Intent
The aim of our Careers Programme is to ensure that all our pupils are prepared for life after Ark Pioneer Academy, for university and for the world of work. In particular, we want to ensure that our pupils develop the skills and knowledge needed for the changing job market. To do this, we offer our pupils a range of opportunities to engage with employers, further education and higher education providers through their time at the Academy.
Our aim is to meet all the Gatsby Benchmarks for every child. This ensures that we are preparing our pupils as well as we possibly can for life beyond school. To meet these Gatsby Benchmarks, our Careers Programme strategic objectives for this year are:
- To track pupil by pupil the careers curriculum, visits, trips and individual experiences supporting the Careers Programme
- To facilitate pupils to actively reflect on each experience they have through the use of post trip and activity reflections
- To ensure pupils know about the changing job market and the world of work and how this relates to their academic subjects in preparation for choosing GCSE subjects
- To ensure pupils are well prepared for work experience and have the benefit of joining a workplace as part of their year 10 personal development curriculum
Our Careers Advisor
Simon David
Curriculum, Opportunities & Impact
Curriculum
Careers education takes place in a variety of contexts within the school. This includes:
- Year group specific sessions in Values and Character
- Pillar Days – in Careers Week or in preparation for Work Experience, Interviews etc.
- Assemblies - we invite a range of employers to speak to pupils about their careers
- Careers Week Activities - Careers Week happens in late January each year, with a range of activities engaging with employers happening for each year group
- Through the academic curriculum – all subjects link careers when teaching to ensure pupils understand how the skills they are learning are relevant to the workplace
- Experiences of the workplace
- Work Experience in Year 10
- Year 12 careers networking
- A range of opportunities across other year groups learn about different careers and workplaces
Career Opportunities
As well as the core curriculum, pupils have the opportunity to take part in a range of activities relating to the world of work in school. These include:
- Trips associated with a subject e.g. visit to Science Museum to understand about Careers within the STEM fields as part of British Science week, visit to France as part of a residential.
- Workplace Skills workshops and competitions e.g. Enterprise competition, Unifrog Skills and Enterprise, PWC, MyBnk
- Enrichment – employers support our extra-curricular provision including in coding
There are also opportunities run outside the school day, which are advertised to pupils through noticeboards and emails and are an independent way for pupils to learn about areas of particular interest to them. This has led to pupils gaining mentors, visiting workplaces and gaining new skills.
Impact
We measure the success of our University and Careers curriculum in the following ways:
- Pupil voice & reflections – we place a lot of emphasis on pupil voice, listening to how they feel our school Values and Character programme, pillar days and careers offer are supporting their personal development. Surveys and focus groups help us to gain insight on what pupils find useful and what we can improve (e.g. further requests for in-person university trips post pandemic). In addition, pupils reflect on their experiences when they visit workplaces or hear from speakers. This allows us to identify which experiences pupils enjoyed and which they didn’t, as well as providing a record for the pupil they can use in future applications.
- Pupil Level Tracking – as we track what our pupils do each academic year individually, this allows us to identify groups of pupils who are not receiving as many opportunities for careers and university related experiences. It also allows us to see trends and patterns between attainment data, destinations and the experiences pupils in that year had.
- Evaluation of the programme – each year, we have an annual review of the programme with Ark, who assess how many of the Gatsby Benchmarks we are meeting and identify strategic goals for us to work on over the next year.
- Destinations Data – we will monitor destinations data each year, to ensure we understand what our pupils go on to do after Ark Pioneer Academy and whether the Information, Advice and Guidance they received during their time here has had an effect.
Work Experience at Ark Pioneer
In year 10 we offer one week’s work experience to every single pupil. This is a fantastic opportunity to for all pupils to experience working in an industry that matches their future career. In a 2017 report the DFE identified multiple benefits of undertaking work experience including communication skills and increased confidence.
In our pilot year our pupils experienced working in the local council, hairdressers, architecture firms and film studios, alongside many other industries. We are very lucky to have the support of our school community and wider community in Barnet to help secure a wide range of roles. The employers were very impressed with our pupils' commitment to the roles, high levels of initiative, and kindness within the workplace.
Year 7 Careers Curriculum
|
When will it happen? |
Objective |
Link to Gatsby Benchmarks |
|
HT1 (Values and Character) |
Understanding the importance of education |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT2 (Values and Character) |
Understand your own personal strengths and weaknesses |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT 1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel - hear from a diverse range of speakers about their careers (including STEM) and reflect on these |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT3 (University & Careers Pillar Day) |
Understand how different jobs require different skills and knowledge |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 (University & Careers Pillar Day) |
What makes for a dream job? Session focuses on pupils’ dream careers and how they see their future. It also includes an introduction to salaries, with some examples shared. Be able to understand the range of graduate jobs in a brief way i.e. being able to name 10-20 graduate jobs |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 (University virtual visit) |
Why do I want to go to university? What are the reasons people want to go to university? This session gives pupils a basic understanding of what University is, and allows them to explore the differences and similarities of university and school Pupils complete a virtual tour of two universities City University & University of Nottingham where they learn about university life and the collegiate university system. |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT4 (University Trip opportunity) |
Trip to Oxford University – 25 year 7 pupils will be taken. Pupils are introduced to the opportunity and have to complete an application to get a place on the trip. |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
Year 8 Careers Curriculum
|
When will it happen? |
Objective |
Link to Gatsby Benchmarks |
|
HT1 (Values and Character) |
Can one person make a difference? How to have a real positive impact in any job |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT2 (Values and Character) |
What types of job are high-impact? How to choose which world problem to focus on. |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel- hear from a diverse range of speakers about their careers (including STEM) and reflect on these |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT3 (Careers Pillar Day) |
Understand the range of graduate jobs in more depth i.e. what does a pharmacist do? |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 (Careers Pillar Day) |
Understanding the concept of LMI and how it may affect job choice. |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 University virtual visit Preparation) |
How are universities similar and different? Campus v City, subject specialisms, facilities, London vs non-London, super selective, highly selective Virtual tours of two universities -University of Exeter & Warwick University understanding how student societies work at university |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT3+4 (Pillar Day & Values and Character) |
Understand key employability skills needed for success in many workplaces and how to develop these i.e. research and presentations from first give charity project |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT4 (University Trip opportunity) |
Trip to Oxford University – 25 year 8 pupils will be taken. Pupils are introduced to the opportunity and have to complete an application to get a place on the trip. |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT6 (Values and Character) |
Understand jobs in terms of advantages and disadvantages and likes and dislikes of jobs |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT6 (Values and Character) |
Relating your own personal strengths and weaknesses to the skills needed for different jobs |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT6 (Values and Character) |
An understanding of the different routes at post 16 and beyond to achieving your goal (Apprenticeships/Degree apprenticeships/BTECs etc.) |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
Year 9 Careers Curriculum
|
When will it happen? |
Objective |
Link to Gatsby Benchmarks |
|
HT1 (Assembly and Reflection Task) |
Explain how you have benefited from careers/universities activities and what you have learnt |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel- hear from a diverse range of speakers about their careers (including STEM) and reflect on these |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT3 (Careers Pillar Day) |
Research skills - how do I find out information about careers and universities? |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 (Careers Pillar Day) |
Understanding how careers may develop over time and how these relate to companies structures e.g. understanding promotions, sideways moves, changing sectors etc. |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT3 (Careers Pillar Day) |
Write a cover letter when applying for work shadowing to present yourself within a selection process Pupils learn about what an apprenticeship is & how valuable they are |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT3/4 (GCSE Options Process) |
Employability and subject choice sessions: How does subject choice now, after GCSEs and in the future affect my employability? Pupils learn about writing a cover letter & interview skills on pillar day. Pupils then write their own cover letter when applying for options and have a one-to-one interview with a senior member of staff to put their choices forward. |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT5 (University preparation) |
University courses - what is out there? How do I find out more? |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT5 (University Trip) |
Pupils visit Roehampton University in the summer term |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT6 (Values and Character) |
Consider potential technological advances, skills gap and how they might impact their future career opportunities. Plan how best to prepare themselves for these future careers now |
Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information |
|
HT6 (KS4 Transition Session) |
Make targets to reflect your aims for your next steps e.g. GCSE grades, Post 16 choices |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
Year 10 Careers Curriculum
|
When will it happen? |
Objective |
Link to Gatsby Benchmarks |
|
HT1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel- hear from a diverse range of speakers about their careers (including STEM) and reflect on these |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT1 (Pillar Day) |
Psychometric testing - which industries and areas of work suit me best? |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT3 (Work Experience) |
Learn about different areas of work and associated working conditions including demands of jobs, hours, holiday, pay Understand health and safety aspects relating to work experience and laws on child employment |
Benchmark 6 – Experiences of the Workplace |
|
HT3 (Pillar Day) |
What are my options for post-16? What is the difference between A Levels, T Levels, College courses? |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT3 (Bath University trip preparation) HT3 (Cambridge University Preparation) |
University courses – how do I choose the right university? University opportunities for top scientists – where can science at university take me? (Selected pupils take part in trip) |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT4 (Bath University Trip) |
Pupils visit Bath University, where they attend subject taster lectures and learn more about university life |
Benchmark 7 – Encounters with Further and Higher Education |
|
HT 6 (Work Experience preparation) |
All pupils take part in a one-week work experience placement, to gain an experience of the world of work Pupils will reflect on the experience and share their learning back at school and consider how this informs their post 16 choices |
Benchmark 6 – Experiences of the Workplace Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT6 (Year 10-11 Transition Session) |
Make targets to reflect your aims for your next steps e.g. GCSE grades & Post 16 choices |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
Year 11 Careers Curriculum
|
When will it happen? |
Objective |
Link to Gatsby Benchmarks |
|
HT1 (Assembly and Reflection Task) |
Explain how you have benefited from careers/universities activities and what you have learnt |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel- hear from a diverse range of speakers about their careers (including STEM) and reflect on these |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees |
|
HT 1 |
We will ensure every pupil has an individual careers interview to gain personal guidance on their choices for the next Key Stage |
Benchmark 8: Personal guidance
|
|
HT 1 (Post-16 Choices Pillar Day) |
What are the options post-16? A Levels, T Levels, College courses Completing an exceptional Sixth Form, apprenticeship, college application form Preparing for interview |
Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of every student |
|
HT1-6 (Careers Speakers) |
Careers Carousel- hear from 6 different speakers about their careers and reflect on these, ensuring vocational careers routes |
Benchmark 5 – Encounters with Employers and Employees
|