New careers coordinator has big plans

Worth has reinforced its commitment to helping students in all year groups prepare for life beyond the School with the appointment of Mr Paul Harrison as our new Careers Coordinator.

Mr Harrison, who also teaches Geography, is delighted to take on the challenge of taking our careers support to another level.

In this article, we speak to Mr Harrison about taking on the role and his ideas for the programme.

How excited are you to take on this role?

I’m really looking forward to the challenge of refreshing the careers programme. We already have a fantastic offer in place for the Sixth Form, but I’m particularly interested in building the programme for Year 7 through to Year 11.

How important is a thriving careers programme to a school like Worth?

Not everyone has a clear plan of what to do post education so providing an impartial offer that shows the wide spectrum of careers is very important. Understanding the role of apprenticeships, meeting people from various professions (both new and experienced), visiting universities, all enable pupils to confidently make the next step from Worth.

What ideas do you have to take the programme to another level?

While building on the work that is already being done with the Sixth Form, there will be a renewed focus on lower and middle school pupils to get them thinking about the potential roles for the future, as well as how the job market is changing and will continue to do so as they make their way through Worth. Bringing people into the School from as wide a variety of careers as possible for pupil talks is also a priority.

Worth recently won an award for alumni mentoring. How important is the role of Worth Society, our alumni association, in complementing the work you are doing?

Fundamentally important. As more pupils move on from Worth, maintaining connections with them is vital to continue to grow the careers offer. Worth Society manager Mary Lou Burge has done a fantastic job in building this network and as part of my role I hope to be able to support her and grow this further.

What is the long-term goal?

To establish a school-wide approach to careers that deals with more than just jobs. Teaching pupils that a career isn’t a job, but that it’s a journey, is going to be a fundamental part of this. The days of working for one company from university to retirement are few and far between; pupils will need to develop many skills along the way and with a refreshed careers programme at Worth they will be equipped to thrive.

Read about Worth winning an alumni mentoring award here.

For more on universities and careers at Worth click here.

Read more about our new Gifted and Talented Coordinator here.