Careers Support and Guidance at The Coppice Academy
Ethos: At The Coppice every student plays their part in making our Academy a unique learning environment. Each young person has talents which we recognise and encourage, relationships and friendships to develop, challenges to overcome and a bright future ahead of them to look forward to.
Aims: To equip each student with the skills and experience, developed over 5 years at the academy, to make informed and positive choices about education, work and training, post 16 and into adult life.
Overview: The Government’s careers strategy, published on 4 December 2017, sets out a long term plan to build a world class careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them. It aims to make sure that all young people in secondary school get a programme of advice and guidance that is stable, structured and delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience.
The Government have used the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to help schools develop and improve their careers provision. The Gatsby Benchmarks are not a statutory framework but by adopting them, schools can be confident that they are fulfilling their legal duties: the existing duty to secure independent careers guidance and the new duty to provide opportunities to a range of providers of technical education and apprenticeships to access pupils to inform them about technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. Government recognises that the work needed to meet all eight Benchmarks will vary for individual schools. Government’s expectation is that schools begin to work towards the Benchmarks now and meet them by the end of 2020.
At The Coppice Academy we are proud of the guidance given to individual students and their parents and the transition process in place as students move into the next setting. We are always reviewing and reflecting our practice to tailor to each cohort and the individual needs of Coppice students. We have strong links to local businesses, workplace training providers and further education settings.
We plan Independence, Living and Work Skills lessons (ILWS) to equip students for future training and employment. These include time management, communication, internet awareness and safety, research skills, workplace literacy and numeracy, independent travel training, money skills and budgeting, healthy food choices, positive relationships, personal presentation and application / interview skills. We also plan activities based on evidence about the importance of giving young people more opportunities to connect with employers of all sizes, and from all sectors. These encounters will inspire pupils and allow them to learn about what work is like, or what it takes to be successful in the workforce. Past examples of this include: KS4 Café, community visits to Pizza Express, Asda, Sainsbury’s, links to Shaw Trust, Duke of Edinburgh Voluntary work at Rudyard Lake Railway and Stoke City Community, activity days, Staffordshire Fire Service visits and assemblies, links to Martec Training, links to PM Training, on-going partnerships with Newcastle Borough Council parks and community, supported work placements where appropriate based on individual student needs.
We work hard to prepare students for life beyond The Coppice through strong and ongoing links to Further Education and Training providers. We invite these providers to attend parents’ evenings and reviews and also organise visits for KS4 students, support taster days if appropriate and tailor transition routes for individual students.
Overview of careers guidance:
All year groups:
- Timetabled ILWS lessons
- Visits by and assemblies led by local businesses
- Activity days linked to WRL
- STEM days
- Curriculum links in each subject to future careers
- Access to future providers at parents evenings
Key Stage 4
- Vocational curriculum
- Tailored work placements
- Transition visits and information days (FE providers / training)
- Taster days
- Work based training through the curriculum (Café, Horticulture, Construction, Hospitality & Catering, Art, Gateway Progression, Sports)
- Community links & careers days
Careers, Education, Information, Advice & Guidance Policy - please click here
For further information, including ways you can help support our students, please contact R Watkin, Careers Lead, email: office@coppice.set.org or call 01782 973500.