Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Steph, who has a job that sounds like a dream: she is a QA Lead at a video game company!

A “QA Lead” is a person who looks after a team of game testers. Their whole job is to try and “break” video games on purpose to find “bugs” and things that aren’t working the way they should.

Here is what Steph does in her exciting job:

• Helping her team: She makes sure her team has all the cool gadgets they need to do their work, such as an Xbox or a Nintendo Switch.

• Solving big problems: If a tester finds a “nasty” issue, like a big crash where the game stops working completely, Steph oversees the problem and makes sure it gets fixed.

• Using “people skills”: Because she leads a team, she has to be very good at talking to and working with others.

• Sharing hobbies: She gets to work with people who love the same things she does. They often get excited together when a new Zelda or Mario game is announced!

Steph didn’t always know she could make games for a living. At first, she was going to study illustration (which is professional drawing), but when she found out that making games was a real job, she changed her mind and started her “games industry journey”. She loves her job because she knows she is helping create something that people can use to escape and have fun.

Think of Steph and her team like “Game Detectives.” Just like a detective looks for clues to solve a mystery, Steph’s team hunts through every corner of a video game to find hidden “bugs” and mistakes, making sure the game is perfect and fun for everyone to play.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Charlotte! She works as a Learning Officer at heritage sites, which are special places like museums, castles, and art galleries. Her job is all about bringing children from schools into these places to teach them about history and art in really fun ways.

Here are some of the exciting things you might do if you visited her:

• Knight Training: You might go to the castle and dress up in armour to learn how to be a knight. You would practice running really far, dancing, and even fighting- but don’t worry, Charlotte says they don’t use real swords because that would be “disastrous”!

• Art and Sketching: You might see her in the Spanish Gallery talking about paintings or doing some sketching.

• Printing: You could also find her doing printing activities in the mining gallery.

To be good at her job, Charlotte uses the same subjects you learn at school:

• Maths: She has to manage her own budget (money) and count lots of different things to make sure she isn’t spending too much.

• English: She is always writing new worksheets and workshops for children to use.

• Communication: Because she looks after big groups of children, she has to speak clearly to make sure everyone knows what they are doing and doesn’t make a mess.

Charlotte has loved history since she was a kid- she first fell in love with the Victorians when she visited Beamish, and she was even obsessed with Ancient Egypt for a long time! Now, the best bit of her job is showing people history and art they wouldn’t usually see and helping them leave feeling excited about learning something new.

Think of Charlotte like a time-travel tour guide: just like a guide shows you around a new city, she guides you through the past, helping you explore different worlds without ever leaving the building.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a farmer in the UK? Let’s meet a man named Guy, who works on a farm called Northfields!

Here is what Guy’s life is like:

• He Rents His Farm: Guy is a tenant farmer. This means he doesn’t own the land he works on; instead, he pays rent to use it for his animals and plants.

• Busy Mornings: Every single morning, Guy is out early feeding his beef cows. He also spends time “strawing them up,” which means giving them nice, fresh straw to stay comfortable.

• A “Fix-it” Expert: Being a farmer isn’t just about animals! Guy has to be a mechanic to fix his tractors and machines. He also acts like a plumber to fix drains and a vet to make sure his cows are healthy. He even has to do lots of paperwork at a desk, which he says is the “dreaded” part of the job!

• Starting Young: Guy has wanted to be a farmer for a long time. When he was only 13 years old, he was legally allowed to drive a tractor to help his dad! He later went to a special school called an agricultural college to learn even more.

• Working with Nature: Guy loves his job because every day is different. He gets to work outside and even teams up with the National Parks to do things like plant hedges and look after footpaths so people can enjoy the countryside.

Guy says there is “nothing like it” because he gets to do so many different things every day!

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Abby! She works as an Assistant Design Coordinator, which means she helps organise all the design parts of a project.

Here is what Abby does in her job:

• She works with a team: Abby works with lots of different people in a “multi-disciplinary team”.

• She goes to meetings: You might find her in workshops with the people who supply materials, or meeting with customers to show them plans and programs.

• She checks work: Abby spends time checking designs and making sure all the project information is up to date.

To do her job well, Abby says the most important skills are communication (talking and listening to people) and problem-solving.

How did she get her job? Abby always liked design. When she was in school, she studied Product Design for her GCSEs and A levels. She then went to university to study Architectural Technology. During her time at university, she did a placement year (practice work) and realized there was a lot going on in the industry, so she decided to become a design coordinator after she graduated.

Abby loves her job because every project is a new challenge, which means she gets to learn something new every single day.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Have you ever wondered who looks after all the animals on a farm? Meet Megan! She is a farm manager, which means she is in charge of looking after a big farm with lots of different animals.

What animals live on Megan’s farm? Megan looks after a “mixed livestock farm,” so she takes care of three main types of animals:

• 200 Cattle (Cows)

• 250 Sheep

• 180 Pigs

What does a farmer do all day? Megan says that “No two days look the same”. Her job is very busy! Here are some of the things she does:

• Checking the animals: She has to make sure they are all fed, healthy, and happy.

• Moving fences: She moves fences to give the animals fresh grass.

• Office work: Even farmers have to sit at a desk sometimes to keep the farm running properly.

• Meeting people: Megan gives tours to school children and holiday guests who come to visit the farm.

Do you need English and Maths to be a farmer? Yes, you do! Megan uses the things you learn in school every single day:

• English: Megan does a “fair amount of reading and writing”. She has to keep a record of every single animal’s life and read important rules about farming.

• Maths: Farmers do “lots of maths”. Megan has to work out how much food her cows need to eat and calculate how many days of grass are left in the fields.

Why does she love her job? When Megan finished school, she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do, but she knew she loved horses and working outside. Now, she is very happy working on the farm.

Her favourite part of the job is working with the cows. She loves watching them grow from baby calves into big cows, and she is proud that she helps produce healthy, nutritious food for people to eat.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Linda, a science professor who works at a place called the National Horizon Centre. She leads a team of expert scientists who are like detectives for the human body.

What is her job?

Our bodies have tiny instructions called genes that tell us how to grow. Sometimes, there are mistakes in these instructions that make people poorly with rare diseases. Linda and her team use special tools in a lab to try and fix these mistakes so they can make new medicines. Some of the clever things they have invented are now being used as real medicines to help people in the USA.

What does she do every day?

Linda doesn’t just wear a lab coat all day! Her job involves:

• Teamwork: She has meetings with her team to talk about their results and plan what to do next.

• Computers: She spends a lot of time doing work on her computer.

• Global Chats: She talks to other scientist friends in America to share ideas.

• Asking for help: She writes to charities and special groups to ask for the money they need to keep their lab running.

• Listening: She says being a good leader means listening carefully and being great at talking to people.

How did she become a scientist?

Linda has always loved science and finding out why things happen. After she finished her studies, she worked in a hospital lab, which she really loved.

She stayed at home for a while to look after her children, but she missed the lab so much that she got a part-time job in a local university. Her boss there encouraged her to try things she was nervous about, like applying for a special prize called a fellowship from a charity called Muscular Dystrophy UK. She won the prize, and that is how she became a professor.

Why does she do it?

The most exciting part of Linda’s job is using brand-new technology to help people who have no other way to get better. She says that meeting the patients at big meetings is what makes her and her team work so hard. Knowing they can make a real difference in people’s lives is the best reward.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Megan. She is an archaeologist (that’s a person who studies history by digging up old things) and a student at Durham University.

What Does an Archaeologist Do? Megan’s job is a bit like being a detective for the past. She is very curious about how people lived a long time ago and what kind of items they used. To find out, she digs a lot of holes to search for objects left behind by people who lived before us. Megan says a day in the life of an archaeologist is usually a very muddy day because you are always covered in dirt!

How Do They Find Treasure? Before Megan and her team start digging, they have to make a careful plan. They don’t just dig anywhere; they use special tools and clues:

• Old Maps and History Books: They read historical documents and look at old maps to figure out the best places to search.

• Super Science: They use amazing technology like ground-penetrating radar and LiDAR (a type of laser scanning). This helps them get an idea of what is buried underground before they even break the surface.

Once they pick a spot, the digging begins! As they dig, they look for clues like coins, pottery, or anything a human might have touched. These finds are like puzzle pieces that help tell the story of the site.

What Skills Do You Need? If you want to be an archaeologist like Megan, you use lots of skills you learn in school:

• Writing: This is very important for recording what you find.

• Maths: You need mathematical skills, like trigonometry, to take measurements of the site.

• Social Skills: Archaeologists talk to the public every day, so being friendly is important.

• Muscles: It involves a lot of physical labour, like digging and lifting.

How Megan Started When Megan was little, she loved digging in her parents’ garden. She used to wander around a riverbed near her house finding pieces of glass, pottery, and animal bones. She was always curious about what these things were, which made her want to become an archaeologist.

Later, she studied history at university (learning about ancient Rome) and even worked on making TV documentaries for places like National Geographic. That is how she met her teacher from Durham University and ended up digging in gardens in England.

The Best Bit Megan says the best part of her job is being outside and meeting new people. She loves that no site is ever the same, so every day is a new adventure where she never knows what she might find.

Think of it like this: Being an archaeologist is like trying to put together a giant jigsaw puzzle, but many of the pieces are hidden under the mud in your garden, and you have to use science and maths to find them!

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Kane, a university student who is also a volunteer archaeologist. He helps dig up history!

Kane loves a specific type of digging called “maticking”. This is when he uses a tool called a mattock to dig through the soil much faster than if he were using a small trowel. Even though it is hard physical work, he has to be very careful and act like a detective. He looks for clues in the ground, such as:

• Changes in the soil: He checks if the dirt changes colour or feels different when he digs through it.

• How hard the ground is: He notices if the soil becomes harder or softer (he calls this “compaction”).

• Hidden objects: He keeps his eyes peeled for “finds” (historical objects) while he digs.

Kane decided to become an archaeologist because his parents are geologists (people who study rocks), and they jokingly banned him from studying the same thing!. He has loved history and dinosaurs since he was a very small child, so archaeology was the perfect choice for him.

His favourite part of the job is discovering new things. He loves the feeling of picking up an object, knowing exactly what it is, and popping it into the “find tray”.

Think of it like this: Digging through layers of soil is a bit like eating a trifle. You have to pay attention to when your spoon moves from the custard layer to the jelly layer—the colour changes and it feels different, just like the soil Kane digs through!

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Bethany! She has a very exciting job where she is the boss of her own company. Her job title is Head of Interior Design and Project Management, which basically means she is the person in charge of making the inside of buildings look amazing and making sure the work gets done properly.

Because she runs the company, no two days are the same for her. Here are some of the things she does:

• Site visits: She goes to see the buildings she is working on.

• Working with builders: She talks to the people who do the building work (called contractors) to make sure everything is going right.

• Planning: She writes lists of all the work that needs to be done.

• Money and business: She meets with accountants and looks for new people to help.

To do her job, Bethany has to be very creative, but she also needs to be very good at using computers.

When she was at school, Bethany absolutely loved art. She knew she wanted to do something artistic when she grew up, but she also wanted to do something “technical” (which means using logic and science to build things). At first, she went to university to study how to design whole buildings (which is called architecture), but she soon realised that she enjoyed interior design even more because she loved being creative.

The part of her job that makes her the happiest is seeing her clients really enjoy the rooms and spaces she has created.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Have you ever wondered who decides what a cool restaurant or a beautiful bedroom should look like? Meet Tasmine, an interior designer from the UK!

Here is what it is like to have her job:

What does an interior designer do?

Tasmine’s job is to make rooms look amazing and work perfectly for the people using them. Her days are always different, which makes her job very exciting!

• Drawing Plans: She uses special computer software to draw floor plans, which are like maps of a room to show where everything goes.

• Picking Materials: She gets to choose fabric swatches (scraps of cloth) and other materials to decide how the furniture and floors will feel and look.

• Measuring and Visiting: She goes on site visits to meet people and use a tape measure to see how big the rooms are.

• The Final Touch: At the very end, she puts all the furniture in place and adds perfect final touches (like cushions or decorations) so she can take beautiful photos of the finished room.

She is also a Content Creator!

Tasmine doesn’t just design rooms; she also manages all the social media for her brand. She makes fun posts for TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook to show people what she is working on.

What skills do you need?

To be like Tasmine, you need to be:

• Creative: You get to use your imagination to come up with new ideas.

• A Problem Solver: Sometimes things go wrong, and you have to think on your feet to find a way to fix them quickly.

• Good at Noticing Details: You have to make sure nothing is missing and everything looks exactly right.

How did she start?

When Tasmine was at school, she loved Art and Design and Textiles. She didn’t actually study interior design at university. Instead, she started by decorating her own home! She then helped her friends and family with their houses until she was ready to do it as a full-time job.

Tasmine says the best bit of her job is having creative freedom- this means she gets to use her own ideas to make something beautiful. She loves seeing the faces of her clients when they see their brand-new room for the first time!

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Meet Storm, a man who lives in the middle of England and has a super cool job: he makes video games!.

Here is what it’s like to be a game maker according to the sources:

• He is an “Idea Man”: Storm is the Creative Director at a small studio called Northre. His job is to come up with “wacky ideas” for games and write them down.

• Building and Testing: He uses a special computer program called a “game engine” to build his ideas. He makes a “prototype,” which is a simple version of the game, to see if his ideas actually work and are fun to play.

• Teamwork: While Storm makes the game work, his partner Adelaide uses her skills to make the games look beautiful.

• Solving Puzzles: Storm says the most important skill you need is problem-solving. When something goes wrong or is tricky, you have to be able to jump in and figure out how to fix it.

• You Can Create Anything: The best part of his job is that it lets him be creative. If he wants to make a game about traveling between different worlds, he can just try it out and see if it works!.

Storm didn’t always make games. He used to play them all day, then he tried being a mechanic, a welder, and even a blacksmith!. Eventually, he realised he loved games the most, so he studied in Norway and then finished his school here in England to follow his dream.