Careers Fair points Polesworth students towards next best steps

"For the students it was a fantastic opportunity to speak and help them raise their aspirations, awareness and knowledge about different careers and courses. It really helps them to start to think about their futures."

Warwickshire Careers Hub has sent out a resounding ‘thank you’ to the county’s business and education community for their fantastic support in supporting young people.  

Almost 50 businesses, occupations and education-providers were represented at a Careers Fair at The Polesworth School this month. It was a vibrant, information-packed morning which drew huge interest from the students and was exactly the sort of event which shapes and informs the futures of school and college-leavers.       

Students were able to learn first-hand about options ahead for them, from universities including Staffordshire, Sheffield and Cardiff to careers including nursing, building and sports journalism. A Warwickshire County Council stall offered details of the broad range of apprenticeships available.

The event was driven by a collective desire to give young people the best possible springboard into their chosen career – and that ethos of helpfulness is hugely appreciated, said Emma Carty, Operational Hub Lead at Warwickshire Careers Hub.

“The Warwickshire Careers Hub would like thank everybody who helped made the Polesworth event such a success,” said Emma. “We also send heartfelt thanks to each and every person who has joined us in supporting a local school or college with their careers outreach events this year. Our first year has seen a huge influx of support from local businesses and the feedback we have had from our careers leaders has been fantastic.

“By supporting a local school or college with their event, you are helping every young person find their next best steps and opening their eyes to an exciting or fulfilling career that they didn't even know existed. By giving anything from 20 minutes to a full day, you have potentially changed the course of a young person's life in helping them understand about the world of work.” 

Chris Davis, Careers Leader at The Polesworth School, said: “I was extremely pleased for the students that we had 47 different visitors attend the event, resulting in a variety of different job roles, apprenticeships, and qualifications for them all to find out about.

“I really appreciate all the visitors giving up time to attend. For the students it was a fantastic opportunity to speak and help them raise their aspirations, awareness and knowledge about different careers and courses. It really helps them to start to think about their futures.

“The feedback from teaching staff was very positive that students said that they had received a lot of help and good advice.”

Among occupations represented was sports journalism with a stall featuring BBC Coventry & Warwickshire’s sports editor Rob Gurney and longstanding newspaper and radio sports reporter Brian Halford.

“It was a pleasure to visit The Polesworth School,” said Brian. “It was a superbly-organised event and great to see so many universities and businesses there giving out information.

“Rob and I were kept incredibly busy by students of all ages wanting to talk about journalism. We were really impressed by the very perceptive questions of the students and there were several who made us think, ‘yeah - there’s definitely a potential journo there!’ Hopefully we gave them some food for thought.  

“I was delighted to be able to support Warwickshire Careers Hub with the fantastic work they do and would urge all employers to consider how they could help and also benefit from engaging with talented young career-seekers.”