Careers Wales has been shortlisted for a CDI (Careers Development Institute) award, for the introduction of CareersCraft, an exciting and innovative resource designed to enhance careers learning for Welsh pupils.
The work by Careers Wales to design, develop and promote CareersCraft has been recognised in the ‘Use of Technology in Career Development’ category as part of CDI’s UK Career Development Awards and Fellowships for 2021.
Targeted at children aged between eight and 13, CareersCraft is a new Minecraft world designed to help encourage players learn more about work opportunities and the world of work as well as their own strengths and interests.
The world features six famous Welsh landmarks, with each one hosting a different game or challenge that encourage players to use and develop skills including creative thinking, problem solving and teamwork, as well as to discover more about their Welsh heritage.
Available to all schools and learners in Wales through Minecraft Education Edition, the resource comes packaged with a series of lesson plans and worksheets to support learning through gameplay.
The activities each link to areas of learning within the Welsh Government’s new curriculum, and the resource has received praise from the Welsh Government’s economy and skills minister Ken Skates and education minister Kirsty Williams.
Careers Wales celebrated the launch of CareersCraft on the Hwb education resources platform in December by hosting live demos on big screens with pupils across Wales.
The events were hugely successful, with the project receiving fantastic feedback from staff and pupils alike.
Matthew Stonham, a teacher at Pontlliw Primary in Swansea, said:
“It’s really given them an insight into some of the different career paths they can follow in Wales and the fact that it’s been done in Minecraft makes it even more engaging.”
“Projects like this are invaluable for children. As a child I wasn’t really aware of different careers until I was in comprehensive so to introduce them to primary school children through Minecraft is brilliant and will really help them think about what careers they may want to do in the future.”
Gareth Phillips, Head of Digital and Communications, said:
“We’re absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for a CDI award.
“CareersCraft is a hugely exciting new resource which we hope will raise the aspirations and expand the horizons of future generations.
“We’re very proud to have developed an innovative tool that uses creative play to encourage school pupils to start thinking about their careers from an early age.
“Our next steps are to continue to expand and develop our CareersCraft world, working with partners to add more content so it is available to all children in the country who have access to Minecraft Education whether that's in school or virtually at home.”
To find out more about CareersCraft and how to access the resource visit the Careers Wales CareersCraft webpage.
