Promoting a culture of career development is an essential part of our mission and ethos at St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Our aim is to support and develop the aspirations of all our students from Year 7 to 13 and to ensure that they gain the understanding, skills and experience they need to make progress and succeed in learning and the world of work. We strongly believe that effective careers education, information, advice and guidance not only contributes to the well-being and enhanced social mobility of each of our students, but also to the well-being of their families, the communities to which they belong, the wider society and the economy.
Our Careers Policy and Provider Access Policy Statement can be found here. Both policies are reviewed every two years. The next review date is April 2025.
Our Careers programme follows all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks set up by the Gatsby Foundation and is committed to the pursuit of excellence in all that we do. Through a planned programme of careers activities, all students are given the tools by which they can make informed choices about their future education, training and employment. We strive to provide a range of varied and engaging experiences and opportunities that our students participate in throughout their journey with us, from Year 7 to 13. These activities are delivered in a variety of ways (such as in assemblies, tutor sessions, drop down days, subject lessons, specific careers events) and are geared to enhancing students’ awareness of different education and career pathways, giving them opportunities to explore their own careers interests and in supporting them to develop employability skills.
Our Careers Programme for 2024-25 can be found here. Each year, we evaluate our careers programme against the benchmarks and by seeking feedback from students, employers/speakers and staff to ensure it remains on target and relevant for our students.
Careers team:
Our Careers programme is led by Mrs Susanne Farrar (Assistant Principal) who is the designated Careers Leader. She is supported by Mrs Natasha Pisano, our Careers and Work Experience Coordinator.
Mrs Farrar can be contacted on 020 8325 4630 or via email s.farrar@srrcc.org.uk
To contact Mrs Pisano, please call 020 8325 4630 or via email n.pisanocareers@srrcc.org.uk
We work in partnership with Careers Advisers from Innervate Careers, to offer personal guidance sessions to our students in Key Stage 4 and 5. We also work closely with our local Enterprise Co-ordinator from the London Enterprise Adviser Network.
Support for students:
When you reach a crossroads in your education journey, or when considering what career you might want to pursue, it can be quite daunting to work out which path to take. We want to ensure that each of our students at SRRCC are fully informed about the different options that are available, and that you have the tools you need to find out what you need to do in order to be successful in your chosen area of further study or work.
The first thing to be aware of is that everyone needs to be in learning until the age of 18. This does not necessarily mean staying in school, you can opt to study or train in any of the following ways:
- Studying full time in school, college or with any training provider
- Working or volunteering, combined with part-time education or training
- Apprenticeship, traineeship or study programme
Please take a look at our dedicated Careers website here for an overview of the pathways available. There is an infinite range of possibilities out there for you to consider when working out how you can become the person God has created you to be.
Support for Parents:
Knowing where to start to support your child with their career choices can be a bit of a challenge and at SRRCC we recognise that there is a need for clear, concise, and impartial information on the choices available out there. As the primary educators of your child, the contribution that you as parents play in the decision making process of your son or daughter’s career choices is critical.
Please do have a read through our dedicated SRRCC careers website here to find resources to help you be fully informed about the options available and how best to support your child in their thinking about careers and ‘next steps’.
The Careers team is also available to help parents and carers to support their child with their career planning. If this is something you would like to discuss further, please contact the careers team via Mrs Pisano.
If you would like to provide feedback on, or you are willing to be involved and support, our Careers Programme, please contact Mrs Pisano at n.pisanocareers@srrcc.org.uk .
Connecting students with employers:
At SRRCC, we are busy growing the employees and entrepreneurs of the future. We need your help to raise their career aspirations, develop their employability skills and learn more about the exciting industries in our local area.
Having employers like you helping to inspire young minds and transform attitudes through a range of activities and opportunities is the foundation of an excellent careers programme, as set out by the Gatsby Foundation’s eight Benchmarks of good practice. We are always very keen to expand the number of employers and businesses who support us in informing and educating our students about local and national employment opportunities.
If you would like to help us in the delivery of our CEIAG programme – by becoming involved in one of our events, by providing a drop in session to speak with our students, by providing experiences of your workplace, or by offering support in a particular curriculum area – please contact our Careers Coordinator Mrs Pisano, n.pisanocareers@srrcc.org.uk.
Support for Teachers:
Embedding careers in the curriculum is key to our students’ success once they leave the college. We are constantly reviewing ways we can do this, and work with our faculty to find new and interesting ways to complement their teaching with real-life examples of how subjects relate to jobs. A list of helpful links for teachers can be found here, and we are building out separate subject areas on the internal Careers in the Curriculum shared drive where teachers can search for more resources.
More support can also be found at the Careers and Enterprise Company, such as this whitepaper: Careers in the Curriculum: What Works?
How the Old Reynoldians, our former students, can help:
If you left SRRCC recently or a few years ago, we would love to welcome you back to the College as our Old Reynoldians. Old Reynoldians are at the heart of St Richard Reynolds College and play a very special part in our community. Please register on our Alumni network here and connect with us on Linkedin here
We would like to hear from you and find out what you are doing, as well as keeping you updated on news and events here at SRRCC. Perhaps you could come and speak to a group of our current students and tell them about what you have done since completing your GCSEs or A-Levels with us? Could you talk about your apprenticeship journey, how you found your degree course or what you have enjoyed about the first jobs you have had since completing your time in education?
Please do get in touch with Mrs Pisano at n.pisanocareers@srrcc.org.uk to discuss what you might be able to offer. Don’t forget to encourage friends from your time at the school to reconnect and help us to grow our Old Reynoldians Association too! We look forward to hearing from you and/or seeing you at a school event very soon.
Sixth Form Destinations:
It is always a special moment when our students, whether they have studied with us for two years, seven years or longer, receive the exam results they need to continue successfully to the next stage of their learning journeys. We are proud that our students go on to take up places at university, on apprenticeships and in the workplace. Please click here to see a summary of the 2024 university destinations of our Sixth Form students.