Throughout all Year Groups the department offers careers and workplace information and advice, from understanding what is expected in employment to how to achieve personal career goals.
Dorset County Council are encouraging parents to get involved to help inspire the next generation of young pupil. If you feel that you have some spare time that you can use to give back to the community then please check out the following PDF for more details.
Parents/Carers:
- Want to get back onto learning?
- Interested in some sort of higher education course in the future?
- Looking to retrain?
Lifepilot aims to encourage adults (over 21) to get back into learning and even progress to higher education.
The site is completely free and offers a range of starting points e.g. starting with no qualifications, getting ready to do a degree, etc. Please see the image for more details on how to sign up.
Dorset Careers Hub
Woodroffe is now part of the Dorset Careers Hub. We are delighted to have been chosen as one of only four lead schools in the whole of Dorset. We were selected due to our fantastic careers provision and the opportunities we provide for our young people. This should bring additional support and opportunities for both the school and the students. Woodroffe will share good practice and help contribute to the local, regional and national careers picture.
This is an exciting time in Careers education, it is great to see the importance that Woodroffe places on Careers being recognised in this way.
For further information please click the following link: https://www.dorsetlep.co.uk/careers-hub
Year 7
Students spend time in PSE lessons discussing their skills and the personality traits. This leads onto a conversation about suitable careers and how students can ensure they get there. Students also consider a variety of possible job options and think, even at this young age, what possible jobs are out there and what routes they might need to follow to be successful.
Year 8
Students spend time in Citizenship lessons focusing on the opportunities available to them both in and out of school. This unit of work looks at Extra-curricular clubs as well as option choices. This is to help them carefully consider their future GCSE options and beyond. Hopefully leading to the students making the correct choice for them.
Year 9
Students spend time in their Citizenship lessons focusing on future employment. Students will also look at common misconceptions and resisting the temptation to bracket people into a particular role. The unit end with students producing a presentation based on their own research into a career that interests them and delivering these to the rest of their class.
Work Experience – What’s it Like?
Watch this film of students on work experience and see what they think:
Year 10
This year is split into two parts:
Part one is all about confidence and focuses on the preparation for Work Experience. A large focus on interview techniques and ensuring students have the best communication and assertiveness skills needed to be successful. This should prevent students from being discriminated against and hopefully allowing them to deal with any tricky situations both on placement and beyond.
Students also spend time looking at the importance of interviews whilst on their work experience placement. It is expected that all students will have a mock interview with an employer whilst on their placement. Students should also have a conversation with the employer about likely career choices.
Part two focuses on applying for jobs. Students will all create a professional CV, write a suitable covering letter and application form. All leading to the chance to practice their interview skills in class before they have a chance to use these in the real-world.
Students will spend time in this unit looking at Labour Market Information (LMI) locally to ensure that they are aware of the likely job opportunities when they leave school. This should also help them to consider future pathways and option choices to make sure they are going into an area which has a strong likelihood of employment.
Useful PDF files for Work Experience:
| Title | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Health Declaration Form 78 downloads |
23rd September 2020 | Download |
|
Sample CV 84 downloads |
19th September 2018 | Download |
|
Sample Letter of Introduction 135 downloads |
23rd September 2020 | Download |
|
Selection Approval Form 68 downloads |
23rd September 2020 | Download |
|
Student & Parent Guidance 53 downloads |
19th September 2018 | Download |
|
Work Experience Process 2020-21 13 downloads |
23rd September 2020 | Download |
Year 11
Year 11 is all about the next step in the student’s life. Whether the student is applying for a Sixth Form, a College, An Apprenticeship or any other route; it’s about making sure they have the skills and attributes to enable them to be a success. Students will look at the different routes, the possibility of University and also the pitfalls of unemployment and how best to avoid it.
Students will also look at the importance of saving, budgeting and the potential dangers of borrowing. Students will have the opportunity to update their CV from Year 10 to ensure they are as ready as they can be for the next step in their lives.
Years 12 & 13
The sixth form have various core sessions and speakers in to help broaden their knowledge about specific careers. Some of these are for the whole year group, some are targeted to small groups of students and some are based on subject-specific content. Examples of these are:
- Mark Bowden – Agincare – Discussing careers in the care sector
- George Parker – Political Editor of the Financial Times
- Dr Mikdadi – Educational Consultant, specialising in discussing the Palestine conflict
- Richard Hogben – Met Office
Year 12 also complete a week’s Work Experience at the end of the summer term in an industry that interests them and are encouraged to choose one which benefits them for their applications for the next steps. The students are responsible for sourcing their own placement to help them get to grips with the real world of work and rigours of modern employment. Students should then return to Year 13 with a better sense of the next steps after Woodroffe Sixth Form.
Useful PDF files for Work Experience:
Work Experience
In March 2017 it was announced that Woodroffe has an award winning Careers Department and has achieved the highest award of 5 stars for the Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset Employer and Education Partnership Charter. The assessors were impressed with the dedicated and independent approach to careers education at the school.
For full details of the 10 criteria the school has met, please see the following document:
Being aware of and making good use of Labour Market Information (LMI) will help prepare students for the job sectors they are likely to find employment in. This could help students make wise Pathway/GCSE/A-Level choices. LMI is updated regularly so keep and eye out for future trends and opportunities to maximise the chance of students getting a good job in the future.
| Title | ||
|---|---|---|
|
LMI Factsheet – Agri-tech and Food Production 18 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Construction 9 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Creative and Digital Skills 11 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Engineering and Manufacturing 15 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Environmental Goods 8 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Finance and Insurance 9 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Health and Social Care 11 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Hospitality Sector 10 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – ICT 8 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Public Services 11 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
|
LMI Factsheet – Retail Sector 8 downloads |
27th March 2018 | Download |
Mr Holding
Head of Careers
Mrs Coles
Administrative Officer