Mon 08 Jul 2024
Start small, dream big…and stay safe on the railway
Platform jumped at the chance to contribute to the national ‘Start Small; Dream Big’ pilot careers programme for primary schools by designing and delivering a rail-themed careers workshop for an Year 5/6 class in Somerset.
On Monday 20th May, Ellie spent the whole day at St Joseph & St Teresa Catholic Primary School in Wells, kicking things off with a careers workshop for the Year 5 and 6 students in Malala Class.
Before focusing on specific jobs in the rail industry, Ellie spoke to the students about the importance of personal strengths: the skills and attributes people possess beyond the academic that count for so much in life. Yes, working hard at school and doing your best in exams is really important, but what you’re like as a person plays a big part in your employability and how effective you will be in the role. To put this idea into practice, students were given the task of reflecting on their personal strengths and areas for development.
Ellie discussed various rail industry jobs, including dispatcher, customer host, train driver, and track maintenance worker, using these roles to highlight students’ strengths and areas for development. The students excelled in identifying the necessary skills and attributes for each role, demonstrating strong self-awareness and awareness of their classmates’ strengths. The learning experience was enriched by role-playing activities, with students dressing up and acting out job scenarios. A standout moment was a student, portraying a customer host, pushing a makeshift buffet trolley down the classroom aisle and offering drinks or snacks to classmates.
Although the workshop theme was careers in the railway industry, the school was keen for its Year 5 and 6 students to spend some time learning about rail safety too. Thanks to Platform’s ‘Railway Reality Check‘ film , key messages about electricity, the track, hi-speed trains going through stations, the yellow line and level crossings could all be delivered in a fun, informative and concise way.
The school’s nearest station is Castle Cary, so Ellie also spent a few minutes sharing photographs of the station and Platform’s illustrated rail map to show the different destinations they could reach, from a huge city like Bristol to the seaside at Weymouth. Linking to the workshop theme, she took the opportunity to promote rail travel as a fast, fun, safe and sustainable way of connecting people to education, training, apprenticeships and jobs.
Ellie spent the whole day at the school, facilitating rail safety and confidence workshops with Reception up to Year 3 and another careers session, this time with the Year 4/5 class.
The day was a huge success and Ellie has her fingers crossed that the school will be able to organise transport to Castle Cary Station at some point in the future so that the children can put their learning into action with rail familiarisation train trips.
Find out more about Platform’s careers offer by clicking on the link below. 
“An informative and engaging workshop from Ellie. The students were keen to give answers and ask questions. They were particularly keen on dressing up and acting out job roles. It was really interesting to hear the students consider and rate their own skills and strengths and how this was then linked to various job roles – a good activity. I have received great feedback from many schools in the Start Small; Dream Big programme this year. Many thanks for supporting Somerset primary schools.” – Jenny Salmon (Project Officer, Somerset Careers Hub, Somerset Council)
“We loved Ellie’s visit! The children learnt lots from the workshops. We felt that Ellie pitched the workshops perfectly for the different year groups across the school and used a variety of different ways to engage the children including role play and quizzes. We would love to extend the visit further at another time, with perhaps a visit to the train station or ride on the train (funding dependent). Thanks so much Ellie!” – Mrs Nicola Willmott (Year 1/2 Class Teacher and St Joseph & St Teresa Catholic Primary School and co-ordinator of the day)
“I had a wonderful day at St Joseph & St Teresa. It was great fun and extremely rewarding to be able to facilitate workshops with every class in the school. All the younger students involved in the rail safety sessions made me feel so welcome, listened brilliantly and made excellent contributions, whether asking or answering a question, dressing up in role as a member of GWR or Network Rail staff, or acing the quiz at the end. And my session with Malala Class at the start of the day was a joy. I was so impressed with the students’ engagement throughout. Their maturity, enthusiasm, curiosity and critical thinking made for an enjoyable and impactful learning experience for all.” – Ellie Swain (Senior Learning Development Officer, Platform)
