Best Skills Initiative Finalist: PD Ports

Award Nomination:

Teesport Explorers is a skills‑building initiative designed to strengthen the region’s maritime talent pipeline by engaging primary‑aged children with real industry, real people and real career pathways. In collaboration with Education, the programme brings the National Curriculum to life through immersive, skills‑focused learning rooted in maritime operations.

Across a week of structured lessons and hands‑on experiences, pupils from Year 3 and 5 mainstream and Year 7/8 and 10 SEND pupils’ step into the world of ports and logistics. After exploring global trade, shipping and supply chains in the classroom, children apply their learning on site—wearing PPE, exploring port operations and engaging in inclusive, practical activities that build teamwork, communication, a safety mindset and problem‑solving. From designing futuristic cranes and completing Lego engineering challenges to practising CPR and operating a crane simulator, pupils experience the skills that underpin maritime careers in an age and ability appropriate way.

The programme tackles inequality by intervening early. Research shows that by seven or eight, children begin forming limiting assumptions about which careers are “for them,” while disabled people remain twice as likely to face unemployment. Teesport Explorers disrupts this pattern by offering meaningful, inclusive encounters with the workplace and visible pathways into local industry—broadening horizons and challenging stereotypes.

Recent feedback from Tees Valley Education said that this is not a one‑off experience but a place‑rooted, meaningful encounter with the world children are growing up in.

By grounding learning in real industry and showcasing opportunities on their doorstep, Teesport Explorers builds aspiration, confidence and early technical literacy—demonstrating a sustained commitment to skills development and strengthening the region’s future maritime workforce.

Additional Information:

Teesport Explorers tackles a critical challenge: ensuring children in the Tees Valley, one of the UK’s most economically disadvantaged regions, can see, understand and access the world of work around them. High‑quality career guidance is a proven driver of social mobility, helping young people recognise their options and make informed choices that unlock their potential. This is especially vital for the more than one million young people in England with SEND, who too often face reduced expectations and limiting stereotypes about what they can achieve. Such assumptions can narrow aspirations long before formal career decisions begin.

Teesport Explorers disrupts this pattern by giving both SEND and mainstream pupils early, meaningful encounters with real workplaces, real professionals and real technical skills. The programme replaces assumptions with experience and barriers with opportunity, showing young people that industry is not distant or exclusive, it is part of their community and within reach. In a region where 13.9% of households have no working role model and youth unemployment remains significantly above national averages, many children grow up without exposure to the industries shaping their lives. Research shows that between ages six and eight, children begin forming gendered assumptions about jobs, and by early adolescence they start limiting aspirations based on perceived social class. Teesport Explorers intervenes at the moment these patterns form, widening horizons and building confidence.

Teesport Explorers brings the National Curriculum to life through immersive, real‑world learning that connects pupils directly with the industries shaping their community. Through a structured sequence of lessons and on‑site experiences, children explore geography, science, computing and mathematics in practical, engaging ways. Activities such as crane simulators, Lego logistics challenges and teamwork exercises allow pupils to apply classroom concepts in authentic contexts, building early technical literacy and sparking interest in the skills that underpin maritime careers.

During the port visit, pupils investigate forces using cranes and lifting equipment, explore technology through simulators, and use mathematical reasoning to understand measurement, capacity and the movement of goods. They meet a diverse range of professionals, gaining visible role models and a clearer understanding of pathways into maritime and logistics roles. For many, it is the first time they have seen the scale, complexity and importance of the port within their own community—an experience that broadens thinking and strengthens aspiration.

Teesport Explorers is particularly impactful for pupils in Tees Valley Education academies, many of whom live in areas of high deprivation. By rooting learning in place and real environments, the programme helps children make sense of where they live as well as what they might do. The place‑based approach also strengthens identity, belonging and aspiration, giving pupils a clearer sense of how their community connects to real industry and future opportunity.

Impact was measured through teacher reflections, industry feedback and pupil voice. Teachers reported that the programme created a coherent learning journey, enabling pupils to build strong conceptual links and demonstrate deep understanding. Industry professionals noted marked improvements in confidence, communication and awareness of local opportunities. Most powerfully, pupil feedback showed that children valued experiencing careers rather than simply learning about them. Activities involving teamwork and professional encounters received 75% of pupil votes, and 100% of pupils said experiences like this are important for people their age.

These outcomes show that Teesport Explorers is not a one‑off enrichment activity but a meaningful, skills‑focused intervention that empowers children to imagine themselves in the maritime sector. By connecting learning to real industry and showcasing accessible pathways, the programme strengthens the region’s future talent pipeline and delivers measurable impact in aspiration, understanding and early skills development.

Teesport Explorers impact assessments demonstrate deep, multi‑layered benefits across teaching, industry and pupil experience, creating an inclusive skills journey connecting learning to maritime careers.

Teachers highlight its strength being a joined-up learning journey, where classroom teaching and real-world experience align creating meaningful, lasting impact. Reporting pupils applying prior learning on site, demonstrating clear understanding in the real-world context. Activities are described as inclusive, engaging, and well-structured, allowing every child to participate fully regardless of ability. Adding, our people were patient, supportive, and approachable, positively impacting children’s confidence and engagement. For teachers, this is not a one‑off visit but an integrated, high‑impact learning experience.

Industry professionals reinforce meeting real people in real roles builds communication skills and helps children “see what’s possible beyond the classroom.” Valuing authenticity in exposing pupils to real roles, technologies and workplace behaviours, strengthening their connection to the local maritime sector.

Pupils reveal the most powerful impact: experiencing careers rather than hearing about them. Children consistently celebrate hands‑on activities with engineering challenges, CPR practice, crane design and conversations with port professionals. Asked to prioritise, 75% of Y5 and Y10 chose teamwork and professional encounters, showing human connection and shared problem‑solving matter most. Comments reflecting growing curiosity, confidence and understanding of how maritime roles work in practice.

Most significantly, 100% said these experiences are important for children their age. Universal endorsement demonstrating career‑connected learning is not a “nice to have” but essential. Teesport Explorers builds early skills, awareness and aspiration — empowering young people to imagine themselves in the maritime sector and strengthening the region’s future talent pipeline.