Careers Advice & Guidance

The Mercia commitment

All teachers are highly committed to ensuring that pupils have access to the highest quality careers education so that they can fulfil their potential.

As a school founded on knowledge, we pride ourselves on the knowledge that pupils have about careers and higher education. The more knowledge Mercia pupils have, the more empowered they are to make the right choices.

Every teacher takes responsibility for inspiring pupils and ensuring they have access to information that will help them make appropriate choices as they progress through school.

Given the academic aims of the school, university aspirations are at the heart of our drive and all pupils will complete a Mercia Promise from Year 7, which is a declaration of aspiration to guide them for the years ahead.

Careers education

Careers Education is delivered mainly through the Mastery Time curriculum.

In Mastery Time, we use themes of the week to explore a range of issue that link to cultural capital.

As well as a careers week, we also have an aspirations week and university week.

Through family dining, we regularly host visitors informally, who pupils can talk to about their careers and lives, and we encourage a holistic approach very much to careers education.

In lessons, staff regularly promote their subjects, how to pursue the particular subject and what career paths learning may follow.

We also build in explicit one to one time with pupils to harvest their interests and goals and develop their careers knowledge from our enrichment programme, where external visitors lead much of the curriculum, offering unique experiences. Every pupil has opportunities to speak to several visitors about their careers every year. This is essential in our drive to raise standards and aspirations. Every pupil is also entitled to our core knowledge curriculum around knowledge of universities and courses also.

Parents are central to this agenda and have awareness of our aspirations for university and support and uphold these aims. Discussions at parents’ evening are always aspirations related and parents are informed about our commitment to pupil experience through enrichment electives and curriculum choices.

Through the one to ones completed in Year 9, we collate a list of careers suggested by pupils and build our mastery curriculum around this. This is also the foundation for establishing links with work experience and career matching as pupils move through school.

Mastery time and careers

Content includes:

• Completion of the Mercia Promise
• Knowledge of universities and qualifications. What we mean by A Level/Degree/ BA/Arts/ Sciences etc
• Personal survey to reflect on areas of interest
• Discussion time with mastery tutor reflecting on hopes and ambitions
• Learning about Russell Group universities
• Understanding the inequalities that exist in higher education and the support available
• Impact project involvement with Sheffield University
• Inspirational careers-focused speakers
• Access to networking events
• Information for post-16 choices
• A full exploration of the local offer available post 16

Year 11 work experience

It is our ambition that Year 11 pupils take part in work experience, to ensure they have access to networking and connections and have an opportunity to thrive outside of the school environment.

Our mastery curriculum allows pupils to developed into confident articulate individuals who will excel in the workplace and also savour the opportunity. Pupils explore options and arrangements in mastery time and are offered expert careers advice. A time frame for the process from Year 10 to Year 11 is set out below.

How to support

Parents

Ensure you are aware of your child’s Mercia Promise and support and encourage this. If you have any connections that may be helpful to the school, especially guest speakers, please get in touch. Do explore career options with your child, and in your SLT one-to-ones do explore career preferences and a pathway of support can commence.

Employers

If you want to host an event at our school, please contact us to arrange. We are very interested in guest speakers and improving our pupils’ knowledge of specialised careers. Please email Mr Ridler, dridler@mercia.school and check our events pages for activities you can be involved in.

Post-16, higher and further education

We would be happy to host visiting speakers and events. Please contact us if you wish to speak with our pupils.

As Mercia pupils are entering Year 10/11, we are keen to engage with post-16 providers to ensure pupils are aware of the full local offer.

Access to pupils and/or parents will be granted on the understanding that information and guidance offered by providers is related to technical courses and apprenticeship opportunities and high-quality provision.

Contact dridler@mercia.school to be added to the mailing list for events.

Volunteers

If you would like to offer some time or expertise with our pupils, please contact us. We are keen to broaden our enrichment offers for pupils and are keen to develop partnerships with people who support the aims and ambitions of the school.

Contact dridler@mercia.school to be added to the mailing list for events.