HOLY ROOD RC HIGH PUPILS HOST CITY-WIDE CAREERS EVENT

Pupils at Holy Rood RC High School hosted a special training day for 16 Edinburgh schools.

More than one hundred pupils who are volunteering as My World of Work Ambassadors spent the day at Holy Rood getting to grips with their role for the year ahead.

Ambassadors act as champions for Scotland’s careers website My World of Work within their school with classmates, parents, carers and teachers.

This includes supporting fellow classmates to register for a My World of Work account, and helping them to get the best out of the website.

They also hold sessions at parents’ evenings and school events, work with younger pupils to introduce them to the site and the Strengths tool, talk to their teachers about My World of Work’s ready-made classroom resources and make video diaries of their experiences.

Holy Rood RC High School S3 pupil Ella Brown is a My World of Work Ambassador.

She said: “Hosting the training day was a great way for us to kick off our year as Ambassadors, and we enjoyed helping out with the organising as well as learning more about My World of Work.”

My World of Work is part of Scotland’s careers service, Skills Development Scotland. The Ambassador programme works alongside Skills Development Scotland Careers Advisers who are delivering careers information, advice and guidance in every secondary school in Scotland.

Gordon Craig, SDS Partner Development & Integration Executive, said: “As well as helping pupils develop key transferable skills for employment, the programme enhances their career management skills and provides evidence for Wider Achievement Awards, personal statements, CVs, applications and interviews.

“SDS staff offer dedicated support to Ambassadors throughout the year, including training sessions like this one, practical resources and support materials.

“The Holy Rood training day has been a fantastic chance for these Ambassadors to come together, exchange ideas and meet new people, as well as developing their skills for the year ahead.”

Support is also provided for teachers leading the Ambassador programme within a school.

The programme can be used by teachers as continuous professional development, to help further their skills in leadership and project management, enhance their knowledge of career management skills and to provide opportunities for internal and external networking.

Fiona Forbes, Pupil Support Leader at Holy Rood High School said: “Not only are the My World of Work Ambassadors developing their own skills and confidence, they’re also making a vital contribution to their wider school community.

“I was impressed by our Ambassadors’ enthusiasm, commitment and engagement on the training day. We are looking forward to supporting them as they participate in further events and are confident that our Ambassadors will make a success of the programme here at Holy Rood.”

The ambition is to have Ambassadors in every secondary school in Scotland by 2018 to further support schools with Building the Curriculum 4, Developing the Young Workforce, the Career Education Standard and How Good is Our School 4 reviews.

The event took place on Wednesday 6 September.