Organised by Mrs Sinclair, Academy Careers Leader, the talks have been arranged so as to inform and inspire students regarding their future career choices.  Moreover, all of the guest speakers have been former students of the Academy.  This has enabled our students to hear first-hand accounts of how people, just like themselves, have forged a successful career path through various study opportunities and the pathways they have followed leading to successful employment in their chosen field.

Each of our speakers gave a personal account of how they pursued their studies when leaving school and spoke about their employment and what their job entails giving our students a broader perspective into the world of work.  We were delighted to welcome three former students back to the Academy.

The first of our visitors was Marianne Conway who spoke about her work as a Project Engineer for Syngenta in Huddersfield. Marianne also discussed the importance of how students should give serious consideration to what they would like to do for their future career choice and to look at the various routes that would enable them to achieve this.

Cameron Day gave an overview of the apprenticeship scheme and the training that he is currently undertaking to become qualified as a Multiskilled Engineer. Cameron, who works for Mars in Birstall, a manufacturer of pet food products, informed the students of the variety of tasks that he is required to carry out so as to maintain machinery and production at the plant.

Our final visitor of the term was Richard Brown who teaches Horticulture at Wakefield College. Richard spoke about his study opportunities including university and trips to the USA. Richard spoke about how his learning and skills had developed over the years and how he has passed his knowledge on to others. This includes through a book that he has written on growing and cooking with melons. Richard presented a copy of his book to Mr Naylor, the Academy’s Librarian, and the book is now available for students to borrow. Richard also spoke to students about the importance of pursuing a career that they enjoy.

We are most grateful to our guest speakers for giving up their time to return to the Academy and speaking to our students who greatly benefitted from listening to what others have accomplished since they had left school.

Mrs Sinclair can be contacted by email: gemma.sinclair@sharemat.co.uk