Careers and Employability
The Greenwood Academies Trust Careers and Employability Strategy aims to provide all young people, in all of our academies, with a stable programme of inspirational careers activities and opportunities in order to develop important employability skills.
Using the Gatsby Benchmarks for Good Career Guidance, careers leads in all academies strive to provide a varied offer, to pupils of all ages, which is relevant to the local labour market and job opportunities that are likely to exist for our school leavers. We are working in partnership with Career Mark to provide external validation of the Gatsby Benchmarks through the Quality in Careers Standard.
Collaboration is at the heart of our careers strategy and a number of key partners help us to provide invaluable experiences of work and interactions with employers and employees. We are proud to work closely with university and further education partners to raise aspirations and widen participation in education opportunities.
Increasingly, careers is becoming more embedded within our curriculum, with teachers from all year groups and subject areas being committed to teaching and learning in the context of the real world.
We are proud of the personalised approach we take towards providing tailored careers experiences for individuals and targeted groups of pupils. Personal advice and guidance from a trained careers professional for all GAT secondary students, at key transition points, supports young people to make informed decisions about their next steps.
Our commitment is to provide memorable, meaningful and enjoyable interactions with employers. All GAT pupils experience two interactions at primary phase and then one in each school year at secondary phase and Sixth Form. Studies have shown that young people who can recall four or more employer contacts whilst in education are five times more likely to continue in education, training or secure employment.
We ensure that all young people at our academies will have opportunities to achieve the following goals:
- Invest in themselves, recognise their own strengths and values and take responsibility for developing their work readiness, skills and behaviours (Self-motivated)
- Have the tools and skills required to present themselves to a future employer (Self-assured)
- Have high aspirations for themselves (Aspirational)
- Understand the opportunities available to them locally and beyond, and to make realistic choices (Informed)
- Have experiences of work that are rewarding and fulfilling (Experienced)
- Achieve qualifications valued by employers (Achieving)
- Understand that employers want people who will work hard and are accountable for their actions (Accountable)
- Understand that employers want young people who can listen and learn from their successes and their mistakes and keep going (Resilient)
- Work creatively to achieve their potential and that of the business (Entrepreneurial)
- Have effective communication and co-working skills (Co-operative)