Companies develop contacts with the future workforce during careers fair

The workforce of tomorrow was visited by a number of West Norfolk companies as part of a secondary school’s career fair.More than 1,000 students from Lynn’s Springwood High School packed into the Peter Hopkins Hall, which showcased the range of education and career opportunities open to them.Nicky Thompson, head of Year 12 and careers lead at the school, said: ““The Futures Event was specifically aimed at 14- to 18-year-old students who are making important decisions about their post-16 and post-18 choices.

“For students in Year 10, the event was an ideal opportunity for them to be inspired by careers and training and employment opportunities that they may not have previously considered.“Students in Year 11 were being encouraged to make decisions about their post-16 options, including applications to sixth form or further education colleges, and/or apprenticeships.“Students in Sixth Form were considering higher education or higher-level apprenticeships, post-18.”

Around 50 exhibitors were on hand to advise the youngsters, comprising both employers and education providers.Among them were some of West Norfolk’s largest employers, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, West Norfolk Council, Palm Paper, and British Sugar.Other companies including KL1 Radio were also on hand to speak to students. “This enabled students to explore a wide range of career options and talk to employers about the apprenticeship and job vacancies they might have coming up,” added Miss Thompson, who organised the event with the support of Head of Year 10 Dan Hobbs, Head of Year 11 Victoria Mann, and Head of Year 13 Luke Rawling.

“Heads of Year for different age groups put together an itinerary of tailored career activities before students attended the Exhibition,” she continued. “These involved employers and education providers (including further education colleges and universities) delivering workshops to help students make informed decisions about their next steps.
“For example, Year 10 heard from the College of West Anglia, Springwood Sixth Form, and Ask Apprenticeships about the choices they have after GCSEs, whilst Year 11s completed the Help You Choose application process for post-16 choices and developed their employability skills by focusing on building confidence and resilience.” However, it wasn’t just the students that benefited from the Careers Fair.

“Some employers were keen to demonstrate that students can pursue a career pathway right here in Norfolk, rather than moving away for work.“For instance, tourism is helping to drive economic growth in our county, supporting more than 54,000 jobs and contributing about £2.8 billion to the local economy.