Our Vision
To consistently support and engage every individual student to understand and develop their own future pathway, and to confidently raise and achieve their aspirations in an increasingly competitive and ever-changing world.
Welcome to Southmoor Academy’s Career web pages. In this section you will be able to access information regarding all aspects of our careers education, information, advice and guidance.
Click here to read our Careers Strategy for 2019 – 2022.(Revised September 2021)
Click here to read our Careers Improvement Plan 2022 – 2023
Click here to read our Careers Improvement Plan 2023-2024
There has never been a time when careers guidance has been as important for young people as it is today. At Southmoor Academy we have a critical role to play in preparing our students for the next stage of their education or training and beyond. Our students will be embarking upon a career pathway which is more challenging and complex than that faced by previous generations. Global opportunities and increasing technological advances will result in young people having several careers during their working life and potentially working in a career which does not currently exist.
With the greater choices of education, training and employment, our aim is to prepare students for these ever changing opportunities, responsibilities and experiences and to equip them with the skills to manage the choices, changes and transitions ahead of them.
Our careers education curriculum is delivered to all year groups through our Personal Development Time programme. To support our delivery of careers, we have strong partnerships with a wide range of educational institutions, training providers and employers who contribute to our careers programme. Please see our CEIAG events section for details of our latest careers events and activities.
We participate in a range of external activities including the Work Discovery Week organised by Sunderland Local Authority and Sunderland Football Club. We also hold our own annual Careers Fair inviting local Post 16 providers, large and small businesses and the local university network.
Our Careers Leader, Mr. Wareham, has recently completed the Teach First Careers & Employability programme (CELP).
The Academy provides in-school guidance and independent advice from our dedicated careers advisor to ensure our students receive the impartial advice that they need. Our personal careers advisor is Julia Robinson. Julia is a professionally trained careers guidance practitioner.
As part of our careers programme, Year 11 and Sixth Form students are provided with a one to one guidance interview with our qualified careers advisor. Parents are welcome to attend these meetings. Students in Years 7-10 can request a careers guidance interview by completing a referral form available from the Careers Hub.
Every year 10 student has the opportunity to participate in a work experience placement week towards the end of Year 10. Our students are provided with guidance to organise their own placement with support from their Year Leader, form tutor, and through Personal Development Time. Further details are available within this careers section of our website.
We have a whole school approach to careers education with every member of staff helping to deliver quality and impartial CEIAG, allowing students to access the necessary information to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Our programme of focus days throughout the year supports our careers education curriculum and in line with the most recent careers guidance strategy (January 2023), our careers plan supports the achievement of the eight Gatsby benchmarks.
As part of our commitment to providing high-quality careers education, information, advice and guidance, we are delighted to have been awarded the Inspiring IAG Quality in Careers Standard “fully meeting the standard” incorporating meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks. We were successful in achieving Stage 1 of the Award in December 2018, Stage 2 in July 2019 and the Full Award in July 2020.
We were also successful in our re-accreditation assessment in July 2023, which means that we now hold the award until 2026.
Southmoor is delighted to be a School Affiliate Member of the CDI (Career Development Institute) which provides us with access to a wide range of Careers resources including both training and networking opportunities.
Southmoor is also one of 40 schools who is part of the North East Careers Hub. This provides us with access to additional resources, support from business providers and further training and network opportunities within the Careers Hub.
Southmoor is part of the Enterprise Advisor Network. Karen Routledge, Business Development Manager at Seta (Sunderland Engineering and Training Association) is attached to the school. Karen has been involved in STEM teaching and support for over 30 years starting with leading Sunderland Council’s Study Support Team, progressing into her own education consultancy which she ran for 12 years before then leading to the Business Development function for Apprenticeships at both Rolls-Royce Training Centre and now at Seta. Karen has worked with the school over many years and we are delighted that she has joined us to support our careers provision.
We hope you will find this section of our website informative and easy to use. If you require more information about any aspect of our careers education, information advice and guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
