1 Where to start from

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When beginning to plan a session, it is important to think about the starting point of your audience.

In other words, you need to consider:

• What they already know

• What they want to know.

Then you can tailor your session to meet their needs effectively. Often the event organiser will be able to assist you with this information, so it is worth having a chat with them to find out as much as you can about your particular audience.

You may have children of your own or relatives in the 14–16-year age bracket, or you may have other experience of this age group from other contexts, for example, volunteer youth work. If so, you can draw on your understanding to help you start planning your session.

Below is some information on 14–16-year olds that you may find helpful in providing context for your session:

• Law is not part of the National Curriculum of England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, although pupils may undertake law at GCSE or A Level. This means that the majority of 14–16-year olds will not have studied law. However, they may have been introduced to aspects of law through their studies of other subjects, such as Citizenship.

• Schools have a duty to secure independent careers advice for children in this age bracket and should have a clear careers strategy in place. However, there is some evidence that in the past the quality of provision has been variable. It may also have focused more on transitions into post-16 education than long-term career aspirations.

• 14–16-year olds are likely to have gained at least some of their perceptions about barristers, and the legal profession more generally, from popular culture, for example, television shows such as Judge Rinder, Suits and Better Call Saul. They may also be aware of individuals and cases from social media, such as the Secret Barrister’s twitter account.