Teachers, employers and support

Teacher encounters with business

Get to know the jobs market your students are about to enter.

Teacher training funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to give teachers first hand experience of the workplace, an understanding of the current jobs market and support to embed careers education into their lessons.

We know that for young people, understanding how the subjects they study link to the world of work makes a real difference to their life chances. Linking the curriculum to careers can also help to improve student attainment, engagement and attendance.

Employability skills and knowledge can be taught in any lesson and we’re here to help you embed careers support and advice into the curriculum.

How the training works:

Working in partnership with We Are IVE, we’ll match you with a local employer
Across two online sessions (usually 3pm – 5pm) you’ll learn what skills employers need, get a feel for what the jobs market is like today and get support to embed careers education into your lessons.
During a half-day visit to an employer’s workplace, you’ll get real life context of what employment could be like for your students.

What you’ll gain:

An understanding of how the skills taught through your subject can be applied to local job roles.
Knowledge of what skills are needed by local employers and what roles are available.
An understanding of the various career pathways within an industry, including vocational pathways such as apprenticeships.
Support to develop resources that embed careers education into your lessons.
Support to achieve Gatsby Benchmark 4 – linking curriculum learning to careers.
Onward support to introduce your students to local employers.
An opportunity to access and develop local business networks
A chance to support your local school or college through your CSR programme

Feel inspired by other teachers.

"I think it's been interesting and so valuable for me to get out and have a look at a local business in our community and really get into a workplace. One take away for me is to start talking about employability skills and link them to careers, especially with my year 10s."

Science teacher

"It's made me see the benefits of embedding careers into the curriculum and want to push more for it in lessons, because I know the benefits in the long run for students. I think that it has really changed my perspective and how I'm going to approach employability in the future."

English teacher

"Tom [an intern at Arup] was inspirational and how he talked about what school hadn’t taught him and how he wished they had. Before I heard that, I would have probably let students back away from more challenging things like presentations and group work skills, but now I understand that would do them a disservice and I need to think how I can support them to be able to succeed."

Science teacher

"In the short term, a personal achievement has been embedding careers, as that is something that I've wanted to do for a long time but there never seems to be the time to do it. Whereas, by taking part in this initiative, it's kind of given me that time and opportunity to do it. I just didn't know there was so much support for careers. I just presumed that we were just left to our own devices. But that's not the case. The support and offer of making connections has become clear to me now and it is completely fantastic."

Maths teacher

Working with the school helps my team to gain new skills and confidence, so it has a positive impact on the business.

Rachel Dilley, COO, Town Hall Group

"Listening to the apprentices speak, it was really nice to hear them speak and hear how eloquent they were. I guess it has been a reminder and refresher for me of how powerfully young people can speak to other young people – I think my students would listen to these apprentices far more than they would listen to me and take advice and knowledge from them that they wouldn’t take from me. It is a good reminder of how we can do things better or differently."

English teacher

"Through the encounter with Jet2 and the subsequent classroom activity, students were exposed to tangible examples of how mathematical skills are valued in various industries. This exposure improved their understanding of the practical applications of maths and ignited a sense of curiosity about potential career paths. As Raj noted, "The students were really engaged during the activity. They were asking questions about the different jobs in the travel industry and how maths is used in them. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm."

Maths Teacher who followed up the CPD with a classroom activity featuring Jet2