Careers

Career-related learning

Work related learning at Priory School is a journey for all pupils from Year 7 to Year 14. It is about broadening students’ horizons, challenging stereotypes and discrimination and helping students to develop the skills and sense of self that will enable them to reach their full potential.

The Gatsby Benchmarks were developed on behalf of the Gatsby Foundation by Sir John Holman. They define what world class careers provision in education looks like and provide a clear framework for organising the careers provision at your school or college.

The 8 Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance are:

  1. A stable careers programme

  2. Learning from career and labour market information

  3. Addressing the needs of each student

  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

Read our Careers policy for more information, or contact our Careers Lead — Neil Van Cooten, Deputy Headteacher.

Curriculum

The careers curriculum is embedded in our current curriculum offer. The main subject areas in our curriculum offer where aspects of the careers curriculum are embedded are:

  • PSHE

  • Literacy

  • Employability skills

  • Expressive language skills

  • Ready to learn skills

  • Social interaction skills

  • Receptive language skills

  • Daily living skills

  • Play

  • Work experience

  • ASDAN — Work right

Collaboration

To support the development of our careers curriculum we joined the South London Careers SEND Community of Practice Forum. The Forum will be an opportunity for us to collaborate with Career Leads from SEND schools and to share challenges and best practices.

Through this forum we have linked up with Beckmead Park Academy. We are organising a SEND Careers Fair at the academy in the Summer Term.

Work experience

Our work experience offer is an area of strength and students have the opportunity to have at least 2 discrete work experience placements.

Over time our dedicated staff have reached out to employers close to the school’s locality and managed to source external work placements for our students. The current list of external placements include:

  • Way Ahead Hairdresser

  • Harvester Restaurant

  • Little Gems (Play Group)

  • Trussell Trust — St. Margarets Food Bank

  • Costa Coffee

  • Volcano Coffee Works

  • L’Arche Charity

  • Cancer Research

  • Garden Centre

Due to the complex needs of some of our students they are only able to access an on-site internal work experience placement. The current list of internal placements include:

  • Office assistant

  • Caretaker assistant

  • PE assistant

  • Cooking assistant

  • Therapy administrator

  • Catering assistant

  • Animal care

  • Enterprise (including all the school fairs)

  • Cleaning work space

  • Resources assistant