Creating Tomorrow
Employability Curriculum and Policies
Careers Education, Information, Advice, and Guidance (CEIAG) is an important part of school and college life. It’s statutory (a legal requirement) from Year 7 to help:
- Raise your aspirations (what you aim for)
- Challenge stereotypes (like thinking certain jobs are only for certain people)
- Encourage everyone to think about a wide range of careers and future opportunities
We believe that careers education can start earlier than Year 7. That’s why, in our primary schools, we begin introducing CEIAG as soon as learners join us.
You can find the latest government guidance on CEIAG here: Statutory Guidance 2025.
Working Together
To make our careers programme the best it can be, we work closely with:
Each of our sites works closely with career consultants from the South Midlands Careers Hub. They help us review and improve our careers programmes by using tools like the Gatsby Benchmark Compass Evaluation. These reviews happen every term and ensure that we’re offering the best support for planning your future.
How Does it Look in the Classroom?
Careers Education, Information, Advice, and Guidance (CEIAG) at Creating Tomorrow Education Partner sites is embedded in our Preparation for Adulthood Programme from the moment learners join us - whether they start in reception, secondary, post-16, or post-18. Every learner has access to a meaningful, tailored programme designed to prepare them for the future, regardless of their abilities.
Varying Approaches by Cohort
While the approach may vary across sites to meet the specific needs of different cohorts, the core principles and goals remain consistent. Creating Tomorrow is dedicated to ensuring every learner has access to opportunities and experiences suited to their needs, helping them prepare for life beyond education.
We acknowledge the diverse abilities, needs, ambitions, and plans of our learners for their lives beyond Creating Tomorrow Partnership. Our goal is to prepare young people for paths that are most appropriate and realistic for them.
We adopt a person-centred approach, collaborating directly with the young person, their families, and external agencies. This approach ensures learners have a voice and control when making significant decisions about their future education, lifestyle choices, access to adult social care and career options. Impartial information and advice are provided by a Level 6 trained Careers Guidance practitioner.
Building Core Skills
At Creating Tomorrow Partnership, we focus on building core skills into the curriculum, so all learners can develop and apply their abilities. Our approach grows with them over time, helping them build skills for work and life. Our careers programme is designed to meet the diverse needs of our learners, covering essential, life, social, and communication skills, as well as independence and building relationships.
We actively support the national careers strategy to prepare our young people in the best way possible. We are working towards achieving all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks across all sites and collaborate closely with supporting agencies such as Skills Builder, South Midlands careers hub, and the Careers & Enterprise Programme.
Career Activities - Can you help?
Throughout the year, learners take part in career activities alongside the employability and PFA curriculum, tailored to stretch and support them in meaningful ways. We’re always looking for new partners to help deliver these activities. Please get in touch if you can support:
Enterprise Days
Learners work with local businesses to build skills like meeting deadlines, creating quality products, giving presentations, and earning rewards.
Enterprise Fairs
Learners run their own stalls and market products with support from local businesses.
Careers Fairs and College Taster Days
Opportunities to explore local careers fairs and colleges, with virtual options for those unable to attend in person.
Meet the Experts
Talks, workshops, and Q&A sessions with professionals from different industries.
Student Internships
School-based roles where learners experience the recruitment process, training, and internships.
Awareness Events
Celebrations of National Careers Week, Apprenticeship Week, Neurodiversity Week, and more.
A Flexible Approach to Careers Education
At Creating Tomorrow Partnership, we understand that every learner is unique. That’s why we use a variety of academic programmes and personal development tools to meet individual needs. The learners we support can vary each year, so we draw on the expertise and knowledge from all our sites to ensure our Careers Education, Information, Advice, and Guidance (CEIAG) programme is both impactful and supportive.
Our flexible approach allows us to offer the best opportunities for our learners. Across our sites, you’ll find us working with and towards the following:
- The Kings Trust
- ASDAN
- NCFE
- Duke of Edinburgh Award
- Skills Builder Partnership
- Equals
- National Careers Week
- Neurodiversity Celebration Week
- Naturally Talented Me
- My Employment Passport
- Career Detectives – our in-house programme designed to support learners in discovering and developing their future pathways.
Parents, Carers and Family Involvement
We value family involvement at every stage of a young person’s journey across all of our sites. Each site has a different and tailored approach to meet family’s needs. Parents and carers can receive regular updates on careers-related information through our internal communication channels, including Arbor, Class Dojo, newsletters, and engagement evenings.
Families are encouraged to take an active role in their child’s future by participating in person-centred planning meetings and annual reviews. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss action plans and next steps in collaboration with their child.
We offer various opportunities for parents to be involved in key decisions about their child's future. At these stages, we provide guidance and signposting to relevant support services, including the Adult Social Care team, to help families prepare for the next phase of their child's life.
Quality in Careers Mark Award
At Creating Tomorrow we encourage our sites to gain a CEIAG Quality Award. This a method we use for external quality assurance.
The Government recommends that all schools should work towards a Quality Award for careers education, information, advice and guidance as an effective means of carrying out a self-review and evaluation of the school’s programme. The national validation, the Quality in Careers Standard, will assist schools to determine an appropriate Quality Award to pursue.
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance is something that continuously takes place. Where possible, this brings together as many stakeholders as possible, to be involved with this process. Across Creating Tomorrow we have 'Best Practice Teams' who work across different priority areas. The 'Careers and Destination' team work proactively and collaboratively to support and evaluate one another.
Policies
Every Creating Tomorrow site maintains appropriate statutory compliance. Policies, guidance and contact details can be found on individual sites. For ease please find these below:
| Creating Tomorrow Education Partner site | Careers leader contact details |
| Daventry Hill School | Louise Worts |
| Isebrook School | Ryan Storey |
| The Gateway School | Naveen Maharaj |
| Wren Spinney School | Anna Kirkland |
| Creating Tomorrow College | Carole Wilson-Frizzell |
Curriculum Model
We have chosen to call our curriculum the Futures Curriculum rather than an ‘employability curriculum’ to reflect the diverse pathways and outcomes of our learners. We recognise that not all learners will move into paid employment, and that success in adulthood can take many forms, including independent living, further education, creative pursuits, volunteering, or supported adult social care.
Personalised and aspirational careers curriculum
The Futures Curriculum is therefore designed to be inclusive, personalised, and aspirational, providing learners with a broad range of skills, experiences, and knowledge to prepare them for life beyond school. For those for whom work is a relevant goal, it offers progressive employability skills and real-world experiences that build confidence and readiness for the world of work.
Equally, the curriculum supports learners to develop life skills, independence, and self-advocacy, and for those accessing adult social care, it provides opportunities to explore and understand what adulthood may look like for them. The focus is on preparing all learners for meaningful, fulfilling futures, whatever form that may take, ensuring that every learner can make informed choices, gain independence, and achieve their personal aspirations.
Progressive inclusive careers pathway
Our Futures curriculum has been carefully designed to provide a progressive, coherent, and inclusive pathway for learners from primary through post-18 education. The aim is to ensure that every learner develops the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to navigate future employment successfully, regardless of their starting point or additional needs.
The curriculum is structured to be developmental, with skills building incrementally at each stage of education. In primary, learners are introduced to concepts such as teamwork, communication, and responsibility. As learners progress through secondary education, these skills are refined and expanded, incorporating problem-solving, self-management, and an understanding of workplace expectations. At post-16 and post-18, learners engage in real-world experiences, extended work placements, and vocational preparation, ensuring they are work-ready and confident in their abilities.
Learning is sequenced and connected, allowing learners to make meaningful links between their experiences at different stages. This approach ensures that learners are not repeating isolated activities but are instead progressing towards increasingly sophisticated employability competencies, aligned to industry expectations and their individual aspirations.
The curriculum is tailored to individual learner needs, recognising that our learners may have cognition, communication, or social-emotional needs that require differentiated approaches. By embedding reasonable adjustments and personalised learning opportunities, we ensure that all learners can access the curriculum and achieve meaningful outcomes.
Practical Learning experiences
Learning experiences are practical, contextualised, and linked to local employers, community interests, and industries. From primary-level enterprise projects to post-18 vocational placements, learners engage with activities that mirror real workplace expectations, enhancing both their skills and confidence.
At every stage, the curriculum is designed to prepare learners for successful transitions, whether into further education, vocational training, volunteering, accessing adult social care, or employment. By embedding progression, practical experience, and reflective learning, learners leave with the resilience, adaptability, and employability skills needed to thrive in adult life.
At Creating Tomorrow, our Careers Leaders and Futures teams work collaboratively to design and deliver the Futures Curriculum. While each team brings its own focus, expertise, and offers different courses and qualifications, they are united by a shared vision and desired outcome: helping every learner to ‘create their tomorrow’.