Are you ready to deliver careers with your Year 8’s in September?

When a Year 8 student first participates in the new statutory career sessions this September one of the key issues will be how to help these students focus on careers and life choices in a serious way for the first time.

There may be some significant interest among the 12 and 13 year olds, but many may be focused on fairly unrealistic career choices e.g. footballer or pop star. Sadly, there might also be some cynicism especially if the students have experienced unemployment within their own family circle.

A teaching resource, Career Detectives, has been devised with this scenario in mind and is centred around a careers board game through which students explore different career sectors which they consider are relevant to their skills, interests and academic abilities.

As the game progresses it takes students to a new level of awareness so they can not only consider areas they wish to explore, but can also benefit more fully from the careers guidance they are offered.

Career Detectives provides information about 168 different careers across all sectors within the context of a range of activities that can be completed either in small groups or with the whole class.

With the addition of a resource pack offering further games, exercises and starting points for lesson plans, the aim is to enable any member of teaching staff to run careers education lessons that will have an immediate impact on students.

Furthermore, the resource also helps to develop and raise awareness of such skills as teamwork, communication, leadership, creativity and confidence and embeds other key learning outcomes including healthy eating and citizenship.

Career Detectives is now being used in schools across the UK and has met with overwhelming praise from pupils, teachers and career guidance professionals, including these from Dr Tristam Hooley and Ian Guest….

“What is really good about Career Detectives is the way that it helps teachers to link career learning to the core curriculum areas in a meaningful way.”
Dr Tristram Hooley, Head of International Centre for Guidance Studies. University of Derby

“Wigan Careers Service has used Career Detectives in Primary, Secondary and Special Schools and the response from pupils, teachers and careers advisers has been uniformly positive. The resource allows pupils to explore careers and the world of work in a fun, engaging and informative way and would be an ideal product to use with year 8 pupils to meet the new revised statutory guidance for schools on careers guidance.”
Ian Guest of Wigan Careers Service

For more information, take a look at our website.