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Toner Avenue Primary School in Hebburn, South Tyneside has developed a simple yet impactful approach to help students to see their school as a workplace and to inspire career conversations with staff about their diverse career paths.

Led by Lucy Almond, a class teacher, careers lead, and staff governor, the school introduced ‘Careers Door’ posters to address several Benchmarks, including workplace experiences (Benchmark 6), a stable careers programme (Benchmark 1) and personal guidance (Benchmark 8). The initiative engages all 480 students, spanning from Nursery to Year 6, in meaningful discussions about careers and transferable skills.

Approach

The idea behind the activity was straightforward but effective. During a staff meeting, all members of the school community, including non-teaching staff, were asked to create posters for their classroom or office doors. Each poster featured the statement, "Before I worked at Toner Avenue, I was a…", allowing students to discover the diverse career paths staff had pursued prior to joining the school.

The initiative has not only highlighted the variety of possible careers but has also emphasised the importance of transferable skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, in the workplace. 

Outcomes

Transferable Skills in Focus: Pupils connected classroom learning with real-world applications, gaining insight into how skills such as communication and teamwork are valuable across careers.

• Role Models for Inspiration: Seeing staff as advocates for transferable skills helped students to visualise their own potential career paths.
• Oracy and Engagement: Enhanced dialogue between staff and students supported the development of spoken language skills.

Impact

Students:

Students were both surprised and fascinated to learn about the lives and careers of their teachers and staff outside of the school.

The posters sparked meaningful conversations between staff and pupils, encouraging children to ask questions about staff members’ previous jobs and pathways into employment.

By seeing real-life examples of how their trusted adults have used their transferable skills across their careers, students were able to understand and appreciate the importance of the skills they are encouraged to develop in the classroom.   

Staff:

Staff feedback further attested to the initiative's success. Many appreciated its simplicity and effectiveness, noting that it required minimal effort but had meaningful results.

One staff member commented that:

“It shows the children that we are human and have had lives outside of the school building. It brings a more personal and realistic aspect to life in school and children are beginning to see the reason behind why we teach certain things.”

Sustainability and Lessons Learned

Guidance for other schools:

1. Keep posters simple and engaging — children respond best to minimal text.
2. Maintain electronic templates for consistency and easy onboarding of new staff. To ensure sustainability, the school has embedded the activity into its culture. Posters are included in the onboarding documents for new staff, and the initiative is revisited periodically throughout the year.
3. Build on this idea with interactive assemblies, such as a weekly ‘Who’s Who?’ segment, where a staff member is interviewed each week about their previous job and shares their career journey.
4. Ensure that all staff members can participate – not just teachers. Initially, the phrasing "Before I was a Teacher, I was a…" excluded non-teaching staff, but this was addressed by changing it to the more inclusive "Before I worked at Toner, I was a…". This small adjustment ensured that all staff members could contribute equally, making the initiative a true reflection of the diverse talents within the school community.

This free and scalable approach has proven to be a powerful tool for raising career awareness and fostering meaningful conversations about careers in school.

By demonstrating the value of transferable skills in the world of work and showcasing their staff body as employees with diverse career paths, Toner Avenue Primary School have taken a practical approach towards meeting Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces.

Visit the Benchmark 6 toolkit for further case studies of best practice and resources to support you to provide pupils with opportunities to experience the workplace.