Careers at Kingweston

At Kingsweston School, we believe that every child should be encouraged to achieve their full potential through implementing our school vision: creativity, connectiveness, nurture and empowerment. We deliver a career programme that is tailored to meet the varying needs of our students at Kingsweston School. Career education plays an important role in helping to develop our students in facing challenges and being ready for when they leave Kingsweston School. We support our students with decision making and developing their life skills. We aim to realistically raise our students’ aspirations and expose them to a range of career related activities that help to inform our students about a range of different jobs and opportunities there are. Students have many times when they are at school, to recognise their skills and qualities, looking at how these can be linked to different jobs. We have discovery boxes where students explore a particular job adopting a multi-sensory approach.

Our career programme is linked to the 8 Gatsby benchmarks which are as follows:

A stable career programme.

Please find attached an overview of the career programme.

Our career programme is tailored to meet the varying needs of the students that attend Kingsweston School.
Learning from career and labour market information

We use Careersoft where students can access a wide range of information about different jobs.

Students have encounters with different employers where they have the opportunity to ask questions about different jobs.

Some students will visit a local job centre to find out more information about the career and labour market.

Some students will attend a workshop developing their awareness of traineeships, supported internships and apprenticeships.

Addressing the needs of each pupil

Everything we do at Kingsweston is differentiated to meet the needs of our students so that they can access career related activities and information, suitable for the individual. We contextualise learning to make it meaningful to the student.

Students take part in a first impressions workshop

Students have the chance to write a CV and develop their interview skills.

We host a Post 16 providers day where parents and our students are encouraged to attend, to gain personal advice and an awareness of what their future options are.

Linking curriculum learning to careers.

Post 16 focuses on different termly vocational themes where learning is centred around and contextualised.

Whole school topics are linked to jobs associated with the topic. I.e. World War - People who do jobs that help

Encounters with employers and employees.

During the school year, we encourage employers to visit our school and run workshops and share information about different jobs.

National Careers Week also encourages employers and employees to come into school. We have had fire engines, police horses, nurses, builders, bus drivers and many more visitors at Kingsweston School.

We encourage lots of visits off site to various work environments where students can encounter employers and employees.

Experiences of workplaces.

We encourage a range of onsite work experience such as: office work, recycling, gardening, tidying etc

Students in Key Stage 4 and 5 have opportunities to take part in a wide range of work experience off site. I.e. Local garden nursery; Aztec West Hotel; Cafes etc

Encounters with further and higher education
Students are supported with visiting different further and higher educational environments where is it relevant and meaningful to the students.
Personal guidance

Students in year 11 and 14 will have the chance to meet with a qualified Careers Advisor who listens to the student voice and then provides information about. The report generated from this meeting is then referred to in the annual review, where the child's voice is heard.

Careers News

Careers News

As part of term 2's vocational theme in Goram Class based on animal care, students have been taking part in weekly work experience at Elmtree Farm which they are really enjoying. Also, on Thursday 5th December we have a very successful meeting with a dog training company who are very happy to come and do a session with our Post 16 students.

As part of term 2's vocational theme in Ghyston Class based on science and technology, students will be visiting the Bristol Bus Depot and finding out about different jobs you can do with First Bus. Also, on Tuesday 17th December we have BJSS Tech Company coming to run a taster work experience session with our Post 16 students.

Post 16 and Careers Lead

Emma.Collins@cksf.org.uk