At Mary Elliot Academy, our careers vision is ‘Preparing for Life’. We acknowledge the importance of building a strong set of transferable skills, to ensure that all of our young people are fully equipped and prepared for both life in the community and within the world of work. We aim to prepare all students for the changing labour market, the demands of career roles that may not even exist at present, and for adapting to life after school when moving on to college, employment, or social care settings. We will do this through encouraging the development six transferable skills through our Skills for Success programme. The embedding of these six key skills during our half-termly dropdown days will further support our young people to feel confident, prepared and empowered to take their next steps towards their future pathways.

We pride ourselves in our mission to provide equity across all differing pathways, and our planned careers activities will hold a golden thread throughout the school, to ensure all learners across all stages are given equal opportunities to develop their skill-sets. We also aim to further develop community participation through external visits, and working with external providers, in order to develop a collaborative approach in which our learners experience careers-based outcomes, and our working partners broaden their awareness of our learners’ needs and talents.

The careers strategy aims to broaden student experience and knowledge, and to support young people and their families resulting in: 

• Well informed individuals, confident in making decisions about their future.

• Self-sufficient citizens able to live healthy, enjoyable and fulfilling lives.

• Well-prepared individuals, equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to follow their chosen pathway through life

For further details on our careers programme, please see our Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance Policy or contact our careers lead Rebecca Davies via email rdavies@mary-elliot.walsall.sch.uk

The SEND code of practice 2015 states that from year 8, pupils should be receiving help to start planning for a successful transition to adulthood.  This includes setting stretching and ambitious outcomes, exploring further education or training that will enable young people to secure paid work, and other opportunities focused on leading a positive adult life. 

Gatsby Benchmarks 

The Gatsby Benchmarks define key elements of an excellent careers programme based on national and international research.  They consist of 8 benchmarks which can be found below and there is an expectation that schools work towards every pupil successfully meeting all 8 benchmarks.   

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 

Mary Elliot works closely with our dedicated Enterprise Co-Ordinator and Enterprise Advisor from the West Midlands Combined Authority to ensure that students have access to a broad and robust Careers strategy and frequent opportunities to explore and plan their future pathways. This is done through termly audits which assess the academy's progress towards the 8 Gatsby benchmarks. 

The most recent audit results can be found below.

A system called Compass + is used to track each pupil’s progress toward the 8 Gatsby benchmarks and record key events which are catered to the needs of each pupil. The school also has networking links with the local authority including the support of a qualified Careers Advisor who is able to offer support to pupils and their families. 

Key People

Careers Lead – Rebecca Davies (Interim Headteacher)

Transition Lead – Rebecca Davies (Interim Headteacher) 

Enterprise Co-Ordinator - Jo Rasmin (West Midlands Combined Authority) 

Enterprise Advisor – Liza Jo Guyatt (West Midlands Combined Authority) 

Careers Advisor – Rachael Maybank (Walsall Local Authority) 

6th Form Virtual Work Experience

Students from 6F1 worked with a company called Independent and Work Ready on a project to design a product to sell in their online shop. This involved online 'Teams' meetings to find out what they had to do, as well as completing a log book to work through the design process. Students watched lots of instructional videos for ideas and experimented with lots of different design methods, including painting, doodling, photography, paint drop, digital art and sensory art. Each student chose their favourite design and IWR printed this on to their product. It was very exciting to receive the actual bags and wallets in school and to see the designs come to life! As a reward for their hard work, each student got to keep their item. Each student also received a certificate from IWR with individual feedback on their design. We made a display of our products to explain the project and lots of people asked where they could get a bag or wallet from as they were so unique. Products will be on sale soon in the IWR online shop  - it will be interesting to see how popular our designs are when they go on sale.

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