Careers - Rosewood Independent School

Promoting a career development culture is essential and links to the mission and ethos of our school.

We aim to support the aspirations of all our learners and to ensure that they gain the understanding, skills and experience they need to make progress and succeed in learning and work. We believe that effective careers education and guidance not only contributes to the well-being of individuals but also to the wellbeing of their families, the communities to which they belong, wider society, businesses and the economy, as well as raising the aspirations and achievements of all concerned.

National and local expectations

We are committed to meeting all stakeholder expectations in relation to careers by:

Providing impartial careers guidance for Y7-11 as required by the 2011 Education Act and 2018 Statutory Guidance for the State Sector. While independent schools are not obligated to observe the guidance, we aim to deliver at least equivalent provision. In implementing this duty we will pay particular regard to the DfE’s principles of good practice.
Fulfilling our duties under the Equality Act 2010 to promote equality of opportunity, foster good relations amongst all people, eliminate harassment and discriminatory practices and support children with protected characteristics.
Having a named Careers Lead for Total Tuition Alternative Provision/ Rosewood Independent School, with contact details on the school website.

Current priorities

Our careers strategy is informed by these current priorities:

supporting individual aspirations, thereby improving engagement, independent learning and attainment and ensuring positive destinations
meeting the needs of specific groups including our international students, looked after children, young carers, and children with special educational needs and disabilities
developing learners’ career management skills, especially those associated with career adaptability, resilience, enterprise and employability
improving young people’s working lives by helping them to identify the values that are important to them such as contributing to the wellbeing of others through their paid and voluntary work and working in greener ways
developing the use of digital technologies to meet young people’s career development needs in conjunction with face-to-face support
working with parents/carers, community and business partners to meet students’ career and higher education development needs

To achieve the objectives of this policy, we will:

ensure that the school advisory board are actively involved in shaping careers policy and strategy
identify a senior member of staff to advise the senior leadership team on curriculum, staffing and resource requirements; and to lead the development, implementation and evaluation of the school’s careers provision with the support of other key post holders (e.g. SENDCO) and specialist careers staff.
develop and maintain a regularly reviewed careers strategic plan for achieving current priorities
set out clearly the contribution expected of all staff including subject teachers and tutors for students’ career learning and planning
communicate the benefits of effective provision to our partners, including outreach schools, and engage them in coordinating provision
actively involve learners themselves in the planning, delivery and evaluation of the careers programme.

All pupils in years 7-11 are entitled:

to find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point
to hear from a range of providers about the opportunities they offer through events, presentations, tutorials and group discussions and taster events
to understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses and employment and apprenticeship opportunities

Opportunities for access

A number of events, integrated into the school careers programme, will offer providers an opportunity to come into school to speak to students and/or their parents/carers. Dates will be announced throughout the year.

Work Experience

Total Tuition Alternative Provision/ Rosewood Independent School recognises the importance of creating opportunities for students to learn about, through and for the world of work. Every pupil should 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. Work experience in particular has great value in providing a student with the opportunity to gain insights into the world of work and to develop the skills which university selectors and employers look for and want to be evidenced. Although work experience is the generally used term, it is important to recognise that it is not the same as a temporary job, as by definition it is a period of unpaid work. It is an arranged opportunity for the student to gain an insight into the variety of work carried out in any given enterprise, to see the way the enterprise is managed, and ideally to participate in some aspects of the work. Work experience should be seen as an on-going process rather than a one-off event.

We support Y11 students to help them find work experience placements following their GCSE or Functional Skills examinations in the Summer term.

What are the aims of Work Experience?

To allow students to see first hand a possible future career and to encourage them to start thinking about their future options.
To allow students to experience the ‘world of work’ and to gain an insight into commerce, industry and the professions.
To encourage students’ self confidence, communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
To give the School an insight into a student’s performance in a non-academic environment.
To develop and foster links between the School, commerce and industry.
To give placement providers an insight into the current ways young people perceive the ‘world of work’.

If any student is attending a work experience placement, the employer will be asked to return a form to the School with: Employer & Public Liability insurance details, confirmation of Health & Safety policy and Risk Assessment and other information. Copies will then be made and given to the student and sent to his/her parents. Employers are required to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of all employees and identify groups of workers who might be particularly at risk e.g. young or inexperienced workers. Their assessment of the risk to the health and safety of young workers must take into account their inexperience, lack of awareness of existing or potential risks, and immaturity. The student will complete a journal of their experiences and the employer will be sent a feedback form after completion of the work experience. Parents/carers will be advised of the requirements and processes for work experience placements.

See our Careers Guidance Policy here