Green Careers in the West of England: Celebrating our Green Careers Champions!

The West of England Careers Hub partnered with Careerpilot to engage schools and students in our region to understand more about ‘green’ job opportunities and pathways into them. This forms part of the Green Futures Fund and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority’s ambition to reach net zero carbon by 2030.

The project saw the creation of a range of resources, designed to help all young people understand how their learning and skills are connected to future opportunities in the growing green jobs sector.

By participating in the project, schools, careers advisers and parents and carers have been able to access a wide range of online and classroom resources and webinars.

The Green Careers Champion Award

The Green Careers Champion Award celebrates the efforts of schools and careers advisers who are actively helping students explore and understand green careers and sustainable pathways. To achieve the Award, Careers leaders and advisers need to attend a Careerpilot training webinar, then use the green jobs teaching resources to support students, and parents and carers to learn more about green jobs. The Award has meant that mainstream, special and alternative provision schools, along with careers advisers, have been able to earn a Green Careers Champion Certificate.

So far, eight schools and thirteen careers advisers in the region have already achieved an award.

Success at St Matthias Academy

St Matthias Academy is an alternative provision school serving Bath and Northeast Somerset and Bristol.

To achieve the award the Careers Leader at St Matthias attended an Introducing Green Jobs webinar which enabled them to access green jobs information and SEND focused green jobs teaching resources. Alongside this, they used social media posts to inform parents about the green agenda.

Julie Price, Lead for Work Related Learning at St Matthias Academy said, "Since doing it the students are more self-aware of climate change and the need to recycle, and some have shared this information at home, all due to the Green Award.”

Students are "excited about the future of green careers"

Bristol Free School is a mainstream secondary school in Bristol.

To achieve the Green Careers Champion Award Bristol, Free School attended a green jobs webinar delivered by the team at Careerpilot. This gave them an opportunity to learn more about green jobs and how to deliver a lesson on the topic to their students. The Careerpilot ‘how green are you?’ quiz was a creative way in which they were able establish the learning which took place following the lesson. Finally, the school ensured that green jobs information was shared with parents and carers.

What did the young people think?

98% of the students were able to identify what constitutes a green job, and 81% of the students were able to recognize the six industry sectors in the West of England expected to have the most green jobs in the coming years, indicating that the quiz successfully raised awareness. The feedback also reflected a strong interest among the students in pursuing careers in sectors that address environmental and sustainability challenges.

Stephanie Norton, Deputy Head of Sixth Form at Bristol Free School said, “Achieving the Green Careers Champion Award has significantly enhanced my knowledge as a Careers Leader, particularly regarding the green jobs and career pathways available in the West of England. Our students are already excited about the future of green careers, and this award has enabled us to broaden their understanding by educating them on the wide range of opportunities within this growing industry.”

Resources "give me the tools I need"

Suzanne Paice is the careers adviser for Cotham School, which is a mainstream secondary school in central Bristol. After attending a green jobs webinar for careers advisers, Suzanne used the green job resources to increase awareness among students at Cotham School. She did this through creating displays, tutor time activities, delivering lessons for Year 9 and Year 13 students, and providing one-on-one personal guidance.

The results of the green job quiz for Cotham Year 9 students showed that 95% of students could identify what constitutes a green job, and 76% knew which six industry sectors in the West of England will see the most growth in green jobs. Suzanne said, "...thank you for the resources - they are perfect and give me the tools to deliver exciting news to students about their futures."

Volunteering opportunities

Become an Enterprise Adviser

Enterprise Advisers work directly with the school’s leadership team to develop and implement an effective careers strategy, that puts opportunities with employers at the heart of a young person’s education.

The role of the Enterprise Coordinator is to harness the relationship between the Enterprise Advisers, schools and colleges through ongoing training and support.

What is the Careers Hub?

The Careers hub provides support for our business volunteers to work with the Careers Leader and wider senior leaders of a school or college to create opportunities for young all people.

Discover volunteering opportunities