Wales & West Utilities, alongside nine other major employers in the Newport area, have come together to provide over 100 local pupils with vital information as they make their future GCSE choices.
The Careers Wales-led partnership brought together major employers and pupils from six local secondary schools to take part in a day featuring workshops, group addresses and bespoke support and advice – with the sole aim of helping pupils to explore all options available to them.
The event, at the Celtic Manor, brought together year 9 pupils from schools including Newport High School, Liswerry High School and The John Frost School. Local employers, Robert Price, The Celtic Collection and Newport Live, amongst others, were on hand to deliver workshops including CV writing, digital footprint and apprenticeships.
The event builds on Wales & West Utilities commitment to support schools and pupils locally where colleagues have delivered sessions including careers advice, support with interview and job applications, as well as exploring climate change and the important role of decarbonisation.
At the event Wales & West Utilities Careers Development Manager, Rachel Jones, spoke about pupil skills and their own values which help them navigate their own journeys into a future relevant career.
Rachel said:
This event was fantastic - it builds on the partnership and delivers great benefit to pupils across Newport. Having more than 100 young people in a room to explore all their options was great – it allows us all, as employers, to talk directly to pupils about their hopes for the future and how the choices they make now don’t affect their future career choices.
The local area is thriving, and we hope the event allows young people to explore the many career options they have locally.
Tammy Pescud, year 9 pupil at Newport High School, said:
This was such a great opportunity and I really enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say. When you make choices, it’s easy to get caught up with how they can affect your future so it was great to understand that they don’t mean you need to stay static – choices should be fluid.
The event really gave me a lot to think about and take back to my friends.
Wales & West Utilities, the gas emergency and pipeline service, brings energy to 7.5m people across the south west of England and Wales. If you smell gas, or suspect the presence of carbon monoxide, call us on 0800 111 999 straight away, and our engineers will be there to help any time of day or night. Before visiting, we'll ask you to let us know if you or anyone in your household, is experiencing Coronavirus symptoms or self-isolating. We'll still come and help you: but our teams will take some additional precautions to keep us all safe.