Welcome to Woodkirk Academy

At Woodkirk Academy, we pride ourselves on offering our students a wide variety of encounters with employers and local businesses, from Year 7 right through to Sixth Form.

Destinations Day

We host an annual careers fair 'Destinations Day' in school where all of our students, including Sixth Form have a chance to visit over 50 various company stands, asking questions and collecting literature available.

UK University + Apprenticeship Search Fair

In October, our Year 13’s attend Elland Road stadium where they are able to gain an overview of the range of academic routes, by interacting with universities, apprenticeships and colleges. The fair provides students with the guidance that they need, wherever they are in their decision-making process, and offers the potential career pathways that they can pursue. Click here for more information.

Taster Days

On our Taster Days, the Year 10’s become a Sixth former for the day! They get to sample a small part of their three chosen A Level subjects to experience what the subjects can offer them. This often helps them to decide their future career path and aids their planning for their next steps. Local colleges are invited into school to share their offering too.

Universities Visit

We aim to take our Year 8’s out on a University visit around the National Careers Week. This is a fantastic occasion for our students to enjoy a tour around the facilities, gaining an understanding of the courses on offer and helps students to embrace university life, by quizzing the University Ambassadors and the tour host with any questions they may have.

Apprenticeship Talks

Every year, we invite our contact from the ASK Programme to attend Woodkirk Academy to give a talk on Apprenticeships. We also like to invite guest speakers from different sectors in to celebrate the National Apprenticeship Week with us, this helps to challenge any stereotypical behaviour in relation to our students choosing a Career.

Assemblies / TEAMS

Assemblies are a very useful tool to present Career information to the students. The Careers team introduce themselves to Year 7 at the start of the year, and reminds the other Year groups of the support on offer throughout their school life. 

We also interact with our Year 7’s via TEAMS, where we share interactive links and publications/materials to foster an early bond and promote an interest in Careers. We discuss ‘What is an Entrepreneur?’ for example, this encourages students to discuss and think about what they are interested in. We provide information on the average salaries; what qualities employers look for and the qualifications required to enter their chosen field.

We have many more exciting events and talks that happen throughout the school year for each year group, we find these events and talks help to drive student aspirations, they promote our school values: Work Hard, Be Kind and Take Responsibility, and our overall goal of ‘Forging Young Futures’.

Guest Speakers

Our guest speakers will come in to school to deliver their talks and career presentations to students. They will talk about their role within their company, the qualifications required for different roles and potential earnings, the employability skills that they look for in potential candidates, and the current job sector market. Please visit the guest speakers tab for more information.