Cradle to career
Find out about our considerate careers education model
We put careers education at the centre of everything we do. Our rigorous careers programme considers how we can embed career related learning and skills at every stage of our pupils school journey from early years through to sixth form. We understand that relationships matter and we endeavour to build partnerships with our parents, employers, training providers, charitable organisations and universities.
Careers curriculum and sequencing
Reach Academy Feltham’s Careers Curriculum aims to equip students with the skills, attitudes, and knowledge needed for their post-school life, focusing on supporting them to realise their aspirations and broaden awareness of career options. The overall objective is to nurture independent thinkers who are confident and aware of the opportunities available to them.
Careers policy
We offers students exposure to various careers, aligns their interests with subject areas, provides encounters with employers, and guidance on post-16 and post-18 options. We also encourage them to articulate their career choices, develop a post-18 path, and participate in extracurricular activities related to their career path throughout their time at school.
Measuring impact
The success of our careers programme is measured in multiple ways including reviewing past cohorts’ data, obtaining feedback from pupils, staff, and families, and using Gatsby Benchmarks. We also track students’ post-school choices to ensure we provide appropriate courses and support, and maintain contact with former students for additional insights.
Careers curriculum and sequencing
Our Careers Curriculum is intended to provide a stable careers programme in which all pupils are provided with the opportunity to prepare for leaving education and entering the world of work. The programme is committed to transforming the lives of pupils by providing the skills, attitudes and advice to empower them to embark on a journey after school with the knowledge to make the right decisions, the confidence to achieve their potential and the purpose to explore all opportunities open to them. We intend to raise pupil aspirations, develop employability skills and expose students to the wide range of career paths that are available to them. It is the school’s objective to develop independent thinkers, who each have clear, achievable and aspirational plans for their futures.
We want to support parents to help pupils make choices and inspire teachers to embed careers into their teaching, so the entire school community has careers at its heart, resulting in pupils living happy and healthy lives.
Making every year count
Careers education is crucial to help pupils live lives of choice and opportunity. Our curriculum equips students with the knowledge and confidence to decide their future career paths.
Phases 1-3
In Phase 1, pupils learn about the variety of careers in the world. Phase 2 introduces pupils to how their interests align with different careers and which subject areas most relate. During Phase 3, pupils learn to form future plans through meaningful encounters with employers and lessons about Post-16 and Post-18 options, including apprenticeships, sixth-form and university. Financial literacy, such as budgeting and understanding salaries, is also emphasised.
Phase 4
During their time in Phase 4, pupils learn to articulate career choices and are supported by staff, family, and external facilitators. They experience a variety of encounters with employers, and visit Further Education and Higher Education sites. All students have a 1:1 careers interview and higher need pupils receive additional support to create detailed action plans for their post-16 options.
Phase 5
In Phase 5, pupils are encouraged and expected to develop a realistic Post-18 path and be able to articulate their journey’s narrative. They will be supported to do this through bespoke interactions with employers and visits to workplaces and Higher Education providers.
Pupils will be spoken to explicitly about the different options available to them; both pupils wishing to go to university and students hoping to pursue an apprenticeship will be supported with their applications. Pupils are also encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities related to their career path to gain invaluable insight, resulting in informed decisions.
Throughout all phases, pupils develop key employability skills and learn about workplace behaviour and responsibilities. They have opportunities to demonstrate and improve these skills through Work Experience Placements.
Unifrog
All pupils in Key stage 3 and 4 gain access to Unifrog, a platform that has been designed to support careers education. On Unifrog, students can search and discover up to date information on global universities and apprenticeship opportunities, as well as exploring their interests, passions and possible career pathways.
The vast resource library within Unifrog offers:
Careers quizzes
CV and cover letter templates
Online short courses to bolster their CVs.
Guidance on colleges and universities
Advice on different career pathways
Measuring impact
Our overall impact on provision is measured in the following ways:
- A review against the Gatsby Benchmarks every cycle to identify strategic goals for improvement.
- Reviewing destinations data for previous cohorts to better understand the outcomes for our pupils and the impact of our existing provision for those cohorts.
- Completing pupil, staff, and family (where relevant) reflections at all careers events to supply the careers team and senior staff with relevant data for future planning of other events.
Schools measure careers provision against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Careers provision:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
We measure the success of our careers programme through various means. For instance, we collect feedback from students after events like the Bright Futures Ahead Day. This helps us see what worked for students and what we need to change. We frequently ask students about the careers and opportunities they’re interested in, which helps us plan future events. We collect data about students’ choices after leaving school, which assists us in determining if we’re providing the right courses and support. We’re particularly interested in where students go after Year 11 – whether they go to Feltham College, another sixth-form, or start an apprenticeship, for example. This data allows us to consider the provisions we have in place at Reach Academy, and ensure that the courses and support we offer are appropriate for our pupils. We also keep in touch with former students to see their career choices, which gives us further insights.
Each school year, our Careers Lead completes an audit, checking how we’re performing against these benchmarks, and searching for areas to improve to make a greater impact. For more details, please refer to our Careers Progression Framework strategy document below:
This information was last reviewed in September 2024 and will be reviewed at least annually.
Reach Academy Careers Lead
The named Careers Lead for Reach Academy Feltham, overseeing all 1-1 careers meetings is Tara Joseph.
If you have any queries regarding the delivery or content of our careers strategy, or if you are a parent/pupil/employer/teacher please don’t hesitate to contact us via email to careers@reachacademy.org.uk or by calling 020 8893 1099.