The purpose of this blog has been to share the Endeavour project at Port Ellen Primary, and over the past year we have detailed the challenge and enjoyment of this learning journey. It was also set up to highlight how Endeavour can help children make links and develop skills for future careers, as part of Education Scotland’s Developing the Young Workforce.
In their final evaluations all children were able to make successful links to how their projects would help them in future careers; with some of the projects like architecture, interior design or card making business the career links were obvious, but all were able to identify specific skills like time management, risk assessment or presenting to others.
Children could say what new learning they had achieved; learning how to use a sewing machine, working a jigsaw cutter to make a wood toy, reading a map, building a model plane, coding a game, creating a mood board, filming and editing a documentary. They were also able to identify problems they had solved in the process of their project; how to read scales correctly when cooking, how to reinstate accidentally deleted video footage, understanding Shakepeare’s language, correct use of a knife for chopping and getting notes out on time for advertising a jewellery sale.
Sharing their learning during the Endeavour fair was the final stage of the process and the variety and depth of learning on show was excellent, with those who had truly pushed themselves in their learning able to talk in depth about their Endeavour projects. There was jewellery, wooden toys, graphic design t-shirts and cards for sale; a video game to play; cakes, sweets and mexican food to try; videos on Shakepeare, horse riding, fitness, card making and diving to watch; a book and magazine to buy and read and lots of models of farms, houses and planes.
And those who took part this year were already coming up with exciting new ideas for next year…
Dear Mrs Clark,
I have just found out about your endeavour project and find it truly inspiring. Reading the posts on this blog it is evident that your pupils are very much enriched by the challenges they set themselves and the experiences that flow from it. The endeavour project goes right to the core of what we had in mind when we wrote the ‘I can’ statements of the Career Education Standard, that is to create opportunities for learners to gain a wide variety of skills for learning, life and work. I wonder if you have used the standard to evidence learning against the statements and the entitlements for young people?
Please pass on our best wishes from Education Scotland to everyone involved in the project and keep us posted on this years progress. Would you be interested in sharing this more widely?
Klaus Mayer
Development Officer, Skills 3-18 (DYW)
Hi Klaus,
You probably do not even remember leaving this comment on my blog last November, but I have honestly only just now checked the comments as we are doing our final round up and evaluations of this years Endeavour and publishing them online! It was very gratifying to hear your positive comments, and I am glad you find it inspiring as it is one of the most successful, challenging and rewarding projects I have worked on. We have very much focussed on developing a link with the world of work with children through their Endeavours, even if the projects themselves are not obviously careers based, and I think this really works at primary level because children can make links to how they would apply the skills they learn in a career. The project certainly applies the career management skills I can statements; self, strengths, horizons and networks as we work on all these areas through self evaluation, swot analysis, and connecting with people who can help us. At the start of the project this year children also used the World of Work website to identify their careers areas of interest and think about their skills set. We haven’t formally used the standard this year to evidence learning against the statements, but I will be using it next year to drive the skills for work thinking from the children.
Children have now updated their evaluations for this year if you would like to see them, and I will be adding some videos too. I would certainly be willing to share more widely, as that was the aim of the Blog in the first place.
thanks again for leaving such a positive comment,
Jo Clark