Careers at John Taylor Free School is based on the culture of ‘preparing students for life’, we want to ensure that our young people can make decisions about their future based on good quality advice and regular encounters with employers and education providers.
Our careers policy is based on the needs of our students in the area in which we are located in. Our programme is dynamic, it changes to meet the needs of the students and what the labour market information tells us about skills gaps that exist.
At our school, we are committed to providing students with the best resources to support their career aspirations. We are excited to offer access to the Unifrog careers platform, a comprehensive tool designed to help students explore career options, find suitable university courses, and prepare for their future. We encourage all students to take advantage of this fantastic resource to make informed decisions about their future and achieve their full potential. Students can log in with their school email address.
We are now able to offer parents the chance to sign up and browse the resources that students can see. Please contact careers@johntaylorfreeschool.co.uk for details.
We believe in providing practical learning opportunities to prepare our students for their future careers. In Year 10 and Year 12, our students will participate in work experience placements, giving them valuable insights into the working world and helping them develop essential skills.
For more details, please see below.
Assistant Head of School
Click on one of the links below to find out more about careers:
All students have access to the careers events and services we provide at John Taylor Free School. We understand that some students may need additional support and guidance, therefore our team of Learning Support Assistants regularly engage in aspiration related conversations when meeting with their students.
Our Asdan qualification at GCSE is a key part of our provision for those with SEND, we know that preparing these students for life outside of the school is crucial.
In our study support sessions, which are part of the GCSE pathway students look at the careers they are interested in, make plans for qualifications they need and take part in educational visits to encourage them to think about choices at Post 16.
We work alongside Entrust to provide careers advice for those students most in need, this can involve one to one and group sessions.
Addressing careers education within and beyond specific subjects allows students to contextualise their learning as part of a wider journey, leading to improved engagement and progress.
Links to Careers in Autumn 22
The website below allows you to explore different careers based on the subjects that you are interested in. What can you do with a history qualification beyond be a teacher? Turns out quite a lot.
To understand what career options are available, the current labour market information is crucial, the website below shows you the key information about what opportunities are available in our area.
We are committed as a school to giving students an insight into the world of work and its disciplines. We hope that by offering work experience, we will proactively bridge the gap between the academic qualifications that the students will leave with and the employability skills that young people may have a more limited experience of.
Year 10 students are invited to participate in a ‘Work Shadowing Day’, where it is intended that students gain an insight into a workplace. This year’s Work Shadowing Day will take place on Thursday 10th July. On this day, all students in Year 10 are given the opportunity to accompany a parent/other family member to their workplace
Work experience week for Year 12 will take place from Monday 14th July until Friday 18th July.
At this stage it is essential for students to obtain an offer of work experience placement. It is very important for students to start investigating potential placements as soon as possible, as the majority of other secondary schools locally also run a work experience week and competition for placements is fierce. Once students have decided on an employer, they need to make contact, initially by telephone or email. Some employers may then request that students apply in writing with a letter or curriculum vitae, templates for these can be obtained by emailing careers@johntaylorfreeschool.co.uk
They should discuss with you what sort of experience they would like to have; perhaps you might like to discuss contacts that you or friends have that could offer suitable placements. In addition, if you have opportunities for several students in an organisation that you work for, please get in contact, we are keen to build up a business contacts database.
Students can speak to their Personal Tutor about placements, and they may be available to offer advice. In addition, they can speak to either Mrs Curry or Miss Thomas who are able to support students finding a placement.
Once students have secured a placement, they need to log in to UniFrog. They will have received an email invitation through their school email. Using these details, we can confirm the placement and contact the company to provide the necessary insurance documents and complete the risk assessment forms.
For further information please contact careers@johntaylorfreeschool.co.uk.
In order to provide our students with impartial guidance we have employed the services of Luminate Careers and Coaching. Our Careers Advisor attends school once a week and sees students by appointment only. All students will be offered a Careers Advice appointment during Year 10/11 and again in Year 12/13. To request a personal guidance appointment please email careers@johntaylorfreeschool.co.uk
‘Students with 4 or more employer encounters are 86% less likely to be NEET and earn up to 22% more’
We are keen to work with local employers, we have invited a number into our Careers Fayre which takes place every November at John Taylor Free School – please contact the Careers Team.
As parents/carers we know that providing advice on careers and future choices can be difficult, we hope that the signposting below will help you with this.
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