Over 150 youngsters from five primary schools based in and around Chatteris experienced an interactive careers event for kids this week.
This was the fourth year in a row that the North Cambridgeshire Training Centre (NCTC) hosted this occasion that aims to introduce youngsters to the world of work.
Schools that came along were Cromwell, Glebelands, Kingsfield, Lionel Walden and Thomas Eaton.
Organisations who created sessions included Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Cambridgeshire Fire Service, G’s Fresh, HSBC, MJS Construction and Stainless Metalcraft.
Since starting up in 2021, these Skills Escalator Days have given thousands of youngsters the chance to experience interactive sessions that are designed to make them believe that anything is possible in terms of their careers.
They are the brainchild of Victoria Fiebelkorn who is the Group Head of the Skills Escalator for the Eastern Education Group. (NCTC is part of Eastern Education Group).
Victoria said: “To date, over eight thousand children have attended these inspirational days that have been supported by hundreds of different businesses and we are delighted to be back in Chatteris. They are all about the children having fun, learning and raising their aspirations. One of the schools said this was the highlight of their calendar and these skills escalators days are now embedded in the school calendars – and that was precisely our aim when we set these up five years ago.”
Police Constable Support Officer Rubens is part of the neighbourhood constabulary team based in March. He said: “We are here to the support the community and explain what we do. The students had good questions and they have been fantastic. I had at least five or six saying they want to join the police in the future. It’s beautiful.”
Zoe Ayres is a teaching assistant at Glebelands Primary Academy. She said: “The children get loads from it and last year they were talking about it for a week after attending. It’s great for them to learn skills that they will need in later life and it raises their aspirations.”
Sol, 6, from Kingsfield Primary School said: “My favourite thing was learning. Today has been fun and exciting.”
Atlanta, 7, from Kingsfield. She said: “My favourite thing was being on the digger. Today has been awesome.”
Nicola Hayes is a transactions assistant for G’s Fresh. She said: “We are a farming company and we have been getting children to plant iceberg lettuces. We have 3500 employees in the UK. We are right on their doorstep and there are so many opportunities for the children.
“I’d say these events are a nice opportunity for the children to see what different things are out there. Hopefully a few might come through the door in the future and have a job with us.”
A group of apprentices who helped out at this event did so as part of a campaign called Youth Employment Week organised by Youth Employment UK. Eastern Education Group is keen to give youngsters work experience opportunities to boost their confidence, transferable and communication skills, so they backed the week whilst also announcing that they have become a member of Youth Employment UK.
One of the students who was involved was Mackenzie Bolt, 19, from Chatteris. The level 3 machining apprentice with Stainless Metalcraft said: “We showed the children around and it’s gone well. It’s been insightful.”
