Careers Programme Information

Our careers programme vision

Our students are ambitious, and are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to realise their aspirations. They weigh up their choices carefully, making well informed decisions that lead them towards the future that they have chosen.

Outcomes

We will achieve this vision if our students meet the following outcomes:

• Students are not limited by their background, and believe that hard work will be the biggest driver of their success, not where they come from.
• Students can articulate their aspirations and how they intend to realise them.
• Year 11 students move on to a post-16 course which suits them and is in line with their aspirations.
• Students understand the purpose of CVs, interviews and job applications from a variety of perspectives. They know what strong applications look like, have written their own CV and had interview practice.
• Students can articulate the wide variety of pathways available to them at post-16 and post-18, and can evaluate each pathway according to its suitability for them.
• Students understand the nature of the job market, that certain sectors are growing and others shrinking, and have considered what they want from a job.
• Students understand how their learning across the curriculum links to their future, including pathway possibilities and skills.
• Students have participated in a wide variety of enrichment activities and feel able to tackle new activities outside their existing areas of expertise.
• Students have had direct experience of the workplace and understand the variety of norms found in workplaces with regards to professionalism, relationships and skills.

Impact

We will measure the impact of our careers programme through:

• Regular evaluative student feedback via student surveys (min. annually).
• Baseline and endpoint assessment questions as part of student surveys, related to recently studied content and content soon to be studied.
• Planned assessment tasks in content taught through PSHE. Students are not assigned grades; the assessment is used purely to measure our impact.
• Collecting and analysing students’ intended and final destinations at post-16 and beyond.
• Establishing an alumni network to track students’ destinations beyond Y11 and provide future students with role models.

Students & Parents and Carers

We work with the Careers Service of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to provide high quality careers education and thoroughly recommend their GMACS service for students and their parents and carers to explore. It provides highly relevant and up to date information on educational pathways and the top employment sectors in Greater Manchester.

Edgar Wood students and parents can also access careers and labour market information via Unifrog.

The platform helps students to explore their interests, record the great things they've done, find education and training opportunities, and plan their next steps.

Students will use the platform within school and we would encourage parents to access the resources available too.  Please speak to us if you haven’t received your parental log in details.

We would also like to highlight a variety of websites that provide useful information for parents and carers including local colleges, sixth forms and training providers: Rochdale Sixth Form College, Hopwood Hall College, Oldham Sixth Form College, Oldham College, Manchester College, Bury College, Rochdale Training.

Further information regarding apprenticeships can be found on the government website or Rochdale Apprenticeships website.

We would encourage parents, carers and students to find further information and explore career ideas and possibilities on the following websites: UCAS, National Careers Service, Prospects , Careers - BBC Bitesize and icould.

We encourage students to develop their skills and experience both within, and outside of school. This will support them to prepare for their next steps and ensure they are building transferable skills.

The Reach website supports ambition and aspiration, showcasing the range of local enrichment activity available to young people across Middleton, Heywood, Rochdale and Pennines.

Scan the QR code to find out more

or visit www.rochdalereach.co.uk.

 

Employers

Providing an outstanding careers education for our students requires input and partnerships with employers and organisations. Hearing from individuals in different workplaces is inspirational for our students, and you never know what your impact might be!

If you or your business would like to work with us, there are a variety of different ways that employers can get involved in school:

• Speaker events
• Enrichment activities
• Project work in lessons

For a full overview of our career programme and opportunities to get involve here

We would also love to work with you in arranging visits to your workplace or if you are able to offer a student a work placement.

If you are interested in working with us to deliver our careers programme, please contact the Careers Leader, whose details can be found below.

Staff

All our staff provide students with opportunities to link their classroom learning to their futures, and to inspire them to realise their aspirations. In lessons this can take different forms:

• Naming skills that students are building, and explaining how they can be applied in the workplace
• Referencing jobs or careers that relate to the content of the lesson
• Explaining which courses students can go on to study from their current learning
• Asking guest speakers to talk about their education and how they apply it in their role or how it has been useful to them.

Further Information

For further information, please contact the Careers Leader: Gemma Carroll, Assistant Headteacher g.carroll@edgarwood.org.  Telephone 0161 676 9626.

Please also see the Careers Policy and Provider Access Policy on our website.

Our next review on the careers information published will be July 2025