High school and the world of work hold no fears for P7 pupils in Edinburgh, thanks to events organised by one of the Prince’s charities.
Scottish Business in the Community runs Think Ahead to Work days, which introduce primary school leavers to companies and professionals who talk about their jobs and routes into their careers.
At the last event for this session, held at St Augustine’s High, the workshop allowed pupils from Fox Covert, St Joseph’s, St David’s, St Margaret’s and St Cuthbert’s primaries to get to know their high school building and work with secondary pupils before arriving in S1 in August.
Catriona Taylor, headteacher of St Cuthbert’s Primary, thought the day was excellent. She said: “The children were totally enthralled by the information they found. There was one company that made flat-pack houses for underdeveloped countries - the pupils thought that was an amazing job opportunity.”
Two St Cuthbert’s children came away thinking about medical careers they had never considered before. “I thought I wouldn’t like medicine because I am not really interested in medical things, but it made me think I might like to do something like that,” said Beth.
Her classmate Catherine said: “It was interesting because there are a lot of careers you can do in medicine. I think it would be nice to be a nurse, because you don’t have to do everything but you learn lots.”
The charity plans to work with 129 schools next session and invite more than 2,500 to similar events.
victoria.prest@tes.co.uk
www.sbcscot.com.