Employability & Life Skills (Informing Futures) Curriculum Statement

In Employability & Life Skills (Informing Futures), our intention at Maplefields is to give our pupils the opportunity to:

• Develop their essential skills including communication, decision-making, problem-solving, team-building and analytical skills to support with their health, friendships and relationships.
• Widen their mindsets by creating a nonbiased environment to support them in respecting diversity
• Provide concrete experiences through experience of work both in and out of school and an aim of achieving paid employment
• To develop their independence skills and access the local and wider community and have a sense of community inclusion
• To provide meaningful careers education, information, advice and guidance to prepare them for life in modern Britain by providing the knowledge, understanding, confidence and skills that they need to make informed choices and plans for their future learning and career.
• To keep students up to date with Labour Market Information to help them research future jobs in the local area, understand the skills needed for certain roles and the demand for future employment.
• To provide an awareness of pathways that are available at different transition points, including choices for GCSEs in Year 9, further education including college or sixth form in Year 11.

KS1:

Years 1 & 2

Students will begin to learn money skills linked to recognising coins and their value, being a critical consumer with choices for spending and saving, how to keep money safe, how they may use money in their daily life and where money comes from.  Students will also begin to identify job roles and explore these through role play activities; this will include exploring our whole school Career of the Month.  Students will also come into contact with Employers who visit the school as outlined in the Careers calendar.

Content/Resources: Money resources provided by the Young Money Financial Education Planning Framework and Career of the month from Indigo careers.

KS2:

Years 3 & 4

Students will continue to learn how money is used as a payment method and how to record what happens to their money, how they make decisions around spending and saving money, prioritising spending of money, how bank accounts can be used to keep money safe and to save, introduction to lending and borrowing money and ways to earn money and help others.  Students will also continue to identify job roles and how these jobs use skills from the curriculum; this will include exploring our whole school Career of the Month.  Students will also come into contact with Employers who visit the school as outlined in the Careers calendar.

Content/Resources: Money resources provided by the Young Money Financial Education Planning Framework and Career of the month from Indigo careers.

Years 5 & 6

Students will continue to learn about foreign currency, what influences there are on saving and spending, getting value for money, protecting their money from fraud or scams and how money is used from taxes in the wider community by the government and council.  Students will also continue to identify job roles and how these jobs use skills from the curriculum; this will include exploring our whole school Career of the Month.  Students will also come into contact with Employers who visit the school as outlined in the Careers calendar.  Students will also participate in the Primary Careers Programme that will introduce them to challenging stereotypes, looking at different career paths and exploring choices as they move through school towards adulthood.

Content/Resources: Money resources provided by the Young Money Financial Education Planning Framework, Career of the month from Indigo careers and the Primary Careers Programme provided by The Education People

KS3:

Year 7

Students will begin to learn about personal finance and budgeting; including the advantages and disadvantages of budgeting and keeping personal financial information secure.  They will also learn about Hazards in familiar settings including the home, school and workplace, how they may pose a risk and how to report them.  They will also continue to develop their communication skills identifying what is considered appropriate or inappropriate and being able to communicate with others including peers/customers/colleagues.  Students will get an introduction to drug and alcohol awareness to allow them to identify legal and illegal drugs, the effects of them and how they can be misused, and where to go for help and support.  Students will also continue to identify job roles and how these jobs use skills from the curriculum; this will include exploring our whole school Career of the Month and Maplefields Job Hub offer.  Students will also come into contact with Employers who visit the school and be involved in theme activities as outlined in the Careers calendar.

Content/Resources: City and Guilds Entry Level 2 Unit 202 – Personal Finance.  City and Guilds Entry Level 2 Unit 206 – Applying for a job.  City and Guilds Entry Level 2 Unit 210 – Hazards in familiar settings, City and Guilds Entry Level 2 Unit 204 – Effective Communication.  City & Guilds Entry Level 3 Unit 336 – Introduction to drug and alcohol awareness

Years 8 & 9

Students will begin to learn about how to plan, prepare and make a journey using public transport.  Students will then begin to have an introduction into the retail industry looking into the different types of retailer, where they are located and why, how to shop within the retail industry and what products are on offer, and look into the range of services that a retailer can offer their customers.  They will then also learn about work awareness and identify different types of employers in the local area using labour market information.  Students will then develop their skills in dealing with problems in daily life, how they can communicate these problems with an aim to solve or tackle them.

Students then develop their personal presentation and hygiene skills and how to work as part of a team.  They will then get an introduction to the hospitality industry and the jobs and careers that are available in this sector.

Content/Resources: City and Guilds Entry Level 3 Unit 334 – Work awareness.  City and Guilds Entry Level 3 Unit 337 – Dealing with problems in daily life, Unit 326 – Plan and make a journey using public transport, Unit 370 – Introduction to retail.  City & Guilds Unit 313 – Personal presentation and hygiene.  City & Guilds Unit 311 – Working as part of a team.  City & Guilds Unit 333 – Introduction to hospitality.  City & Guilds Unit 302 – Personal finance.  City & Guilds Unit 320 – Enterprise activity.

KS4:

Years 10 & 11

Students will continue to learn about communication and working as part of a team and be able to describe the benefits of effective teamwork and how to avoid or deal with conflict.  Students will then look at preparing for work, Interview skills and how to search for a job - this will include job interview preparation for college or sixth form applications.  Students will also continue to look at how to keep safe and explore risks in social situations and risks associated with alcohol/drugs/sexual activity/social media/the internet.

Content/Resources: City and Guilds Level 1 Unit 411 – Working as part of a team, Unit 414 – Preparing for work, Unit 404 – Effective Communication, Unit 407 – Interview Skills, Unit 408 – Searching for a job, Unit 410 – Keeping Safe.

KS5:

Year 12/13

Students will continue to learn about communication and keeping safe to include risks in different social groups and how to keep personal information safe.  Students will prepare for independence by developing their cooking skills in a domestic kitchen following health and safety procedures, using different food preparation methods and cooking meals in line with requirements to contribute to own healthy living.  Students will participate in applying for work-based experience, develop their interview skills, and then undertaking a work placement developing skills to learn safely in the workplace.  Students will learn the importance of having a work/life balance and outline how positive leisure time can have a positive impact to work.  Students will continue to develop their personal finance skills and look at sources of income/expenditure, budget planning, saving/borrowing money, credit and how to find support or help with money problems.

Content/Resources: City and Guilds Level 1 Unit 404 – Effective Communication, Unit 410 – Keeping Safe, Unit 459 – Using cooking skills in a domestic kitchen, Unit 426 – Contributing to a team, Unit 403 – Work based experience, Unit 412 – Contribute to own healthy living, Unit 413 – Safe learning in the workplace, Unit 423 - Recognise the benefits of having a work/life balance, Unit 402 – Managing personal finance, Unit 420 - Undertaking work placement, Unit 431 - Developing personal confidence, Unit 420 – Undertaking work placement, Unit 407 – Interview Skills

City & Guilds Unit 507 - Improving practical skills and techniques.  City & Guilds Unit 510/511/512 – Introduction to Leadership, Coaching, Mentoring.  City & Guilds Unit 506 - Applying for a job.  City & Guilds Unit 517 - Managing time in the workplace.  City & Guilds Unit 524 - Understanding conflict at work. 

City & Guilds Unit 509 – Introduction to CPD.  City & Guilds Unit 513 - Introduction to the principles of setting up a business.