At Laurel Avenue Community Primary School, we believe that all children should have equal access to inspiring careers-related learning opportunities.

We recognise that early careers education plays a significant role in helping children to understand their strengths, develop confidence, broaden their aspirations and prepare successfully for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

Our vision is for each child to develop the knowledge, confidence and sense of possibility to explore future opportunities and to achieve their full potential. We aim to provide a secure and stimulating environment that promotes independence, self-esteem and recognises their potential influence on the wider world as a responsible citizen.

Our mission statement:

This reflects our belief that children should be provided with high-quality learning experiences that prepare them for future success and enable them to become responsible, ambitious and engaged members of society.

Careers-Related Learning is not about asking children to choose a future job. It is about helping them to understand themselves, their community and the wider world so they can make informed choices throughout their lives.

Our school delivers a progressive Careers-Related Learning (CRL) programme that is embedded in the curriculum and aligned with both national guidance and regional labour market priorities.

 We use the Skills Builder Framework across curriculum areas to develop essential employability skills, ensuring pupils can recognise, apply and reflect upon key competencies in a range of learning contexts.

Structured careers education is delivered through Unifrog, providing pupils with age-appropriate opportunities to explore careers, pathways, workplace skills and aspirations.

Careers learning is further enriched through carefully planned experiences and encounters linked to curriculum topics, enabling pupils to make meaningful connections between classroom learning and the world of work.

 Our programme also includes a range of curriculum initiatives aligned to North East Mayoral Combined Authority priority sectors, including Health and Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Green Energy Industries and Digital Technologies, helping pupils understand future opportunities within the regional economy.

This year we have developed a new careers initiative entitled "Build the Future", linked to Advanced Manufacturing which aims to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and strengthen pupils' understanding of future career opportunities available within the North East region. The programme has been designed to engage pupils across all age phases and consists of three key elements:

Term 1: Employer Encounters and Skills Development

Term 2: Enterprise and Design Challenge

Term 3: Presentation and Celebration Event

We have also been accepted onto the Primary Futures Manufacturing the Future project, funded by the ERA Foundation. This initiative aims to raise pupils' awareness of the wide range of careers available within the Advanced Manufacturing sector through meaningful encounters with industry professionals and hands-on learning experiences and ties in with our own ‘Build the Future’ initiative this year.

We actively work in partnership with local Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) providers, employers, professional organisations and industry representatives to provide authentic encounters and role models.

By linking learning, skills and careers we will encourage pupils to consider ‘Can I…?’ ‘Could I…?’; and foster curiosity about the opportunities available now and those which will be there in the future.