Innovative Derry careers day 'great success'

The first ever careers day / role model events involving primary 6 and 7 pupils in the Ballymagroarty and Hazelbank area of the city have been hailed as “great successes”.

The pupils from St Eithne’s Primary School and Holy Family Primary and Nursery School took part in the events, which were organised by Roxanne Quigley, Neighbourhood Regenerator with the Ballymagroarty and Hazelbank Community Partnership (BHCP).

Roxanne explained: “I lead on the BEST (Business Education Skills and Training) task force within the Outer West area. Within that we have the local primary schools, North West Regional College, Skills North West and different community groups.

“We came up with the idea of holding a careers event within the schools. Our aim was to show the children the wide range of jobs available out there.

“We decided to invite a variety of people into the schools, to participate in a fun quiz, where pupils had to guess what jobs they did, by asking questions which only had yes and no answers.

“It went amazingly well. The questions the pupils were asking were brilliant but it was a wee bit difficult for the pupils to guess. even me who knew the answers found it tricky.”

Roxanne said the whole process got the children’s “imaginations going”.

“Sometimes when they thought they had guessed correctly, we gave them a wee bonus question at the end. They were all excited saying, ‘I know what she does, I know’ but then, when they asked the  bonus question relating to that job and the person answered it differently, they were thrown a curveball which really made them think.

“But the excitement and the imagination was just amazing. At St Eithne's we had an EMT - a paramedic - and a pharmacist, a florist and a community carer, advertising manager.

“We are so appreciative of the people who gave up their time on their days off to come into St Eithne’s and Holy Family,” said Roxanne.

Terrance McDowell, principal of St Eithne’s said the school had been delighted to participate in the careers day / role model event organised by BHCP.

He said: “The fun event allowed our Primary 7 children the opportunity to speak directly with people from a wide range of occupations.

“The children showed great interest in the various jobs held by the volunteers and were keen to drill them with a range of questions about their various roles.

“They left this event with a valuable insight into the range of occupations held by the volunteers and gained much from speaking with them directly.

“Saint Eithne's hopes to arrange a similar event in the future to expose our children to an even wider range of occupations.

“We sincerely thank Roxanne from BHCP for organising the event and also wish to thank those who very kindly offered their time to come along and speak with our children.”