“Students can print
out a report of
every careers
intervention since
they’ve walked
through the door
in Year 7”
LIFESKILLS AT LISTER
COMMUNITY SCHOOL,
NEWHAM
EMPLOYABILITY
Lister Community School in Newham,
London, takes a whole-school approach
to employability.
“We’re confident we’ll hit the Gatsby Benchmarks,
although we still have space to travel – eg. embedding
careers lessons into the curriculum,” says assistant
headteacher and nominated careers leader Simon Beck (pictured, left). “I’m fortunate
to have a strong careers education team and the support of senior leadership.”
Careers interventions begin in Year 7 with a trip to West London-based work
experience theme park, KidZania, where pupils do a variety of 20-minute jobs,
earning currency that they can later spend in the shop. “It’s a fun day out and a good
introduction to work, without the students even realising,” explains Beck.
LifeSkills Ambassadors
Barclays LifeSkills forms a baseline for employability interventions from Year 8. “We’ve
been using LifeSkills for four years through our super learning days, when (for three
days a year), we collapse the timetable for every year group,” he says. “In Year 8,
teachers lead sessions and show pupils how to use the resources, then we leave
them to work through it. We’re trying to develop LifeSkills Ambassadors, to become
a LifeSkills school.
“We also guarantee all Year 8
students a ‘careers insight visit’.
“Through the East London Business
Alliance, we have par tner
organisations in Canary Wharf and
the City who host our students for
a day. They’ll do an employability
task, complementing LifeSkills work.”
World of Work Week
Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils take part in the
Ryman National Enterprise Challenge
addressing challenges set by real
businesses, while Year 9s also have
a university visit. But the school’s
flagship programme sits in Year 10. “We have large year groups and couldn’t get
quality work experience for all,” admits Beck. “So we came up with our unique World
of Work Week with the whole year-group off-timetable. Day one involves role plays
with Actorshop around workplace behaviour and interviews, then mid-week, each
student experiences a sector they’ve expressed interest in. For example: ‘A day in
the life of a doctor at King’s College’.
All students also take part in a volunteering challenge at a local green space. “As
well as giving back to the community it’s a hard day’s work (weeding, painting or
making planters) – often the fir st they’ve ever had,” says Beck. “Initially, they moan and
complain, but they’re always smiling at the end of the day; we never have drop outs!”
The final day is back in school. “We work with Young Enterprise who, this year,
brought 40 interns from Goldman Sachs,” he explains. “Pupils spent the morning
writing CVs, based on the week, and the interns conducted mock interviews.”
Post-16 pathways
Careers guidance is front-loaded in Year 11, due to exam pressures. “We have
assemblies every week for the first term with local colleges and training providers
and, in December, our ‘Post-16 Pathways Day’ where providers talk students through
school leavers’ programmes and apprenticeships, plus a careers fair where the
colleges market their offers to students.”
Ironically, with so many careers inventions, it can be hard for students to recall
them fully; to this end, the school has an online database that tracks what pupils have
done around careers. “Students can print out a report of every careers intervention
since they’ve walked through the door in Year 7,” says Beck.
FUTURE TALENT // 29