This year’s Scottish Housing Day is focusing firmly on rewarding careers in housing. So it was entirely fitting that staff from Elderpark took that message into the classroom for pupils in year 5 at nearby Govan High School.

The housing association and the school teamed up to provide a learning opportunity for pupils on why a job in community-based housing can be a career of choice.

Led by chief executive Gary Dalziel, the information session explored the opportunities that lie ahead for Govan High pupils and the jobs available in housing such as housing management, community engagement, corporate services, maintenance, HR, finance and IT.

Gary explained: ”We were delighted to have the chance to go into the classroom at Govan High to explain the diverse range of opportunities available to school leavers thinking about a career pathway.

“It is understandable that school pupils might think that the only career choice available in a housing association would be as housing officer. Our aim was to set out the wide scope of options for a housing-related career and the week when Scottish Housing Day is taking place - with this year’s emphasis on careers in housing - was the ideal time to do it.”

Elderpark’s governance and compliance manager Kerry Clayton told the pupils of her career journey which had encompassed many aspects of housing roles including housing management, corporate services and maintenance.

The visit came about after Elderpark’s community regeneration officer Jonathan Giddings-Reid approached Govan High School which was eager to invite the Association in. The team were welcomed to the school by Principal Teacher Scott McHendry who is also the “Developing the Young Workforce Co-ordinator” for Govan High - a key role in helping pupils in choosing their careers.

This week’s event is just the start of a deeper engagement with Govan High School by Elderpark Housing. It plans to make up to three more visits to the school to examine more closely housing careers focusing on the different roles.

The Govan High link-up also benefits Elderpark’s tenant engagement work and provides valuable insight into the thinking of younger tenants. A number of Govan High pupils are young Elderpark tenants.

Elderpark has been steadily increasing its engagement with local schools over the past year. It recently won a TPAS Award for its work with two primaries on an initiative known as “Junior Community Voice” to give pupils a say on what happens in their community.