Dear Parents and Carers,
I’m delighted to share some wonderful highlights from this term that demonstrate how Rawmarsh Ashwood is actively raising the career aspirations of your children and building the essential skills they need for their future.
Our work in this area is not an add-on; it’s central to our school’s ethos of Personal Development. We support and challenge our children in becoming well-rounded, resilient, and aware individuals, ready to thrive in the world of work.
Commitment to Quality Careers Guidance
This year, our school has gained significant recognition for the quality of our careers provision!
- We are proud to have achieved our Commitment Award for the Quality in Careers Standard. This is a clear indicator that we are dedicated to providing excellent careers education right from the start.
- We will continue this important work as we aim to complete the prestigious Careers Mark Primary Award in 2026.
The Heart of Our Vision: We Dream Big!
At Rawmarsh Ashwood, our careers focus is woven directly into The Ashwood Way school values. Specifically, our value “We Dream Big!” is the heartbeat of our careers work. We want every child to look beyond the school gates and see a world of exciting possibilities, inspiring them to thrive both now and in their future lives.
Exciting Career Learning in Action
Here is a glimpse into how we’re making careers learning real and engaging across the school:
STEM Careers: Inspiring Future Engineers
- Year 6 AMRC Robotics Workshop: Our Year 6 pupils took part in an incredibly exciting, hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) workshop at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).
- They learned how robots work and had a chance to become coders by creating algorithms to program a robot’s actions.
- The Impact: This was more than just fun; it gave them a real-world context for science and maths and introduced them directly to the fast-growing engineering and technology sectors. They left feeling inspired about future STEM jobs!
Arts & Culture: Meeting Professionals
- Children’s Capital of Culture: Our Year 3 and Year 4 pupils collaborated with local artists from Flux as part of the Rotherham Children’s Capital of Culture project. They helped design what they’d like their local environment to look like.
- Crucially, they spoke directly to the artists about their creative careers, gaining insight into how artistic skills translate into a professional life.
- Comic Book Illustration: Year 4 also visited Rawmarsh Library to work with Kev F, a famous comic book illustrator who has worked with DC, Marvel, and The Beano!
- Kev led a workshop where the children learned to develop characters and create their own comic book stories. This was a fantastic opportunity to see creativity as a legitimate and exciting career path in publishing and media.
Role Models & Aspirations
This term, we’ve focused on bringing careers to life through our school community:
- Governor Visits: Our Chair of Governors, Mrs. Walker, and parent governor, Mrs. Ogwuche, kindly spent time with the children, talking about their own diverse careers.
- They heard first-hand about the exciting jobs our pupils are thinking about – including engineers, teachers, archaeologists, and illustrators!
These visits help break down stereotypes and make aspirations feel real. It’s a vital part of helping your children understand that their current skills and interests can lead to a multitude of rewarding futures.
Thank you for continuing to support our vision for your child’s limitless future!
