Post 16 Education and Careers

Careers Program 

At Orchardside School, we focus on providing students with the skills and experiences needed to prepare for adult and working life. We are dedicated to guiding them and supporting them toward post-16 pathways, which include further education, apprenticeships, and employment.

We encourage our students to explore all available options, ensuring they make informed decisions based on their interests, motivations, learning styles, abilities, and future goals.

To support this, we offer a variety of programs and resources to help students understand and prepare for their next steps. These include work experience placements and personalised one-on-one sessions with our on-site careers advisor, where tailored career plans are created for each student.

Our goal is to ensure that by the end of Year 11, every student, regardless of when they joined Orchardside, will have:

• Taken part in a work experience placement
• A greater awareness about the world of work, the development of key skills and employability skills
• Developed a deeper understanding of themselves, their abilities, and their career goals 
• Gained a greater knowledge of the range of opportunities open to them
• An understanding of the labour market and the requirements and expectations of employers
• An understanding of the decision they need to make for their future goals
• A portfolio of academic achievements
• Attended sessions with our career’s adviser and have a mapped plan for their Post 16 Pathway
• A Curriculum Vitae (CV) written with the guidance and assistance of our career’s leader
• Developed effective links with employers and local industry

For more advice on Post 16 Education and Careers or if employers are interested in working with Orchardside, please contact our Careers Leader lianne.raymond@orchardside.school or call on 0208 353 4270.