Careers

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Student Entitlement

Our careers programme is intended to meet the needs of ALL students.  It is differentiated and personalised, to ensure progression and to strengthen students’ motivation and attainment at school.  We aim to: promote self-awareness, confidence and aspiration, to improve employment prospects, widen participation in Higher Education and to challenge stereotyping or discrimination by promoting equality and diversity of opportunity. 

Our careers programme is designed to ensure that students develop a plan of action for their future, based on:

• An understanding of the changing Labour Market – meaningful information about what jobs are available, now and in the future, and on both a national and local level, and choices and qualifications required to get into those jobs
• Knowledge of the study choices available to them, after Year 11 and Year 13, including: the full range of opportunities within Further and Higher Education and through apprenticeships/traineeships and technical education qualifications.
• Practical encounters with employers through: attending talks, events and career fairs, visiting speakers, mentoring and enrichment activities
• Experience of workplaces through: visits, volunteering, part-time jobs or work experience as and when a student specifically requests a Work Experience Placement
• Career management skills and essential life and employability skills such as: how to manage finances, develop a CV, compete an application form or prepare for an interview
• An appreciation of how what they are learning in their lessons in school is important and relates to the world of work
• An understanding of themselves and their own interests, skills, likes and dislikes, talents and aspirations and how this affects the choices they make, in relation to future opportunities. This is achieved through: individual careers guidance and by providing tools and information for self-guided careers research.

Students will receive:

• Careers-related lessons and activities which are both discrete and embedded within the curriculum. All subjects will incorporate transferable skills links to the world of work.
• Guided time in Form to consider future education and career choices
• Access to careers and labour market information resources via a range of media and delivery channels
• One-to-one Career Guidance interviews providing impartial guidance from an advisor qualified to level 7 (Master’s degree level) holding the Qualification in Career Development (QCD)
• An individual personalised summary and Careers Action Plan with resources following the Careers Guidance meeting to take away with them
• Support for decision making and deciding Post-16 options such as further education, apprenticeships or training.
• A range of opportunities to meet employers and employees, inside and outside of the classroom, to develop an understanding of employment opportunities
• A range of opportunities to meet further education and training providers and understand the full range of Post-16 pathways including apprenticeships, traineeships and further education.

Students can expect to be:

• Treated equally with others
• Given careers information and advice that is up to date and impartial
• Treated with respect by visitors to the school who are part of the Careers Programme
• Given extra help if they have additional / special needs

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Linking Curriculum to Careers (Gatsby Benchmark 4) 

Careers and enterprise education is part of, and included in all students’ standard lessons, linking curriculum to real world career paths as well as local Labour Market Information.

Teachers are informed of, and involved with, the planning of the careers programme through INSET sessions.  They include links to careers in their Schemes of Work and refer to transferable skills throughout lessons by using the Building Learning Power principles, which are: Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reciprocity and Reflectiveness.

Some children may already have a career path in mind and may be preparing for the transition from school to Further or Higher Education, or employment with training.  Alternatively, perhaps they are still a little unsure of which direction they want to take. Parents and carers are more than welcome to contact the school and make an appointment with the Careers Advisor, in order to provide more support and to help the young person to make an informed choice about his/her/their future.

Subject links to careers: 

Art Textiles Photography	History
Business	Modern Foreign Languages
Criminology	Music
Design Technology	Philosophy and Ethics
Drama	Physical Education
English	Science
Geography	Sociology

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Personal Guidance (Gatsby Benchmark 8) 

Personal Guidance is a one-to-one careers guidance meeting between the student and a qualified careers advisor. Students in year 10 are offered at least one meeting and students in year 11 are offered another meeting. Students with additional needs and support are seen several times. Students are seen by a level 7 (Masters level) Careers Advisor to fulfil Gatsby Benchmark 8.

Students will receive a personalised Careers Action Plan with a summary and useful websites. 

Please see the template for further information on what to expect 

Evaluation and monitoring: We ask students how clear they feel about their future plans and how clear they feel about next steps. This is monitored through year 10 and 11 to see their journey, build their confidence and evaluate personal guidance.