Year 11 is an incredibly important year for your child and a year where they will have to make some important decisions about their future. To support your child with making these decisions, we will provide your child with an opportunity to revisit their Morrisby career recommendations. Morrisby is a leading online careers profiling and guidance questionnaire, which uses a psychometric and scientific assessment to provide your child with a personalised careers recommendation report.
Throughout KS3 the focus is to expose students to the different careers available to them in the future, but at KS4 our aim is for students to decide what careers interest them and provide them with bespoke information about these careers. Your child will participate in skills development workshops focused on developing their employability and soft skills. They will also participate in resilience, growth mindset and mental wellbeing sessions in preparation for their final exams. These sessions will take place as part of our PHSRE programme during tutor time.
Every student in Year 11 will have the opportunity to meet with a qualified careers advisor on a one-to-one basis to discuss their future career plans. They will receive an action plan with key information and links to organisations/websites that will provide them with additional information about the career they are interested in. Their action plan will also be shared with you, so you can support your child with their next steps.
One of the most important decision your child will make in Year 11, is what they want to do post-16; whether it be attending college, sixth form or undertake an apprenticeship. In the first instance, we would expect almost all of our Year 11 students to progress into our sixth form where they will receive expert teaching, access to a rich careers program, as well as exemplary pastoral support. Our sixth form is one of the best in the borough, offering a wide range of A Level and BTEC National Vocational qualifications. We pride ourselves on not only nurturing your child academically, but we also provide extensive opportunities for personal development inside and outside of the classroom through our work-related learning, super and extra-curricular activities. Your child will be provided with a wealth of knowledge about our sixth form, and they will have the opportunity to speak with our talented A-level teachers about their subjects, as well as our current sixth form students about their experience of attending our sixth form. Year 11 students will also receive additional support throughout the year to identify realistic routes into further education and employment, as we work towards ensuring every child has a variable post-16 offer and a clear understanding of what is available to them next year.
For more information about Walthamstow Academy’s Sixth Form, please click here.
If your child makes the difficult decision not to join our sixth form, then we would support them in finding the best possible academic courses and apprenticeship opportunities to suit them. Part of this process will involve inviting school’s liaison officers from each of the local colleges into school to speak with students about the courses they offer, and we will provide students with the details of college and sixth form open days.
What should parent/carers be doing to support their child with their careers journey?
As a parent/carer, we understand that you have a vested interest in your child’s future, and you want to ensure they are making the right decisions.
Things that you can do to support your child include:
- Discuss your child’s next steps with them, looking at college and sixth form courses that they can enrol on post-16
- Use the Apprenticeships parent guide to explore apprenticeships and the opportunities available
- Encouraging your child to enrol on virtual work experience placements and industry insight days to gain a better understanding of the career they are interested in
- Attend college and sixth form open days with your child
- Help your child complete post-16 college, sixth form or apprenticeship application forms
- Have regular discussions with your child about their post-18 options such as attending university, applying for an apprenticeship, or starting full time employment
For more information about how you can support your child’s career journey, please click here for a parent and carers guide to helping your child begin their careers journey.
What should your child be doing to realise their future career aspirations?
- Explore the opportunities available within the industries that interest them
- Participate in virtual work experience, face-to-face work experience and career events
- Attend college and sixth form open days or course insight days
- Speak with family and family friends about the industries they work in and the job opportunities available within these industries
- Attend career fairs, career events and any other opportunities focused on the industries/careers that interest them
- Seek advice from teachers and industry professionals about the different careers available to them and the careers available within the subjects they are studying to aid with making post-16 option choices
- Speak with current sixth form students about the courses they hope to study post-16
- Research higher education (college and university) courses and apprenticeship options
- Attend college/sixth form open evenings and course taster days
What we offer students in Year 11:
- Morrisby aptitude questionnaire – an online career profiling system, providing career recommendations to aid your child future career aspirations
- Local college and sixth form information assemblies
- Careers drop-in sessions to discuss their future career plans
- Access to a fully resourced careers library
- Be Ready employability, wellbeing and soft skills sessions
- Speaker of the month – monthly after school careers talk, led by an industry professional
- WRL ambassador programme – cross-key stage enterprise and entrepreneurial skills-based program
- Speakers for Schools career talks
- 1-to-1 career interviews with a qualified careers advisor to discuss post-16 options. Every student will be provided with a personalised action plan to help them make the most suitable career choices
- Financial education tutor-led program
- Apprenticeship insight workshops
- Mock interviews days