The Careers team at Stephen Longfellow Academy ensures that students have ongoing encounters with employers and employees and encounters with further and higher education establishments. This is partly achieved by supporting students in Years 10 & 11 (KS4) to attend the Next Gen Choices Careers Fair.

The Next Gen Choices Careers Fair is an annual external careers fair, held at Elland Road pavilion where school students can meet and engage with a variety of employers and education establishments to learn more about their post 16 options and make informed choices about their futures. All students in KS4 were invited to attend the event on 18 October 2022.

Prior to the event, sessions were held with students to explain the benefit of visiting this career fair, explain which providers will be present and the importance of the fair for careers action planning.

At the fair students were exposed to different post-16 pathways and providers, colleges such as: Leeds City College, Leeds College of Building, Askham Bryan College etc. Employers were also present such as the Army, Navy, and apprenticeship providers such as Appris Engineering and ASAP sales to name a few.

Most students engaged well with the providers and their staff members. Stephen Longfellow Academy students also had the support of the careers team to help them initiate conversations with providers as needed so that there was maximum engagement. For those students who missed out on the day, an internal careers fair will be held by the Careers Team in February 2023.

By supporting students to attend the fair and engage with the fair, the Stephen Longfellow Academy is working towards meeting Gatsby benchmark 5 and 7, which define best practice in careers provision.

Students’ comments were positive about the experience and included:

“I can do lots of things when I leave” SH

“The Army stand was good. The man gave me lots of information about jobs in the army.” LW

80% of the students said the Careers Fair had made them more aware of their post 16 options and

80% said they would recommend the Careers Fair to other students.

Raj Gill (Senior Careers Officer)