Careers

No limits... Just possibilities

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At St. Joseph’s, Careers Education and Work Related Learning are important for all young people, in all pathways.

It helps students to:

  • Understand themselves and the world around them
  • Prepare for future opportunities
  • Develop the skills and self-confidence necessary to make realistic and informed decisions about their future so that they can maximise their potential
  • Work towards preparing the students for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life
  • Have a recognised role in the community
  • Become aspirational

At St Joseph’s it is important that students have the opportunity to:

  • Learn about work
  • Learn for work
  • Learn through work

Our careers programme is guided by The 8 Gatsby Benchmarks which help schools deliver high quality careers and enterprise provision:

  1. A stable careers programme
  2. Learning from career and labour market information
  3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
  4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
  5. Encounters with employers and employees
  6. Experiences of workplaces
  7. Encounters with further and higher education
  8. Personal guidance

Careers Education and Work Related Learning

Careers Education and Guidance is delivered through a combination of participation in Work Experience, Enterprises, a Life and Living Skills programme through OCR and an internal travel skills programme. These programmes offers a wide range of experiences which enables students to understand and to experience opportunities in the world of work. In turn it develops their personal and independence skills to enable for a successful adulthood. These activities are closely linked to our embedded therapies.

Travel Skills

Managing to use the public transport system either independently or with appropriate staff support can be a huge step for our students. Classes or individuals will go out into the community with staff; they are responsible for planning the bus route, buying their tickets, finding a place to sit, watching for the stop they need to get off at and repeat for the return route. We practise bus and train journeys locally. Students will learn how to plan a safe walking route to a place of work. This supports students to gain skills to independently travel to their work placement or to their future college places. This is also undertaken to support student’s travel options when they are transitioning into supported living.

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Life and Living Skills

A huge part of this subject is about students learning to keep themselves safe, recognising and responding to safety signage, understanding health and hygiene and independently following spoken, written or pictorial instructions. Our Life Skills Centre is used for classes, small groups and individuals to learn general life skills, household tasks and cooking in order to foster independence for their futures. The centre comprises of a large kitchen, diner, lounge, a bedroom with an en-suite and a laundry. This is particularly useful for our non-residential students to develop their independence skills away from home and prepare them for possible supported living in the future. Students work as a team to make lunches for the class. This is considered “work” and students recognise they have responsibilities within the team; knowing without fulfilling them the lunch will not be completed.

Five Year Transition Plan

Following our 5 Year Transition Plan the transition team undertakes a Vocational Profile with each student ready to transition from us to supported living or further education. This often informs the Work Related Learning and Enterprise Leader and Transitions Coordinator in selecting appropriate placements for the student to work towards their end goal.

The transition team liaises with families, students, care staff, Case Officers, Social Workers and teachers to plan their transition away from St. Joseph’s in line with The Gatsby Benchmarks 3 and 8. The transition team shares information regarding educational opportunities and supported living placements and supports visits and applications to these establishments to see if they are appropriate for the young person.