Careers Education
At St Mary’s Catholic High School, we aim to inspire, motivate and engage our students to realise their potential. We want them to aspire to achieve. We believe that giving the students excellent careers education and guidance is vital to improving both their future prospects and their motivation to learn.
We are committed to ensuring that students have high quality advice on career opportunities and that they progress onto appropriate courses or employment on leaving the school.
Our Head of Careers is Mrs E Carlile and she can be contacted via the school office by email on office@stmaryscroydon.co.uk and by telephone on 020 8686 3837.
Curriculum Overview
We deliver our Careers programme both inside and outside the classroom. The school’s PSHE curriculum includes units of work for all students in years 7-11 which are age-specific and appropriate to the stage of students’ development.
Key Stage 3
Year 7
Developing Skills and Aspirations – careers, teamwork and enterprise skills and raising aspirations
Students Learn:
- about a broad range of abilities and qualities required for different careers and about equality of opportunity
- how to develop skills such as empathy, communication, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership, risk management and creativity
- about the link between values and career choices
- how to challenge stereotypes and how to identify future career aspirations
Year 8
Community and Careers
Students learn:
- About equality of opportunity in life and work
- How to challenges stereotypes and discrimination in relation to work and pay
- About different types of employment, voluntary work and how to set goals for future careers and challenge expectations
Year 9
Setting goals
Students learn:
- About setting SMART targets and how to achieve them
- About GCSE options and post-16 student options skills
- Different types of employment and how to link future employment to aspirations and set meaningful and realistic goals for the future
- Retirement planning including pensions and health care
Key Stage 4
Year 10
Preparation for the world of work
- Maintaining life-work balance
- Salaries, tax, pensions, renting and buying property in the UK
- How to develop strategies to overcome challenges
- How to maintain a positive presence online
- How to develop self-evaluation skills using a personal SWOT analysis
Year 11
Life after St Mary’s
- Post-16 options and what to look for when visiting a provider
- Application process, interview questions, how to write a personal statement
- CV writing and job interview skills, how to maximise employability and understanding your Personal brand
- Maintaining life-work balance
- Salaries, tax, pensions, renting and buying property in the UK
Morrisby Testing
As of 2026, St Mary’s Catholic High School has partnered with Morrisby Careers to Students complete the full Morrisby profile at the start of Year 10. This profiling, similar to CATS testing, will give the students a list of suitable career options based on their answers to a series of questions. Using the Labour Market information on the platform, students can then look at routes into these careers along with associated careers, so that they have access to a wide range of information to help them reflect upon and plan their future.
St Mary’s Student Careers Conferences
In the Lent Term of Year 9, Year 9 students attend the school’s Year 9 Careers Conference. This is a one-day Conference which takes place at school. Students are introduced to the Morrisby Careers Platform learn how to use it. Students also receive taster lessons in some GCSE option subjects to understand more about what will be taught in these subjects.
In the Michaelmas Term of Year 11, Year 11 students attend the Year 11 Careers Conference. This is a one-day Conference which takes place at school. Students attend workshops by Elevate Education on ‘Time management during your GCSEs’ as well as sessions on ‘Career Planning in the 21st Century’ and ‘Your Personal Brand’. They also attend the St Mary’s Sixth Form Fair where a range of local 6th Form providers are invited to the school to meet our students. We ensure that our students are thoroughly prepared for the Fair so that they can ask for detailed information about courses and subjects that are on offer to them.
Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about these events. Comments from some Year 11 students are below:
“This day has been really useful for my future studies – Thank you so much”
“This day made it so much easier to choose my Sixth Forms – Thank you!”
“The sessions were fun and helped me to plan my revision better.”
Student Destinations
St Mary’s Catholic High School is an 11-16 school. Students are prepared for the next stage of their education/career journey, with most continuing to local Sixth Forms, Sixth Form Colleges or Colleges of Further Education.
