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Careers and Employability

Paving the way for an amazing future with the trust

The Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust fully understands the importance of providing young people with opportunities to develop employability skills and is ensuring that they are fully supported to make informed choices about the next stage in their education, employment or training. Our aim for all of our young people is that they go on to achieve successful and fulfilling careers in the future.

Every young person leaving one of our academies will have had at least two ‘purposeful and impact measured’ employer interventions by the end of Key Stage 2, six by the end of Key Stage 4 and ten by the end of Key Stage 5.

The Trust aims to provide good career guidance to help inspire pupils towards further study and to enable them to make informed decisions whenever choices are open to them.

Good careers guidance will be characterised by the following eight benchmarks:

  1. A stable careers programme
    Each academy will have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers, Academy Advisory Council members and employers.
  2. Learning from career and labour market information
    Every pupil, and their parents, will have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will have access to an informed adviser who will provide support and enable them to make best use of available information.
  3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
    Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support will be tailored to the needs of each pupil. Each academy’s careers programme will embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.
  4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
    All teachers will link curriculum with careers. STEM subject teachers will highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths..
  5. Encounters with employers and employees
    Every pupil will have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This will be provided through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes..
  6. Experiences of workplaces
    Every pupil will have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks..
  7. Encounters with further and higher education
    All pupils will understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This will include both academic and vocational routes and learning in colleges, universities and in the workplace..
  8. Personal Guidance
    Every pupil will have opportunities for guidance interviews with an appropriately trained careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of academy staff) or external. These interviews will be made available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils and will be timed to meet their individual needs.

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)