Roe Green Junior School

“It is an invaluable resource when organising an event. The massive range of contacts available is what helps make something like this such a success.”

• Name: Paurvi Dodhia
• School: Roe Green Junior School
• Role: Year 6 Teacher
• Area: Brent, North London

Can you tell us a little bit about your school? What is your approach to career related learning?

We are a four-form entry Junior school in a diverse, multicultural part of Inner London. We serve a community from varied socio-economic backgrounds and have children from many religions, languages and cultures. This was the first event the school has organised about careers.

How would describe the children’s aspirations at your schools before and after the Primary Futures event?

Careers Week made a huge impact on our Year 6 children. Feedback from the children after the week indicated just how inspired they had been by the guests. They learnt about careers they knew nothing about and many felt they would certainly be interested in fields they would not have considered before the week.

What inspired your school to sign up to Primary Futures?

My class had been learning about the human body in Science and following a visit from my brother (an intensive care consultant at the Royal Brompton) the class were left inspired about a job in Medicine.  Coupled with the rising figures of knife and gang crime in this area it prompted the idea of a Careers Week. I was looking for ideas and came across Primary Futures through a Google search.  I looked through the website and registered and so we began.

What events has the school hosted? Was there an especially inspiring moment that happened?

Our first Careers Week was 4th-7th June 2019. We welcomed almost fifty guests over four days to speak to the classes in Year 6. Meeting such a wide range of guests from so many backgrounds and careers was amazing for the children. It was particularly wonderful to watch the children develop in confidence with their questions as the week went on.

What has been the best thing about the experience?

So many things – the support given by your team from initial contact through to the end of the event. The ease with which I could reach out to volunteers and the communication between myself and your team was excellent.

What difference has Primary Futures made to the school and your pupils?

The Year 6 children will all leave with a belief that they can follow their dreams, they need to be determined in life and work hard, make sacrifices. Incredible lessons at such a young age. The visitors inspired the staff to think about their own development, thinking about courses to further their learning. As a school we are looking at ways to roll out Careers activities through the Year groups so from year 3, children begin to form ideas of what they can do.

Would you recommend Primary Futures to other schools?

I would say it is an invaluable resource when organising an event. The massive range of contacts available is what helps make something like this such a success. Also having a dedicated team to support the person organising the event makes a huge difference. Especially when I was beginning to gather ideas it really helped knowing I could ask for guidance.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Primary Futures and organising Careers Week was certainly the highlight of my year.  It is so important to have an organisation like yours and having held a Careers Week I think it is invaluable for Primary children to gain an insight into the world of work.  I look forward to organising the next event!