Careers Guidance
At Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, we’re committed to preparing each student for life beyond education. We ensure students have access to impartial career advice and have access to employers who can help them consider their future options.
To ensure we offer our students the best career provisions, we are a member of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire career hub, where we work closely with the career and enterprise company to provide meaningful encounters with employers as well as supplementary services to support the careers programme.
We are very proud to have successfully retained our Careers quality assurance mark, which ensures that we provide the highest quality curriculum provisions for our pupils.
Career Vision:
“For all OSSMA students to have high aspirations for their future careers through a high-quality careers programme, enriched with opportunities that encourage students to achieve their full potential whilst expanding their awareness of the world of work beyond Stoke-on-Trent.”
Careers contacts:
- Careers Lead: Mrs Hackney – [email protected]
- SLT Careers lead: Miss Pemberton – [email protected]
- Careers Adviser: Julie Chadwick – [email protected]
They can all be contacted at the academy on 01782 882200.
We review our careers provision annually in conjunction with our Link Governor, as well as through our student voice. Our careers provision is externally monitored, and in 2021 we were successful in renewing our award for the Careers Mark. The review process is continued annually with a review meeting held with a member of the Local Authority’s career team. Our next review will take place in September 2025
YEAR 7
Careers education starts in Year 7 through introductory lessons allowing the students to reflect on where they are now and on what they want to do in the future.
YEAR 8
Students continue with this in Year 8, investigating possible career routes and matching skills and qualities to suitable occupations. Stereotyping is addressed in each year group to ensure all students are aware of and fully embrace the importance of equal opportunities. A Year 8 Careers Fair is delivered for students to assist in Option Choices.
YEAR 9
Students learn about the behaviours and expectations within different workforces as well as develop their knowledge of different career pathways. There is a focus on understanding the importance of careers, and this is reflected in the ESB assessments later in the year.
YEAR 10
Throughout year 10, students have access to a range of career activities, such as enterprise days and Unifrog interactions, to provide further information about careers and support their preferences for post-16.
YEAR 11
Year 11 has a planned Careers Management Programme that is completed throughout the year. This includes investigating post-16 options; a Careers Fair is held in conjunction with Year 11 Parents’ Evening, which allows students to speak to various professionals and organisations in order to help with their post-16 choices. Students are regularly given open-day information during assembly and form time and are invited to attend workshops and presentations with outside speakers regarding various post-16 routes.
An assembly is delivered to Year 11 students about Apprenticeship opportunities, and information is given as to where additional information can be accessed. All Year 11 students will have 1:1 careers meetings with either our Careers Adviser or an Assistant Principal.
Unifrog
At OSSMA, we use Unifrog, which is an online careers platform that provides students with a variety of skills, knowledge-based and explorative tasks to support their careers knowledge. All students will have a login for the platform, and they are encouraged to discuss this with their parents/carers. Unifrog will be used with all the different age groups, and interaction tasks will be set regularly for students to complete and will be monitored by the pastoral team.
Career form time sessions
At OSSMA, our students are involved in career form time sessions, which take place once a fortnight, to provide our students with further career knowledge as well as to encourage further exploration through the use of Unifrog, the online career platform.
Baker clause
The Baker Clause is an amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017. The Baker Clause states that schools must allow colleges and training providers access to all students in Years 8–13. Here at OSSMA, we meet this requirement by arranging career fayres and employment sessions throughout the different year groups.
In support of the Baker clause, OSSMA promotes a variety of technical education qualifications and apprenticeships, and these are discussed where appropriate in curriculum time. To ensure that we as an academy support our students with their career education, our Career Lead meets regularly with the Local Authority to discuss careers and their changes to provide all students with the updated, relevant information which they desire.
Here at OSSMA, we encourage external providers, employers and agencies to come into the academy and work with our students, providing meaningful employer encounters with our students. We promote the involvement of guest speakers across all subjects to speak to our students about different career pathways and their requirements. As the Career Lead, Mrs Hackney liaises with a multitude of employers to ensure that our students receive high-quality career education and interactions.
Should you wish for further information, please contact Mrs Hackney at [email protected].