To deliver a double-stranded curriculum that is essentially skills based with the inclusion of core academic subjects.’ The double-stranded curriculum at Life Skills Manor is designed with careers and destinations in mind.
All students receive career-based interventions and are taught vital skills that contribute towards a successful future. A bespoke offering to meet each individual student's career path is available through guided one to one mentoring and meetings with specific organisations within the students sector of interest.
Students are also exposed to a wide range of career options to ensure they are open to new ideas and potential pathways. This is set up with the external support of The Education Business Partnership and local organisations who offer taster sessions and workshops for the students.
The school will base its careers provision around the Gatsby Benchmarks. A summary of these can be seen in Appendix 1.
| TERM | GATSBY | INTENT | MERCURY (LOS) | MARS (LOS) | NEPTUNE (LOS) | SATURN (LOS) | JUPITER (LOS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,3,8 |
Grow throughout life
Grow throughout life by learning and reflecting on yourself, your background, and your strengths. |
Who am I?
Describe who they are. Draw connections between their likes, culture, connections and interests. Understand that certain characteristics are protected by law. |
What are my interests?
Describe their interests. Draw connections between interests and career options. Write about an activity that links to their interests. |
What are my skills?
Explain why developing and recording skills now is important for the future world of work. Reflect on their own skills and achievements. Explain how skills can be developed and the benefits of accepting help, advice and support. |
Reflecting on my career journey, past, present and future.
Identify what they’re doing to support their career journey. Draw connections between their past, present, and future in relation to their career journey. Identify the career values important to them. |
What are my employability skills?
Explain why it’s important to record experiences, learning and achievements. Describe some strategies to manage their CV, resumé or online presence and its impact on career opportunities. Explain the benefits of responding positively to help, support and feedback. Recognise the value of challenging themselves and trying new things. |
| 2 | 2,7 |
Explore Possibilities
Explore the full range of possibilities open to you and learn about recruitment processes and the culture of different workplaces. |
Exploring possibilities: dream jobs.
Identify the key skills and themes that relate to their ‘dream job’. Explain the benefits of exploring related career options and not focusing on one single dream job. |
Job applications: superhero CVs.
Explain how employers recruit people. Identify information that goes into each section of a CV. Create an effective CV tailored to a job advert. |
What comes after school: the main learning pathways.
Identify a learning pathway they’d like to explore further. Name pathways, qualifications, skills, and progression opportunities related to an example career. State sources of further information about learning pathways. |
Exploring employer profiles.
Use the Unifrog Know-how library to research employers. Identify skills and experiences that are valued by employers. Give examples of characteristics of a high quality employer. |
Post 16 – Choices.
Identify pros and cons of full-time education. Identify pros and cons of employment. Identify pros and cons of apprenticeships. |
| 3 | 2,7,8 |
Manage Career
Manage your career actively, make the most of opportunities and learn from setbacks. |
What is a career? Define ‘what is a career?’
Identify a range of career sectors and jobs that they might be interested in, Understand the skills required for different jobs, and the rewards and challenges they may bring in the future. |
Challenges and rewards of work.
Identify some of the rewards associated with working. Identify some of the challenges associated with working. Define what having a growth mindset means. |
Decision making: choosing what to study at KS4.
Identify important factors to consider whilst deciding on subject choices. Outline what they need to do next to reach their decision. |
What type of career is best for me?
Explain what is meant by the word “career”. Identify the four career types, and the benefits and drawbacks of each type. Evaluate each career type and explain which they believe is right for them.. |
Decision making: choosing your post-16 pathway.
Understand how to make informed decisions. Identify the decision they need to make about their post-16 choices. Plan how they will make an informed decision about their post-16 choices. |
| 4 | 2,6,7 |
Create opportunities
Create opportunities by being proactive and building positive relationships with others. |
What is an entrepreneur?
Define what an entrepreneur is. Identify some entrepreneurial skills. Explain what a role model is. |
Creating the life you want: making a vision board.
Describe what they’d like their life to look like in the future. Draw connections between their skills, abilities and interests to visualise ideas for their future. Formulate realistic goals for the future. |
Taking control of your career journey.
Identify the career needs and wants of themselves and others. Understand how to take the initiative in developing their career journey. Reflect on how to overcome barriers people face on their career journeys. |
Preparing to go on work experience.
Explain the correct work experience protocols including health and safety awareness. Identify how to get the most out of going on work experience. Prepare goals for their own work experience. |
Researching volunteering and paid work.
Identify the benefits and drawbacks of volunteering and different types of paid work. Understand the rights and responsibilities of employers and volunteer providers. Research different types of opportunities suitable for them including paid work, self-employment and volunteering. |
| 5 | 2,3,6,7 |
Balance life and work
Balance your life as a worker and/or entrepreneur with your wellbeing, other interests and your involvement with your family and community |
What is a work-life balance?
Explain what work-life balance means to them. Suggest ways to improve work-life balance and manage situations of work-life imbalance. Describe an example of when they’ve demonstrated the skill of balance. |
What does success mean to me?
Define what success means to them. Acknowledge that success can be measured in different ways and can be achieved within lots of different career paths. Reflect on their own successes and set goals for future successes. |
Working and earning: managing your money.
Identify some of their employment rights as a school-age worker. Calculate a monthly wage from an hourly rate or annual salary. List some essential and non-essential expenditure when creating a budget. |
Well-being in the workplace.
Name examples of reasonable adjustments an employer could make in response to mental health. Name examples of health and safety responsibilities of the employer. State what to do in response to workplace discrimination. |
Money talks: apprenticeships vs higher education.
State pros and cons of apprenticeships. State pros and cons of higher education. Explain how factors such as someone’s financial situation could impact their career pathway choices. |
| 6 | 2,3,6 |
See the big picture
See the big picture by paying attention to how the economy, politics and society connect with your own life and career. |
Careers and the future.
Identify a skill that’s predicted to be valued by future employers. Explain at least one example of how careers have changed over time. |
Careers and the climate.
Describe a career that could be considered a green career. Describe a subject that could be considered a sustainable degree. |
What is the labour market and why is it important?
Define the labour market and labour market information. Identify different types of labour market information. Compare labour market information. |
In person, hybrid or remote. What works best?
Explain the pros and cons of remote working. Explain the pros and cons of in-person working. Explain the pros and cons of hybrid working. |
Is AI a threat to our jobs?
Explain how people around the world feel about AI. Describe the types of tasks that AI can and cannot do. Evaluate predictions about AI, and arguments on each side of the debate ‘Is AI a threat to our jobs?'. Explain how different groups of people in society might feel about AI and how it might affect their decision-making processes. |
Life Skills Manor use Education Business Partnership as their main external provider. This includes one careers session a month with EBP careers mentors where students take part in a variety of activities, workshops and tasks, a virtual platform students can access anytime and a vast range of exposure to a variety of employers.
| 1. A stable careers programme | Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by students, parents, teachers, governors and employers. |
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| 2.Learning from career and labour market information | Every student, and their parents, should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information. |
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| 3.Addressing the needs of each student | Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each student. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. |
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| 4.Linking curriculum learning to careers | All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths. |
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| 5.Encounters with employers and employees | Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes. |
* A ‘meaningful encounter’ is one in which the student has an opportunity to learn about what work is like or what it takes to be successful in the workplace. |
| 6.Experiences of workplaces | Every student 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. |
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| 7.Encounters with further and higher education | All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace. |
* A ‘meaningful encounter’ is one in which the student has an opportunity to explore what it is like to learn in that environment. |
| 8.Personal guidance | Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a career adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. |
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