Project Description
Industry: Education
Partner Programme (e.g., Career Ready, Handpicked etc.): Peek-A-Boo Nursery, Markinch
Activity Type: Work Experience Placement
Businesses involved: Peek-A-Boo Nursery, Markinch
Name of School: Glenrothes High School
Glenrothes High School runs a regular initiative encouraging parents to support learners by offering volunteering or work experience opportunities. This approach allows pupils to gain valuable insight into potential career paths and supports the Developing the Young Workforce agenda by linking education directly with employment experience.
As part of this initiative, Leanne McCallum, Depute Manager at Peek-A-Boo Nursery and a parent at the school, kindly offered to provide placements for pupils interested in early years education. To date, two pupils have taken part in work experience placements at the nursery, each completing a full week and gaining a realistic and supportive introduction to careers in childcare.
This activity was designed to help pupils make informed decisions about their future, build relevant skills, and gain confidence through practical engagement in a professional childcare setting.
Employer Involvement
Peek-A-Boo Nursery is a respected local childcare provider with a strong commitment to high-quality early learning and a nurturing environment for young children. As a community-focused business, they were keen to engage with Glenrothes High School through DYW Fife and offer meaningful work experience opportunities to young people.
Leanne McCallum’s dual role as a nursery manager and parent made her particularly well placed to understand the value of such placements. Her enthusiasm and commitment to supporting young people’s development have helped establish a strong partnership between the school and the nursery.
Peek-A-Boo Nursery recognises the mutual benefits of this engagement: pupils gain essential skills and insight into the sector, while the nursery has the opportunity to support future talent and inspire the next generation of childcare professionals.
Activity Summary and Impact
One of the pupils, Jennessa, completed her week-long work placement at Peek-A-Boo Nursery during her study leave. Her placement included a variety of responsibilities that gave her real insight into working with young children. These included:
Supporting language and numeracy development in the nursery setting
Assisting during cooking sessions to help children learn basic food preparation
Supervising play and lunch periods, ensuring a safe and happy environment
Contributing to classroom activities and engaging children in play-based learning
Jennessa demonstrated strong communication and interpersonal skills, showing creativity in her approach and a positive, professional mindset throughout the placement. Her contributions were not only appreciated by the nursery team but also had a positive impact on the young learners she supported.
This work experience has equipped Jennessa with transferable skills that will support her as she progresses toward further education and employment in childcare or early years education. It was a highly valuable experience, both personally and professionally.
Feedback from Attendees
Feedback from both the pupil and the employer was overwhelmingly positive:
“I loved my experience at Peek-A-Boo Nursery and would happily go back to gain more experience. The pupils and staff were amazing and they made me feel so welcome.”
— Jennessa Thomson-Brown, S4 pupil
“Just a quick email to say what a pleasure it was to have Jennessa in with us this week. She represented the school so well, got involved with activities and showed lots of initiative too. I have said to Jennessa that if she ever wants to come again for placement or volunteering, she is more than welcome.”
— Leanne McCallum, Depute Manager, Peek-A-Boo Nursery