We at Kingsford Community School have been very resourceful in preparing our students for the future and guiding them with the knowledge they need.
Year 7 – 9 Careers Programme
Our programme starts in year 7 where we use our L4L lessons to introduce students to Careers Education and Guidance where they learn basic steps about the world of work, perception of work roles, equal opportunities and how they can for the future explore the world of work. Again the same procedure is carried out in year 8, but this time students will learn to understand who they are, the skills, abilities and talents needed for employment and further education.
Students in year 8 start to think about their option choices and what they want to study as their GCSE choices. They also have the opportunity to meet the careers team and make the right decisions about their options.
A lot of support has been provided for our students especially through this process the following events are held in the school to prep our students in terms of making the right GCSE choices:
- Year 8 Options assembly by the Careers Coordinator
- Year 8 Assembly – introduction to all GCSE options subjects
- Year 8 GCSE taster days on GCSE courses
- Year 8 Options evening.
- Year 8 Options interviews
In year 9, students study the “Money Management skills within this year group as part of their input in CEIAG. Students will be able to open up Natwest Bank accounts and will also learn about the real life skills about money management and personal banking.
Year 10 & Yr 11
Year 10 students and the Careers Learning Area work very closely as they prepare themselves for the two weeks work experience, during this time assemblies are carried out to introduce work experience and what opportunities they have within the school, and how Kingsford offer the opportunity for many students to go abroad to do the two weeks experience, e.g. France and China.
During this process a number of activities are organised to support the preparation process, the school work hand in hand with Newham Education Business partnership to organise Boss Day (Building Opportunities Skills Seminar) employability skills programme where students in yr 10’s are taken off timetable to meet a number external business clients, they deliver a programme to guide to our students about the world of work and what would make an ideal employee, how to create a good first impression, how to make an application and CV and learn some practical interview skills.
Linked with this programme we have organised a Mock Interview session where students will go to a local business and carry out real life practice interview and employers will give written and verbal feedback on how they performed in their interview sessions.
During this Work experience preparation stage all students need to learn about all the basic Health and Safety issues that they need to be familiar with before they go out to work.
Before students go out to work experience a number of year assemblies are carried out where the careers coordinator talks and prepares the students with information about the process of work experience.
All students are provided with a Work Experience diary, where they log their day-to-day events and complete activity sheets, student are assigned to a mentor/ supervisor during the two weeks who will guide and support them during their two weeks, all students are then contacted by a member of staff from Kingsford school.
Once they complete the work experience students write up a report about the skills and tasks they have learnt during the work experience.
In year 11 all students are provided with resources about transition to post 16. We work with Connexions East who have assigned us with two advisors to work in the school and guide our students through the process of transition and opportunities that are available to them for their future.
Colleges are invited to Kingsford to promote their institution during yr 11 assemblies and information is given to them.
Face 2 Face finance also is involved to direct our student’s attention on how they can get support through EMA and how they can go about receiving this funding.
Open day lists are also distributed to all students to attend college open days and find out about courses and what is available to them.
Careers Evening is also a key element for the preparation for our students where a number of businesses and colleges attend and speak with both parents and students about what is available within their institution.
Students have the opportunity during their PHSCCE lesson to sit and reflect on their progress files and update all the relevant information which needs to be in there. All students work on the provided documents and work towards building their personal statements and an up to date CV.
