The Careers Team at Roots and Shoots provides tailored advice, guidance and work experience opportunities to students across all the vocational courses in line with the Matrix Standard for good careers guidance. Our aim is to empower our students to reach their full potential and thrive in work.
Our Approach
People with SEND experience particular challenges and barriers around finding and staying in work. We support our students in exploring their motivations and aspirations, building their confidence and developing employability and other transferable skills. In both individual and small-group job coaching sessions, we provide reliable and up-to-date information, advice and resources to help students prepare to enter and navigate the ever-changing job market. We give practical help with writing CVs, cover letters and job applications, and practising job interviews.
We also offer various personal and professional training courses for our students including First Aid, Food Hygiene and Safety, Fire Awareness, Anti-bullying, Digital Safety and Relationships and Sex Education.
Work Placements
All students have the opportunity to undertake both onsite and offsite work placements aligned with their interests and ambitions. Work placements enable our students to work in a supported environment, learning to interact with employers and the public, and provide them with invaluable real-world experiences. Work placements vary in length, tailored to each student’s needs, so they can develop their skills and confidence in positive incremental steps.
To create successful matches, our Careers Team draw on their relationships with a diverse range of employers - ranging from local independent businesses and community organisations through to high-street brands. These partnerships span sectors including horticulture, catering, retail, gardening, art and culture, sports and community volunteering. Employer partners include Beaconsfield Gallery, Cafe Van Gogh, Eataly, Morley’s of Brixton, Pret a Manger, St John’s Church, Travel Cafe, Trinity Hospice, and many more.
Our employer partners have the potential to make a real change in our students’ lives. We foster long-lasting relationships with those who share our ethos, provide high-quality opportunities and recognise our student’s talents and the benefits of workforce diversity. We are proud to build active and meaningful links across the community for the benefit of all. If your organisation is interested in working with our students, please apply below.
Read Graduate Success Stories Apply to become an Employee Partner Find the Work Placement Attendance Register HereMeasuring Impact
To ensure we're helping our young people make genuine progress in getting ready for work and reaching their career ambitions, we evaluate the success of our careers programme regularly. We do this by:
Recording and analysing data about students’ destinations after Roots and Shoots, and using this to inform our future programme's content and goals (for example, helping more of our young people into apprenticeship programmes)
Keeping records of learner contact with job coaching and work-related activities, as a snapshot view of each students’ progress over the course of the year.
Having regular discussions with students' parents, carers and relevant professionals about students' ambitions and progress - ensuring that, where they're able to, the most important people in students' lives are involved in supporting their career path.
Contributing updates on learners’ interaction with the Careers Team and work placements to Roots and Shoots’ formal termly reviews of students’ progress.
Working collaboratively with employers and students to carry out termly reviews of learners’ progress in their work placements, evaluating progress and agreeing next steps.
Asking students to self-rate their own confidence with different aspects of work-related activities, as well as relevant life skills (e.g. managing money) at different points over the academic year.
Asking students for feedback on their experience of job coaching, to help inform improvements to our group and individual sessions.
For more information about our Careers & Work Placements, contact our Careers Lead, Beatriz Rodriguez De Guzman careers@rootsandshoots.org.uk, or call our office at 02075 871 131.