Our Aim 

The aim of The Green Way Academy’s careers strategy is to raise aspirations of all pupils by introducing them to a wealth of career opportunities out there. This will be achieved through visits into school from members of the workforce. 

• This is not about asking every child to decide at age 4, 7 or 11 what job they want to do - it is about encouraging exploration, providing inspiration, challenging stereotypes and increasing aspirations.

• As a school we want to create a systematic approach, increasing visibility and enhancing opportunities. 

Why do we do this? 

• Children have their first aspirations aged 3-4 years

• By the age of 7 children are beginning to think about what they can and cannot do because of their gender.

• Being more aware about higher education by age 10 means a child is over twice as likely to end up at a more competitive university than someone who was first exposed in their late teens.

• Children make career limiting decisions by age 10, which they solidify by age 14.

• The child of a parent working in a higher professional or managerial job is 20 times more likely to end up in a similarly high status role than a child with a working class parent is to end up in a professional job.

• Young adults who recall 4 or more encounters with employers while at school are 5 times less likely to be NEET and earn 16% more than their peers who could not recall those encounters.

• Business surveys indicate that 65%-80% employers feel that when young people leave school they are not prepared for the workplace and lack essential workplace skills.

• The World Economic Forum conclude that ‘our children’s career aspirations have nothing common with the jobs of the future’ and ‘young people are unable to understand the breadth of job opportunities needed across the economy and this can lead to unrealistic aspirations’

• 37% of young people are worried about coping when they progress into work

The Gatsby Benchmarks 

Our careers programme will be underpinned by ‘The Gatsby Benchmarks’ 

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 & employees

6. Experiences of workplaces

7. Encounters with Further Education & Higher Education

8. Personal Guidance

• The 'Pathways' strand is about increasing pupils exposure to information, encounters, opportunities and experiences that will to raise aspirations 

• Inspire students about their futures: develop their awareness, harness their passions, take part in inspirational experiences and explore the world. 

• Ensure pupils are not held back from pursuing their passions or achieving their goals because of stereotypical or self imposed barriers or a lack of opportunities.

• Enhance social capital by wrapping a professional network of support around each child, timed and targeted to meet their individual needs 

• Empower students to tackle barries that stand in their way, so they can take advantage of and shape their own opportunities  

The Green Way Academy Careers Journal 

Each child in the school will have a ‘careers journal’. This will be used at the start and end of each year to document their dreams and aspirations for the future. They will log the careers they want to pursue in the future.

The journal will also be used to document any kind of experiences they have had with the world of work. This could be a guest speaker, a trip and the like. 

 This journal will follow them through school and show their career journey from EYFS to Year 6.