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Career Related Learning Policy

Policy details

September 2025

Next review date - 01/07/2027
Policy owner - Co-op Academy Medlock

Co-op Academy Medlock

Wadeson Road

M139UJ

0161 273 1830

https://www.medlock.coopacademies.co.uk/

Careers Leader : Mr J. Brown

1.0 Rationale and Vision

The Co-op Academy Trust is committed to ensuring all our students have access to high quality career related learning (CRL) opportunities throughout each stage of their development. Our CRL programmes will inspire, raise aspirations and give our students an optimistic outlook on life.

At Co-op Academy Medlock the vision for the development of CRL is to provide the very best opportunities to enable our pupils to broaden their horizons and raise aspirations. We want our children to see a clear link and purpose between their learning experiences and their future. Our programme promotes equality of opportunity and makes it clear our children’s ambitions should be fed from their interests and passions and not limited by a perceived ‘norm’. For instance, our children will always have the world of work presented to them in a way that challenges perceived ‘gender norms’.

1. We are always guided by our Coop values:

Do what matters most

What matters most
Be yourself, always
Show you care
Succeed together

2.0 Intent

Our CRL program is both bespoke and unique to our academy and is reviewed on an annual basis so it can respond to the changing world of work landscape of our city as well as to what the children show us they need.

We are committed to providing a coherently planned and sequenced programme that reflects our academy’s context and core values. Our programme is designed to entitle all children to develop their knowledge, skills, understanding and cultural capital to support them to go on to positive destinations that meet their aspirations and interests. With this in mind we aim:-

To broaden children’s horizons and raise aspiration with the ultimate aim of improving social mobility
To support the raising of standards of achievement and attainment for all children, especially by increasing motivation, attitude to learning and attendance
To reinforce the importance of numeracy and literacy in later life
To support inclusion, challenge stereotyping and promote equality of opportunity
To excite and motivate children about their curriculum learning by ensuring there are strong links between education and the world of work.
To develop enterprise and essential life skills
To help children to learn about, and develop, their skills and qualities to instil greater self confidence
To tailor CRL learning / events to meet the needs of all our children through appropriate differentiation
To involve parents and carers whenever appropriate
To use current labour market information (LMI) to enable children, staff and parents to engage actively with local and national CRL information so that they can increase their knowledge and understanding about the world of work
To use all feedback to reflect on our current provision to develop our future CRL program
To provide additional support to specific vulnerable groups such as SEND and pupil premium
To monitor and evaluate current provision in order to ensure our program is quality assured in line with other curriculum areas
To share best practice with other Co-op academies at network events to ensure reflection and development of own program
To ensure each key stage get a least 1 employer encounter
To achieve / work towards a Quality in Careers award in recognition of all that our academy offers

2.1 Learner entitlement

All children are entitled to consistent delivery of CRL to ensure they understand who they could become and develop a healthy sense of self to enable them to reach their full potential. Every opportunity will be taken by staff (both in a formal setting as well as in informal discussions) to give all the children a broad and balanced understanding of careers, pathways and the link to the subjects taught in school.

2.2 Planning & curriculum

Planning for CRL is embedded across the curriculum to ensure children can make links between the subjects they are taught, their interests and how these can be turned into a career.

Copy of CRL Curriculum Overview - All Year Groups 2025 to 2026

Teachers are expected to seek out and explore links to careers through the core and non-core curriculum whenever possible both implicitly and explicitly. It is recognised that opportunities are often spontaneous, following the children’s learning, experiences and ideas.

2.3 Approaches to teaching and learning

The curriculum is approached in a variety of ways, using a range of teaching and learning styles. In CRL we place emphasis in active learning including the pupils in circle times, role play, research and enterprise activities. Visits and visitors will also form part of our CRL curriculum. Through the curriculum we will aim to give children real life, authentic experiences of the world of work.

2.4 Visitors and visits

It is recognised that visits and visitors will form part of CRL. Our CRL leader will actively seek relevant and meaningful encounters from a wide range of sectors and providers. Please also see the Trust Health and Safety Policy regarding risk assessment for visits and our Safeguarding Policy for visitors on site.

2.5 Assembly programme

Throughout the year, a number of assemblies will be held that match the aims and purposes of the curriculum. Links between subjects, pathways and the world of work will be examined and links highlighted. Also, visitors will be sought to talk about the work and the lived experience of specific carers.

2.6 Parental Engagement

Parental engagement in CRL is based around raising parents’ awareness of the nature of their supportive role in their child’s future. Engaging parents is a key driver when delivering career development activities and CRL aims to raise aspirations for both parents and their children. We will also look for parent / extended family CRL opportunities to complement our CRL program.

3.0 Implementation

Our program is taught via bespoke activities and events, subject curriculum and extracurricular activities and a wide range of enrichment activities.

CRL is delivered by a range of providers such as teachers and support staff, FE Colleges, Universities, visiting speakers, employers and employees. This delivery includes bespoke workshops, assemblies, project / challenge / enterprise days and via subject curriculum. Our staff receive regular CPD to support them in embedding essential skills into their subject areas.

4.0 Impact

Measuring the impact of our CRL programme supports us to develop it. We value quantitative and qualitative feedback from all stakeholders and ensure our evaluations shape our curriculum and approach through the annual policy review. We undertake internal and external quality assurance to ensure our intent and implementation is in-line with our expectations. Our CRL program aims to demonstrate the following impact:

Raise in aspirations
Increased understanding of stereotypical jobs
Feedback and evaluation for all events, both quantitative and qualitative
Increase in attendance / reduction in PA over time
Reduction in behaviour incidents (red behaviours tracking individual pupils)
Increase in progress / attainment over time
Progress and achievement data over time with reference to vulnerable groups i.e SEND
Development of employability skills after key events
Range of employer engagement increasing