”. We hope they left feeling inspired and more informed about their future options!
Many students expressed interest in learning about work experience opportunities with the businesses, and staff are confident that students will reach out after the event for more information. The event also highlighted various pathways and entry routes into roles, with all employers stating that they now feel better able to promote pathways into their organisations. This was the pre workshop as part of a programme of experiences of the workplace we are supporting the provision across the academic year funded by West of England Combined Authority
A big thank you to Overbury, Wogan Coffee, Yunex Traffic, Bath Spa Hotel, and Avon Fire Service for their invaluable support throughout the day. And of course, a huge thanks to the staff and students at St. Matthias Rush Hill for their enthusiasm and active involvement!
