THE children of Otterham Community Primary School had to put their thinking caps on recently as they invited three people with very different job roles to give an insight into their places of work.

The initiative invited three employees of different companies, organisations and businesses from across Cornwall — Lisa Neville, Annie Broadbent and Post reporter Rosie Cripps — to challenge Class 1 at Otterham School through Education and Employers’ ‘Primary Futures’ initiative.

They were invited to take part in the What’s My Line event which is organised by the Education and Employers charity as a collaborative event between working people and children across the country, enabling them to learn and experience what it is like to work within certain roles and employment sectors by directly connecting with employees within those roles.

The What’s My Line event at Otterham school took place on Friday, November 8, with the school welcoming Lisa, Annie and the Post into the staffroom for a quick briefing before being taken in to sit in front of an enthusiastic class of pupils.

The session, led by class teacher Mrs Reynolds-Hart, was designed to allow pupils to guess the job titles of each guest by asking a variety of questions. Afterwards, the children were able to find out more about the different job roles, what each entails and how to go about exploring those areas of employment.

According to a BBC article on the Education and Employers charity, ‘by the age of seven, children are already facing limits on their future aspirations in work’. It is thought that stereotypes about social background, gender and race are contributing factors to this, and children are showing signs of only considering jobs that are ‘already familiar to them’. Findings in a report from the OECD international economics think tank suggest that boys from wealthier homes are likely to expect a career in law or management, while girls from deprived backgrounds expect to go into hairdressing or shop work. Boys from deprived backgrounds were found to want to go into sport or entertainment careers.

With this in mind, Education and Employers is hopeful that their sessions, introducing employers and employees of different careers to schoolchildren across the UK, will raise aspiration amongst young people, creating awareness of the possibilities for everyone once they finish school.

The aim of the events is to ‘show young people exciting futures’, allowing them to meet face-to-face with a range of people from different and exciting jobs to ‘inspire and motivate’ them.

Using their online match-making platform, Education and Employers connects schools and colleges with volunteers from a range of sectors and professions.

At Otterham’s event, Post reporter Rosie was labelled as ‘number one’, Annie as ‘number two’ and Lisa as ‘number three’ as they were presented to the class by Mrs Reynolds-Hart.

Questions ranged from ‘do you work at a desk?’ to ‘do you work with shoes?’ and ‘are any of you married?’ The children were certainly inquisitive, with one girl — Immy — even making a chart on her whiteboard and making notes on each guest to help her figure out their job role. Another pupil, Sam, thought figuring out the location of the guest would help him, asking ‘number three’: “Do you have something to do with the road to Bodmin?”

After a series of questions, Lisa, Annie and Rosie were asked to leave the room and retire to the staffroom for a short break while the children discussed their findings with their teacher. Guests were then asked to enter the classroom with a ‘prop’. Upon their return, there was a flurry of chatter amongst the pupils as they caught a glimpse of each prop. For Rosie, this was a notepad and pen, for Annie, a pair of costume glasses and an RNLI Christmas card, and for Lisa, a pair of work gloves.

Children were able to ask further questions. For Rosie, they asked if she had a job revolving around writing or illustrating, for Annie they asked if she had a role within the theatre, and Lisa was asked if she spent time outside gardening.

After another series of questions, the guests were again asked to leave, and return with another prop once the children had thought of all the job roles that each person may be and listed them on the whiteboard.

The children thought Annie was a theatre director, costume designer or interior designer; they believed Lisa was an environmental conservationist or gardener; and they thought that Rosie was a journalist, administrator or illustrator. It was then time for each person to introduce themselves and their real job. Once Post reporter Rosie announced that the children had ‘hit the nail on the head’ and she was indeed a reporter for a newspaper, there was a cheer of excitement as many of the children had guessed correctly. Annie announced to the children that she was a self-employed training consultant for ‘Me, Actually’ and is currently working with both the RNLI and the Theatre Royal, which was a great surprise to the pupils. Lisa said that while she currently works in careers, the job she was referring to that day was her previous work with environmental conservation, hence the work gloves.

The afternoon was a great insight for both the children and the guest speakers, providing just a snippet of the working world for pupils who, despite having some time left in their education, were able to explore a range of opportunities, the skills and experience needed to achieve what they want and to receive some handy advice from the speakers.

Annie wanted to make it clear to the class that both boys and girls can enter any working role. She said: “If you want to be a firefighter, then any of you can do that, and if you want to be a hairdresser or makeup artist, any of you can do that. Boys and girls can do exactly the same jobs.”

The children heard from the three guests that as they continue through school and beyond, it is likely they will want to enter lots of different careers and change their minds, but that they do not have to limit themselves and can do anything they would like to do with the right guidance and self-belief.

One pupil brought the session to a conclusion by thanking the guests for their time. He said: “On behalf of all of us at Otterham school, I would like to say thank you for coming to talk to us and sharing your experience with us.”

Just as children and school staff began to pack away for the end of the school day, the Post caught up with fellow volunteers Lisa and Annie, who were delighted to have been a part of the event.

Lisa said: “I’m coming away feeling really inspired by the children today. I’m amazed by the range of questions and detail and interest they showed. Both the children and the staff made me feel really welcome and I really hope we can work with the school again in the future.”

Annie continued: “I was impressed with how open-minded they were at that point in their lives, and I can see this is a really special school. I would like to see this take place in other schools, because you could see it was opening their minds up to all the possibilities waiting for them when they leave school. It shows them that they can do anything.”

Annie, who volunteered at an event alongside environmental campaigner Chris Packham at a Bristol school before, said she was delighted to see the girls throw up their hands to ask questions just as much as the boys. She continued: “The girls and boys were as enthusiastic and open and enquiring as each other, which was really good to see.

“It was so well managed and welcoming and shows a great feeling of the community that the school is a part of.”

After the insightful event, comments from the children included: ‘It was a good opportunity for us to consider what our futures might bring’; ‘It was an enjoyable and interesting activity’; ‘The afternoon made us think about new possibilities and opportunities’; ‘It was inspiring’; and ‘The ladies were respectful of our thoughts and opinions’.

Headteacher, Helen Ward, added: “From my point of view, the afternoon was certainly well worth taking part in and we look forward to engaging further with Primary Futures during the spring and summer terms.”

Education and Employers are currently looking for more volunteers to go into schools to talk about their job and make a difference.

To register as a volunteer, go to educationandemployersprogrammes.force.com/s/signupitf?type=volunteer

If your school would like to sign up to welcome volunteers to speak about their careers, visit educationandemployersprogrammes.force.com/s/signupitf?type=teacher