At Marshfields School we believe that all students have a role to play in the workforce of the future. We work tirelessly to ensure that they develop the skills and resilience needed for a successful career, working carefully within the context of their additional needs. Post 16 Lead co-ordinates our careers programme. 

Planned transition is an important part of our work at Marshfields. We carefully consider all possible options with each individual and their strengths and future aspirations in mind. Some students remain with us in our Post 16 provision. Others have opted for an apprenticeship, or the world of work, whilst most of our students have transitioned successfully into mainstream colleges. We work hard to ensure that the next move is at the right level and enables the students to build on the success they have experienced with us.

We consider transition from the moment students join, however young they may be, so we can build students’ confidence and social skills through working on areas of need identified in the Skills Framework, such as motivation, respect, resilience, organisation and teamwork. We do this by offering a programme of extended work experience, supported as necessary. We monitor the impact of this on an individual basis and can evidence how our students go from requiring high levels of support to attending independently.

All annual review meetings explore the voice of the child in their career plans and encourage parents to become aware of the options available to their child. This information is fed back to the local authority on annual review documentation. 

We work closely with local providers, employers, schools and colleges to ensure we understand students’ interests to find the right work experience placement, college course and environment for success. We liaise with professionals, parents and, most importantly, our students to determine the next step.

Students who are able, in key stage 4, will have the opportunity to access work experience for two weeks. Some students will access a longer period of work experience which is designed to ensure they have the relevant experience to apply for a mainstream college course.

Within our timetabled provision, we ensure there is dedicated cross- curricula careers time, including a dedicated week to careers as well as additional link days with colleges and employers across Peterborough.

We try to source every available opportunity to prepare students for the next phase of their lives. We support students by providing courses and experiences with colleges/alternative placements/employers work experience, multiple taster days and supported visits during which we share all the relevant information on all student’s strengths and weaknesses with our professional colleagues. We try to involve our parents in this as much as possible, so they can support the management of impending significant change.