Laurelhill Community College works tirelessly to match the curriculum with the aspirational careers of individual pupils. Careers Education is a statutory cross curricular theme of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. All teachers and subject departments contribute to careers education through their individual programmes of study. In addition a variety of strategies to ease pupils’ transition to adult working life, were adopted by the Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance Department, and were undertaken in conjunction with personnel from the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL), Lisburn as well as with representatives of local industry and businesses.
As part of the Learning for Life and Work Programme pupils in years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 all receive timetabled Careers Education lessons as modular courses within Education for Employability Modules. This timetabled provision is intended to raise pupils’ awareness and understanding of their individual abilities, aptitudes and skills in relation to post-sixteen education, training and employment opportunities both locally and globally and so ease their transition to adult working life.
A careers programme has also been developed to suit the needs of students in years 13 and 14 (sixth form). Lessons include students assessing their strengths and weaknesses, an introduction to both local and global occupational structures and employment opportunities. Students were also encouraged to investigate opportunities in third level education and were assisted with their applications including UCAS.