Over 1600 Newport school pupils had a glimpse of the future when they got to grips with different careers at Coleg Gwent’s City of Newport Campus earlier this month.
For the fourth consecutive year, year 8 and year 9 students from eight schools across the city tried out vocational subjects like engineering, hairdressing, performing arts and animal care to name a few at the event funded through Newport 14 – 19 Local Area Network.
Each pupil left the event, organised in partnership with Careers Wales and the Newport 14-19 Network, with a good insight into the careers available to them in the future having taken part in practical demonstrations and skills workshops run by current Coleg Gwent students.
Coleg Gwent Engineering students showed the pupils how to assemble and disassemble a trailer brake before giving it a go themselves, a workshop area was transformed into a health & safety ‘nightmare’, complete with fake blood, whilst pupils spotted potential hazards and then used a milling machine to produce three dimensional objects.
In addition to the practical workshops, students had the opportunity to attend seminars in a wide range of professions, including law, health professions, finance and engineering. Careers Wales worked to gain the support of local employers who gave up their time to run the seminars.
City of Newport Campus Deputy Director Ferne Stokes is pleased the event was a success: “Making a decision on what to do after school is one of the most important decisions young people make so the event is a great way of giving them a practical idea of what a range of careers involve so they can make a fully informed choice.”
Kay Mahoney of Careers Wales commented: “By providing young people with a range of vocational tasters and professional seminars they are better informed to make decisions about their future learning pathway and career choice.”
