Preparation for Adulthood

At Stone Bay School, our Careers programme reflects our commitment to getting it right for every student. Through personalised pathways, strong partnerships and high aspirations, we empower our young people to develop the skills, confidence and independence needed for meaningful adult lives.

Our Careers provision reflects our core values of:

🌱 Evolving Excellence

We commit to:

High aspirations for every student through our Curriculum Pathways
Continuous review (through Compass Plus) and improvement of provision aligned with the Gatsby Benchmarks
Reaching for the Preparing for Adulthood outcomes across our curriculum: gaining employment/training, achieving independent living, participating in the community and maintaining good health
Providing meaningful, high-quality work experiences and opportunities to practice work related skills and improve employability skills

What this looks like in practice:

Personalised career pathways linked to EHCP outcomes
Annual review of Careers impact
Staff CPD in preparation for adulthood
Expanding employer partnerships each year

🤝 Trust

We build trust by:

Building secure and trusted relationships with our pupils
Creating safe, supported experiences of work-related learning and of experiences in different workplaces in and outside school
Offering activities for personal development (as part of our curriculum) to build honesty and self-awareness, reliability and responsibility in students
Preparing students for real-world experiences and expectations through supported access to the community

In practice:

Developing role-play of workplace behaviour
Responsibilities and internal ‘work placements’
Supported external work placements with clear expectations
Explicit teaching of professional conduct, e.g. social communication, presentation, team work
Staff modelling workplace communication and behaviour

⚖ Fairness

We ensure fairness through:

Equal access to careers education
Adapted and personalised support
Removing barriers to participation (using therapeutic intervention where necessary)
Providing impartial careers guidance (through an outside agency)

In practice:

Access to adapted accreditation (AQA, Arts Award)
Adapted programme of work-related learning visits
Independent/Supported Travel training
Adapted internal and external work experience placements
Specialist transition planning meetings (parents from yr 9/parents consultation/AR)
Individual careers interviews (Careers Advisor)

💪 Empowerment

We empower students to:

Understand their own strengths and interests
Make informed choices and decisions
Develop independence in the home and community
Learn to advocate for their needs

In practice:

Strengths-based profiling (e.g. Pupil Passport, Vocational Profile)
Student voice in pathway decisions
Self-advocacy sessions
Personal career portfolios
“My Future Plan”

🤲 Collaboration

We collaborate with:

Parents and carers
Local employers (Monkton Nature Reserve, RSPCA, Garden Gate, Broadstairs Library)
Colleges and training providers (EKC, Bemix, Providers Fair)
Other schools (Foreland Field School joint Provider Fair & impartial careers guidance)
Health and social care teams

In practice:

Annual parent information event
Employer engagement events, e.g. Providers Fair, assemblies, employer encounters
Multi-agency transition meetings
Community enterprise projects

Image depicting the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks from the table below

Accreditation

Gatsby Benchmark- Work Experience and Careers

Compass + Evaluation for careers 2025

Baker clause statement

Careers Guidance - pupil friendly

Gatsby Benchmark Self Evaluation

Gatsby Benchmark 1-8
November 2024

Stone Bay school results - Schools nationally

Gatsby Benchmark	Your Result	% schools fully achieving this Benchmark nationally
1 - A stable careers programme	In progress - 76%	66.2%
2 - Learning from career and labour information	In progress - 80%	82%
3 - Addressing the needs of each pupil	✓	59.7%
4 - Linking curriculum learning to careers	✓	79.6%
5 - Encounters with employers and employees	✓	85%
6 - Experiences of workplaces	In progress - 87%	71.1%
7 - Encounters with further and higher education	In progress - 37%	57.2%
8 - Personal guidance	✓	77.1%