STEM Careers Evening at Balwearie HS

Balwearie High School held a STEM Careers Evening on Thursday 15 September. There was a fantastic turn out for the event, with around 180 young people, parents and carers present from various year groups.

The event was organised by Hazel Thomson, one of the Maths teachers at Balwearie, who has a lot of involvement in promoting STEM careers at the school. The intended outcomes for the event were to give young people an insight into different careers within the STEM industries.

The evening started with a short presentation with guest speakers including:

Hazel Thomson – Maths teacher, Balwearie High School
Carol Potter – Chief Executive, NHS Fife
Nicky Connor – Chief Officer, Fife Integration Joint Board Director of Fife Health and Social Care Partnership
Iris Winter – Head of Engineering at xDesign Edinburgh

The rest of the evening was reserved for young people and the employers to engage with one another to discuss their organisation and all the STEM roles within.

The following businesses were present on the evening:

Amey
Babcock
Circular Economy Solutions Limited
Edinburgh University
Exxon Chemicals
Fife College (12 faculty staff)
Glendale Plastics
Intelligent Growth Solutions
NHS (around 20 staff from various departments)
ORE Catapult
Peachy Keen
Semefab
Technip FMC
XDesign Edinburgh

The event was enthusiastically supported by ten of Balwearie’s S6 Young STEM Leaders.

Overall the event was a huge success, there was lots of engagement from both employers and young people throughout the evening and there were some really good questions being asked by the young people.

Most employers have agreed to attend future careers events within the school and we now have a list of employers who have agreed to link in with departments in the school to provide them with different opportunities such as workshops, class talks and trips to their facilities.

Due to being the first careers event held at the school post covid there was a bit of uncertainty about how the evening would go, and if young people would be willing to engage with the employers. Employers commended the young people for their willingness to approach them and start conversations to explore the different opportunities available. The young people were praised for their excellent manners and meaningful questions/conversations.

The young people who attended provided some feedback, saying,

“A great showcase of career pathways in the future and an insight into what you need to know” – Morgan Main (S6)

“Talking to different employers was really useful in helping me discover the range of pathways I can take with a degree in STEM” – Anna Grieve (S6)

“It was a really interesting event and helped answer any questions I had about my future career” – Cara Peplinska (S6)