To complement NRHS’s dedication to the Careers strand of learning, Year 7 pupils were invited to meet members of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). This was an exciting opportunity for pupils to learn about the vast range of career opportunities available to them within the MPS. Our school Police Officer, PC Stevens, and his colleague, PC Hiller, met with the pupils for a workshop. Both officers shared personal stories about their journeys into policing, emphasising the skills, training, and commitment required to succeed in these roles.
Both PC Stevens and PC Hiller spoke in detail about their roles and responsibilities within their stations, in the community and in schools. They also spoke about the pay, benefits and training available. They gave the pupils a thorough insight into a day in the life of a PC. The pupils were extremely inquisitive, and they learnt that careers in the MPS range from the more obvious street policing such as Police Constables, to finance, administration and forensics. Our Year 7 pupils are computer and technology savvy and were interested in the forensics of computers and phone data. Careers in Cybercrime were of particular interest for some of our pupils. Previous visits to school included the police dog handling team and our pupils were interested to hear PC Stevens talk about his experiences as a dog handler.
This was an eye-opening experience for all our Year 7 pupils. They are beginning to think about their careers and how they can best equip themselves with strong GCSE grades and skills to pursue their chosen careers.
The pupils were left inspired and motivated to succeed, with one pupil saying: ‘I didn’t know there were so many interesting and different things a police officer did!’ Some pupils also appeared keen to research their local police cadets. The discussion highlighted the different pathways for young people to join the force and make a difference in their communities.