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In Summary:

Have you ever looked up at the sky and wondered how a giant airplane stays in the air? If you love planes, there is an amazing place in Darlington (in the North East of England) called Simfly where you can learn all about them!

At Simfly, you don’t just read about planes- you get to pretend you are actually working at an airport. Here are some of the cool things you can do there:

• Be a Travel Agent: You can work in a travel agency and help people plan their dream holidays.

• Work at the Airport: You can try out the check-in desk or work in security to help keep the airport safe.

• Join the Cabin Crew: There is a real Boeing 737 cabin with 18 seats! You can learn how to look after passengers and what to do during an emergency.

• Fly the Plane: The most exciting part is the flight simulator. You can sit in a real cockpit (the place where the pilots sit) and learn how to fly a Boeing 737-800!

The man who started Simfly, Stuart Ellton, has loved planes since he was a young boy in school, just like you. He wanted to be a pilot so much that he went to flight school to learn everything about big commercial planes.

He created Simfly so that children can feel inspired to work in aviation when they grow up. Whether you want to be a pilot, a cabin crew member, or an engineer who fixes the planes at Teesside Airport, this is a great place to start.

Did you know? While Simfly works with older students in schools, they also have younger children visit for birthday celebrations. Stuart says the best part of his job is seeing the big smiles on everyone’s faces before they leave.

Spark Tees Valley

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Meet Hayley! She is a special nurse who works at a hospital in the North East of England.

Here is what she does and how she got her exciting job:

• What is her job? Hayley is an “alcohol lead nurse”. This means she helps people who come into the hospital because they have had too much alcohol (a type of drink for grown-ups that can make you poorly or cause you to hurt yourself if you have too much).

• What does her day look like? She works from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon, Monday to Friday. When she gets to work, she checks her computer to see which patients need her help. She then spends her day walking around the hospital to talk to patients and figure out the best way to take care of them.

• How did she become a nurse? When Hayley first left secondary school, she went to a college but she didn’t like it at all, so she left to work as a cleaner for two years. Later, she decided she wanted a different career, so she went to night school while she was still working during the day. After that, she went to university for three years to learn how to be a nurse.

• Why does she love it? Hayley says the people she works with and the patients are lovely. She enjoys her job because every day is different, and she is always learning something new, which she says is very good for your brain!

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If you are interested in fashion and making your own clothes, you might like the story of a designer named Louis.

Here is how Louis got started and some tips based on the journey along the way:

• Learn from your family: Louis started learning about fashion from being very little. Living with Nana Mary, who worked in the fashion industry and she taught Louis how to sew. Maybe you have a grandparent or a family member who can show you how to use a needle and thread!

• Show who you are: Louis believes that clothes are a brilliant way to express yourself. If you feel a bit different from other people, you can use your style to show the world your unique personality.

• Practice your art: To be a great designer, Louis says you should focus on art and drawing. It is important to show people that you have an “artistic side”.

• Build a portfolio: A portfolio is like a special folder where you keep all your best drawings and designs. Louis used a portfolio to show off skills on the path to becoming a designer.

• Get the right tools: Louis was only nine years old when a sewing machine in his home!

Louis hopes to work for a big, famous brand one day or even run a business making clothes. By practicing your drawing and sewing now, you could grow up to be a designer just like Louis!

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Who is Steph? Steph works as a laboratory technician, or a “lab tech” for short. She works in a place called a laboratory, which is where scientists do experiments.

What does she do all day? Steph is like a super-helper who keeps the lab running smoothly. Her main jobs are:

• Housekeeping: This doesn’t just mean cleaning! She checks that all the equipment is working properly and that there are enough supplies (like test tubes or chemicals) for everyone to use.

• Fixing and Sorting: She handles maintenance (fixing broken things) and gets rid of waste safely.

• Helping Others: She is the “go-to person” if anyone has questions. The other people in the lab say they couldn’t do their jobs without her.

What skills do you need? To be a lab tech like Steph, you have to be very flexible. This means that even if she has a plan for the day, things might turn into a bit of a mess, and she might have to do three or four different jobs all at once!.

How did she get this job? Steph worked hard at school in the UK:

1. After her GCSEs, she chose A Levels that were all about science.

2. She wanted to study Marine Biology (life in the ocean), so she went to university to get a degree in it.

3. Even though one of her later courses didn’t go exactly to plan, she used her science skills to get this job working with a microbiology team (studying tiny living things).

Why does she love it? Steph likes that no two days are the same. She enjoys planning big jobs months ahead of time and feels happy when she sees a job finished well.

Think of it like this: Being a Lab Tech is like being the kit manager for a football team. The players (the scientists) are the ones on the pitch trying to score goals, but they can’t play if their boots are missing, the balls are flat, or the kit is dirty. Steph makes sure everything is ready and working perfectly so the team can win the match!

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Meet Reece, who has a very busy and exciting job as a Junior Project Manager!

Here is what Reece’s world looks like:

• He is a Team Leader: Reece’s main job is to help his company finish big projects. Because he is a “junior” manager, he has mentors (teachers at work) who help him learn the best way to do things.

• He is Always on the Move: Some days he sits at his desk doing computer work, and other times he leads meetings to talk about big plans. He even gets to visit science labs to talk to the “technical guys” who build and invent things.

• Teamwork is His Superpower: Reece says that collaboration (working together) is the most important skill he uses. He makes sure everyone is talking to each other so they can reach the same goal.

• He Loves Learning: Reece didn’t study science or “technical” things in school, but he loves working with experts because he learns something new every single day.

• How He Started: Reece started working at his company, CPI, when he was 19 years old after finishing college. He started in the office doing admin work and worked his way up the “career ladder” to become a manager.

Being a project manager is like being the captain of a football team or the director of a school play. Even if you don’t know how to play every position or how to fix the stage lights yourself, your job is to make sure everyone is talking to each other and working together so the whole team succeeds.

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Have you ever wondered how things like your favorite snacks, toys, or even medicine are made in such huge amounts? Meet Andrew, a process engineer who spends his day figuring that out!

Here is what it’s like to do his cool job:

• Making things BIG: A process engineer looks at how to take something small (like a tiny bit of liquid in a test tube) and turn it into something huge that can be made in a giant factory.

• Where he works: Andrew doesn’t just sit at a desk. He gets to go into science labs and visit big plants where machines are running. When he is at his desk, he uses maths and computer programs to create “pretty pictures” that help him do his job.

• Teamwork and Maths: To be a great engineer, Andrew says you need to be good at working with other people and using maths to make sure your ideas will actually work in real life.

• Helping the Planet: Currently, Andrew works at a place called CPI, where he helps create “green tech” (technology that is good for the Earth) to make sure the future is safe for everyone.

• His favourite part: Andrew loves seeing an idea he has on paper come to life as a real, physical thing right in front of him.

When Andrew was a kid, he was always interested in how things work. He even used to build things to knock down his parents’ fence! While that sounds like a lot of mischief, it actually helped him learn how to build real-world machines, like the giant magnets used in MRI scanners at hospitals.

Think of a process engineer like a master baker. If you have a recipe for one single cupcake, the process engineer is the person who figures out how to build a giant kitchen and use huge mixing machines to bake one million cupcakes so that every child in the country can have one!

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In Summary:

Luke works at a company called Dink, where he is the boss (the Managing Director).

What does Luke do? Luke is in charge of making video games!. He helps think up the ideas for new games and makes sure his team knows exactly what they need to do.

Every day, he does some 3D art on the computer, but mostly he looks after his team. He uses spreadsheets—which are like big computer lists—to check that everyone is okay and knows what job they are doing.

Who is on his team? Luke works with lots of clever people, including:

• Game Designers (who plan how the game works)

• Artists (who draw the pictures)

• Animators (who make the characters move)

How did he get this job? When he started, Luke actually wanted to be a programmer (someone who writes computer code). He did lots of programming, which led him to making games and finally becoming the boss.

Why does he love it? Luke says his job is so much fun. He loves being creative and working with his team.

Think of it like this: Imagine Luke is the head chef in a massive kitchen. Even though he knows how to cook (like doing the 3D art), his main job is to make sure all the other chefs (the artists and designers) have the right ingredients and recipes so they can cook a perfect meal (the video game) together!

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Steve works at the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust as the “People and Wildlife Manager”. His job is to help humans and animals get along together. He wants to make sure people can enjoy nature, but also that the wildlife is left alone and stays safe.

What does Steve do all day? If you went on a school trip to meet Steve, you might do some really fun activities in the outdoors! He helps school groups do pond dipping, bird watching, and looking for mini beasts. When he isn’t exploring outside with children, he might visit schools to help teachers plan exciting nature lessons.

What skills does he need? Steve says the most important skill he needs is enthusiasm. This means he has to be really excited about wildlife! He also needs to know a lot about animals and how to teach people so they want to learn more.

How did he get his job? Steve has loved nature since he was young, just like you! He was a bird watcher when he was a child and kept doing it as he grew up. He went to university to learn about biology and ecology (how nature works), and he used to be a teacher. He says this job is perfect because it combines everything he loves: working with young people and telling everyone why nature is important.

Steve loves that his job is different every day. The best part is being able to go outside in nature and encouraging other people to enjoy it too.

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Meet Jack! He has a very cool job as a content creator at a video game company called Double Eleven.

What does a content creator do? Jack is like a professional maker. He spends his day creating all the pictures and videos you see for video games. This includes:

• Game trailers: These are like mini-movies that show people how a game looks and plays.

• Social media pictures: He makes the images you might see on sites like Facebook.

• Moving graphics: He uses 3D tools and special computer programs to make things move on the screen.

What skills does he need? Jack uses special computer software called Adobe Creative Suite to do his work. To be good at his job, he has to have a “good eye” for how things look and understand how to time videos so they feel exciting. One of his most important skills is always learning new ways to make things look great.

Jack loved film and television when he was in school and even went to university to study it. However, he didn’t start making videos right away. For a long time, he actually worked as a chef!

Later, he got a job at Double Eleven as a game tester (also called Quality Assurance or QA). When a job opened up to make videos, he applied and got it. Now, he says it is his dream job because he never gets bored and gets to do something different every single day.

An Analogy to help you understand: Jack’s job is a bit like being a master storyteller with a digital toolbox. Imagine you have a giant box of magical LEGO bricks and paints that can move and glow. Jack uses those tools to build “posters” and “short stories” that show everyone else how much fun a new game is going to be!

Spark Tees Valley

Find out how to get their job!

Spark Tees Valley

Find out how to get their job!