Alex Nightingale has some careers-related ideas and resources for parents home-schooling their children

As parents you may have been given plenty of resources to help you to home school your child in maths, English, science and other subjects, but how about careers education?

As a team of Enterprise Coordinators supporting Lincolnshire's schools with careers education, we wanted to give you some resources to support your child over the coming weeks. We believe that careers education is a vital part of schooling and we wouldn’t want your young adult to miss out.

We have included a short activity about the coronavirus that focuses on the identified key workers. We have also added some other interactive resources to help support wider discussions about careers and future jobs.

We hope you find them useful!

Activity

Corona Virus Research KS3/KS4

As a parent you may be getting lots of questions about COVID-19, so how about using this as an activity? It has a particular focus on people in careers identified as key workers.

  1. Who are the UK Government’s identified key workers during the COVID-19 epidemic? What jobs might come under these groups?  
  2. Identify the key roles and responsibilities of one of the key worker groups.
  3. Describe why these groups have been identified as key workers. Are there any you would add to the list? If so, explain why.
  4. Research the average salaries of 4 job roles that would be identified as 'key workers'.
  5. Of the four researched key workers, which would you pick as your future career path and why?

Interactive Resources

  1. www.startprofile.com A free online careers platform to connect 11 to 18-year-olds with their careers potential. Ask them to complete the profiling activity and reflect on the results
  1. www.theworldofwork.co.uk The Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s dedicated website for sharing information about the range of businesses, jobs and skills across our area. There is a Lincolnshire careers profile which takes just five minutes to complete.  There are also profiles of key business sectors, information about the types of roles, and other labour market resources. Students could create a summary of their preferred sector, detailing geographical, economic, roles, routes etc.
  1. www.amazingapprenticeships.com Factsheets, guides, films, vlogs and learn-at-home resources to promote the opportunities available to people through the apprenticeship route into employment.
  1. www.TedTalks.com There are many excellent careers-related talks on here. Asking your son or daughter to watch one and explain the key points in a short review would be a really beneficial exercise.
  1. https://learnliveuk.com/channel Virtual tours of various businesses and industries. Could you ask your son or daughter to deliver a short presentation on what they have learned about a particular company?
  1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/whats-it-like-being-a-sole-trader/ Greg James meets two sole traders working in the music business: record store owner Jake Travis and Genevieve Wilkins, a freelance percussionist. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of running your own business.
  1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/business-ks4-gcse-music-mud-and-making-money-festival-businesses-enterprise/zfbg92p Enterprise skills in making music festivals a business opportunity. This video could be used to generate discussion on the key skills entrepreneurs need to be successful. It’s also useful for highlighting the importance of market research and how risk always plays a part in any new business venture.