Careers Week inspires Junior School pupils
In the run up to February half term our Junior School pupils explored ideas about work during our annual Careers Week. At the beginning of the week, Mr Matthew O’Reilly, Head of Juniors, spoke to the girls during assembly about careers and how, ideally, your work should mirror your passions and dreams. He spoke about the words of Confucius: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” and encouraged the girls to be inspired over the week, to search for their passions, and to think about what they might like to pursue when they grow up!
Over the course of the week the girls attended various talks and workshops that focused on a wide range of careers and we were pleased to welcome many of the girls’ parents in to school too, to talk to the girls about their own careers and inspirations.
Mr Daniel Lee spoke to the younger pupils about his job as a garden designer. Mr Lee chose the analogy of Harry Potter’s magic wand, to compare with the magic he performs in planning and planting his gardens. He referenced the Mona Lisa portrait to illustrate his love for painting colours with flowers and plants, and he told the girls that one tiny particle of soil has hundreds of organisms in it!
Year 4 pupils also had the pleasure of listening to talks from two parents, Dr Bojana Popovic and Dr Alison Bentley. Both are scientists, but in very different roles, allowing the girls to learn more about how vast science is. They heard about what a career would look like in medical science, creating drugs to help fight disease and illness, and plant science, protecting plants all over the world and helping countries to be able to harvest and grow plants and crops sustainably.
Year 6 was also lucky to have a number of parents share their expertise in different fields. The girls were treated to a WWII workshop with Mr Brett Morrissey and Mrs Lisa Morrissey. The hall was transformed with different aspects of life during WWII to investigate: from a soldier’s kit and medical equipment to rationed food, childhood toys and games. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were inspired to create some amazing projects from what they learnt.
Ms Julia Carby, a track design engineer for London Underground, also came to speak to the Year 6 pupils about what led her into engineering. She described what her work involves, and her experiences working as an engineer, and it was inspiring for the girls to meet an incredibly successful woman in STEM.