CAREERS

At Greatfields School we aim to raise the aspirations of our young people. We want to promote better access to all career pathways and help our students to make good choices when planning the next steps of their career.

Our programme of careers education will provide students with opportunities to develop and apply the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to make realistic career decisions, focusing on the following areas of provision:

  • Developing skills and raising student aspirations; looking at their strengths and weaknesses
  • Considering equality of opportunity in careers and making informed life choices
  • Exploring employability skills
  • Identifying strengths, career options as part of the GCSE/Post 16 options process
  • Understanding how to access and be prepared for the world of work.
  • Knowing how to research careers information and different options and pathways
  • Giving careers guidance that encourages life-long learning and improves students social capital
  • Access to an independent and impartial careers advisor who will guide them in making well informed decisions along the way
  • Understanding the importance of work-related skills; enterprise activities; voluntary opportunities; work placements and meeting a wide range of local and national employers and agencies

Year 10 Work Experience:

In Year 10 students will be given the opportunity to experience the world of work through participating in work experience. Students will be off timetable for one week in order to attend their work experience placement. This is a great opportunity to take students out of their comfort zone, meet people of different age groups, try out a variety of work-based tasks and experience working with a supervisor. It won’t be long before our students start applying for jobs themselves so having a positive experience to put on their CVs will be advantageous.
 
To find out more about how you can support your child please watch the video below:

Careers Contact information:

Ms Adriana Goncalves – Acting Head of Careers

Email: adgo@greatfieldsschool.com

Telephone: 0203 3946 5900

Careers Provider Access Policy:

Greatfields Careers Provider Access Policy

Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance and Employability Learning Policy

Greatfields Baker Clause Policy Statement

Greatfields School Extended Learning and Careers Provision:

Greatfields Career Provision 18/19

Greatfields Career Provision 19/20

Greatfields Career Provision 20/21

Greatfields Career Provision 22/23

Greatfields Career Provision 23/24

Please click on the link below to view a Careers resources document with lots of links to help with future choices on careers:

Careers Useful Websites

All students at Greatfields have access to Unifrog, an excellent destinations platform. This is used throughout the key stages and allows students to track their achievements, goals and aspirations for the future. Unifrog supports our students in carefully matching opportunities to individual interests and aspirations. We encourage our students to explore the different pathways at post-16, including apprenticeships and training, FE provision and other 6th form providers.

https://www.unifrog.org/

Follow our Post 16 Tab for more ways you can support your child:

http://www.greatfieldsschool.com/?page_id=9616

Labour Market information:

As part of the Government’s strategy on Careers it is recommended that information about the local economy and the local jobs market is displayed and made available to parents and students. Please find this information below.

National Careers Service – How to use labour market information

A short animation commissioned by Education Development Trust, prime contractor of the National Careers Service, to inform teaching professionals about the role of labour market information in schools, and how to use it to enhance the careers education, information, advice and guidance provided in lessons.

National Careers Service – Labour Market Information – YouTube

Useful Website’s:

Explore LMI data – LMI For All

LMI Explorer (sacu-student.com)

MiDES Data Hub | Labour Market Information (rcultd.co.uk)

How we measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on pupils:

As an education establishment we ensure we use the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks as a foundation when planning our Careers Strategy. The effectiveness of our provision is inspected and audited by the Careers and Enterprise Company using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool. This tool is used by schools and colleges in England to support the analysis and evaluation of careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice (known as the Gatsby Benchmarks). The Careers and Enterprise Company coordinate the Audit deadlines. This ensures the development of our careers strategy is ongoing to ensure best practice.

Current Review Completed: December 2023

Date of our next review: December 2024

In line with the recommendations set out in Gatsby Benchmark 1, we as a school plan to review the published information on an annual basis.

Careers guidance information for teachers:

All subject staff should link curriculum with careers, even on courses that are not specifically occupation-led. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of career paths. Study programmes should also reflect the importance of Maths and English as a key expectation from employers.
Importance of embedding Careers within the curriculum:
  1. Students are more engaged in their learning when they see the relevance of their studies to their own and others’ lives.
  2. Students become more ambitious, realising that perceived obstacles can be overcome and that there are many paths to success.
  3. Subject teachers play a crucial role – students are 18 times more likely to be motivated to learn if their teachers understand their hopes and dreams.
  4. When staff emphasise the relevance of their subjects to future careers and opportunities, they create social capital for young people with limited networks.
  5. According to ICEGS, improving career guidance in secondary schools and colleges can lead to better student outcomes, raising aspirations and increasing engagement with education.
  6. The Skills Builder – Better Prepared Report states that strong essential skills such as speaking, listening, and staying positive can enhance young people’s employment prospects.

How to embed Careers within your curriculum:
  • Emphasise the employability skills being developed in your lesson, such as communication, teamwork, creativity, and leadership.
  • As an introduction or conclusion, provide examples of potential future job roles related to the skills being taught.
  • Learn about your students’ aspirations for the future and discuss these within lessons, where and when relevant.
  • Invite a guest speaker to discuss their career and how your subject influenced their professional path.
  • Share stories and experiences from your own career journey.
  • Display posters which highlight the skills and career opportunities connected to your subject.
Our careers programme is evaluated against the Gatsby Benchmarks. Learn more about Gatsby Benchmark 4 – linking curriculum learning to careers and resources linked to your subject areas:
For some brief notes on lesson planning, download:
Useful articles:

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