I have just delivered an assembly to year 7 students (yes, year seven ) at Woodhey High School in Bury. The students are excited to start their Kloodle journey this week. They will commence recording achievements and extra curricular activities and documenting their school career over the forthcoming weeks.
I am delighted the Woodhey pupils are starting so early. We want Kloodle to be a celebration of what students achieve throughout their time in education. Too often, school can become is defined by grades. At Kloodle we believe the day in, day out learning experiences and achievements are far more important. The earlier a student starts to document these, the better??for students, for colleges, for future employers, for Planet Earth.
My talk stressed two points. Firstly, that career paths arent linear, and secondly, that building skills will equip you to succeed at whatever you chose to do. I used Sir Alex Ferguson as an example. He started life as an apprentice tool maker and trade union rep. The leadership and organisation skills he developed through these roles defined his later career in football management. Should he have had a Kloodle profile?
Sir Alex .
I got the students involved by asking them what skills Ferguson had demonstrated. I was astounded when, at such a tender age, they responded with such things as resourcefulness, leadership, communication and resilience. We carried out a similar activity with college students and we werent able to tease out these skills.
Better than year 11s?
Yet Woodheys year 7s nailed it. They were bright and enthusiastic. They had clear ideas of what they wanted to do in the future. Their thoughts on careers were astute and mature. If they can maintain their enthusiasm and zest and keep their perceptiveness regarding careers, theyll go far.
I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon!