Skills for Future learning & the world of work
At Ryders Hayes one of our drivers for the curriculum is exploring possibilities and raising aspirations, thus improving social mobility. By aspirations we mean the things which children and young people hope to achieve in the future. In order to realise their aspirations for further education; apprenticeships; university and their vast range of careers opportunities, pupils usually require good educational outcomes. Raising aspirations is therefore often believed to encourage improved attainment in primary school, when children begin to consider their life-goals and have a focus and sense of purpose for their hard work and effort (even if this changes along the way).
Conversely, in preparing pupils by developing the soft skills required for their future learning and the world of work, they also achieve highly at primary school. We are members of the Skills Builder Foundation and using their Skills Builder Framework (a progression of 8 skills) to prepare our children.
We know that children as young as four, begin narrowing their career choices, and therefore that primary careers education and lifelong learning skills to broaden horizons and explore possibilities, as well as tackling stereotypes, must begin at a very early age.
We are very proud to be the lead school for one of the first Primary Careers Hubs – The Black Country Primary Careers Hub 2030, funded by the Careers Enterprise Company, through a joint bid with The Black Country Skills Factory. Ryders Hayes have been commissioned to design and create a primary careers curriculum from Early Years to Year 6, to be trailed and tested by 22 schools across the Black Country, so that by July 2020, we will have written a comprehensive and progressive whole school careers curriculum for primary schools, have considered the jobs that will be available to our current primary-aged pupils, and will have engaged with numerous employers from the 8 employment sectors across the Black Country.
Ryders have made a commitment to encourage links with industry, apprenticeships and higher education as far and wide as possible. We encourage a wide range of visitors into school to discuss their roles with the children and open the children’s eyes to the endless possibilities open to them.
