Careers Lead – Mr C Mathys, Assistant Headteacher

Email: cmathys@orchardparkhigh.net
Telephone: 020 8776 0220

Raising Aspirations Programme

Orchard Park High School is committed to providing an outstanding programme of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) for every student by equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to make aspirational, independent and well- informed further education and career decisions. Our programme is divided into age-appropriate activities, integrated into students’ experiences of the whole curriculum and designed to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and promote equality and diversity. We work in partnership with local and city-based organisations and independent careers advisors who are contracted to deliver impartial careers guidance.

Careers advice

In keeping with our commitment to ensure every student receives individual careers advice, we work in partnership with the Education Development Trust and Relentless UK Limited. Students receive impartial careers advice and guidance, individual one-to-one interviews and written action plans. Various year group sessions also take place throughout the academic year.

Career information, advice and employability guidance takes place as part of our PSHE programme and drop down sessions, when relevant. Our careers curriculum is designed to enable all students to plan and manage their own career choices, identifying their strengths and weaknesses and recognise the skills and qualifications that they will need to develop for further education or employment. We use the Unifrog platform to facilitate its delivery.

The careers programme encourages students to make contact with and visit universities and places of work. Guest speakers from universities and industry are also invited into school to give students a more personalised career and further education experience.

Parents/carers involvement is encouraged through the students’ Unifrog profiles. Parents are kept up to date with careers, apprenticeship and work experience opportunities through our school website and their child’s Google Classroom. Parents are welcome at careers interviews and, where necessary, are invited.

In striving to deliver the most relevant and aspirational careers guidance, we reflect on our delivery through student and staff evaluations and surveys, tracking our delivery against the Gatsby Benchmarks and monitoring our students’ post-16 destinations.

Our careers policy (provider access statement) and our Raising Aspirations Programme (by year group) can be found on our policies page here.