Careers Education

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Careers Education

All students receive careers information and guidance throughout their time at St Bede’s.

At St Bede’s School our careers programme is an essential part of our personal development curriculum that focuses on preparing students for the next stage of their education, training and employment.

Our careers provision is inclusive of the needs of all our students to ensure that their transition into their future destination is as successful and seamless as possible. Implementing the Gatsby Benchmarks, a framework of good practise, we offer careers provision that informs students of the benefits of all aspects of further education and opportunities, including undergraduate university degrees, apprenticeships, technical education qualifications and more.

With the experiences, workshops and digital provision we provide for the students throughout their time at St Bede’s, we offer the pathway required to lay the foundations for future success.

Careers Officer: Mrs G Twigg
Email: school.careers@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk
Tel: 01737 212108

Next review date: April 2023

Inspiring Students

Throughout the year we have events for different year groups such as:

Talks by Oxford and Cambridge Universities
STEM events encouraging students to investigate careers in science, technology, engineering and maths
A careers fair visit
Employability skills sessions
Enterprise activities
Drama-based presentations to inspire career choices
Careers talks by employers and alumni

To support all our students we have resources available in the library. Mrs Twigg, our Careers Administrator is in school on Tuesday - Friday and can be contacted by email on school.careers@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk.

We are keen to expand our involvement with businesses to help us inform and educate our students about the world of work and provide networking opportunities for the future.

If you are an employer and/or one of our alumni and would be willing to help with the development of the future of our students by coming in to present at careers events, provide networking opportunities, work experience, mentoring or would be happy to share your career experiences and talk about the choices you made in order to get to where you are today, please contact Mrs Twigg at school.careers@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk.

We are members of the charity Future First - please join our alumni network here.

Support for Parents/Carers

Support for Parents

For parents, it can be difficult to know how to guide your child through their next steps and remain impartial while putting aside your own personal interests and experiences.

If you are unsure about how to approach the topic of careers with your child or would like some guidance on what is available, some of the following resources may be helpful:

http://www.parentadviser.co.uk/advice-for-parents.aspx

https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/support-for-parents-and-guardians

Many young people and their parents/carers can find the different post-16 options and the different qualifications difficult to navigate. Throughout their time at St Bede's our students will be provided with a full and impartial view of the opportunities available to them once they move on and taking their next steps.

Here are a couple of slides which will help explain the options:

What-are-the-options-after-Year-11.pdf

Parents Supporting Post-16 Options

What-are-the-options-after-Year-13.pdf

The Parents Guide To What's Next is available below to view. This comprehensive booklet outlines all the options available to students post 16 and 18.

The-Parents-Guide-to-whats-next-2022-2023.pdf

Additional downloadable information booklets are available at www.theparentsguideto.co.uk/guides, these include topics such as how to support your child with their revision and how to support your child on results day.

The Parent Perspective - A Careers Podcast (audio only)

Link to available careers podcasts on The Parent Perspective - https://anchor.fm/theparentperspective/episodes/Episode-1-The-Careers--Enterprise-Company-and-Gen--Healthy-Minds-e146qj0/a-a63lrbm

Year Group Career Programme

Every academic year we strive to extend our careers provision to each year group. The overview below is supported by a more detailed plan,available to view here.

Year 7 and 8

In Year 7 and 8 during Citizenship lessons, students are encouraged to think about their strengths, the transferable skills they already have, their interests and the world of work.

Year 9

In Year 9 we focus on the students' option choices. Sessions led by our specialist careers provider, Innervate Careers Services, look at the options available and help them to make the right decisions for their future.

An online careers programme called Fast Tomato helps students to link their likes and dislikes, skills and interests to subjects and potential careers ideas.

Year 10

Year 10 is a time for students to develop their skills and research their career ideas in more detail. We run our Enterprise Challenge which gives the students the opportunity to develop their teamwork, communication and organisational skills.

Each tutor group forms a company and establishes a business plan to work on a financial forecast, design marketing material, manufacture products and organise a sales strategy. They are provided with a startup fund to help with any initial costs and sell their products at our Enterprise lunchtime fair. All proceeds from the event go to charities chosen by the students.

In the summer term, with decisions regarding sixth form options required in the first term of Year 11, Innervate Careers run sessions which focus on further education, explaining the different routes such as A levels and Apprenticeships.

Year 11

Year 11 is a busy time academically for the students, however, Innervate Careers do run sessions for the students looking at college and university choices. Students are encouraged to make one-to-one careers appointments to discuss subject choices for Year 12 and to discuss where those subjects choices may lead.

A results day clinic is available for students requiring immediate advice. The careers adviser will be in school the following day and appointments will be available via the 'St Bede's School Careers Appointments' page.

Sixth Form

Year 12 focuses on the next steps required to help our students meet their aspirations or provide the resources to help inspire those who don’t yet have a career plan.

Looking Forward Day is a dedicated day of workshops relating to higher educational options and how to access and utilise the supporting resources available to help students make decisions about their next steps.

In June, once exams are over, Year 12 students take part in a work experience week This allows them to develop their employability skills and experience the reality of the workplace. This is independently arranged but must be authorised by the school and follow the school's process.

For more information on Sixth Form careers and higher education advice and guidance, please click here.

Careers support for SEND students

It is important that every young person has access to careers education, no matter what their background or circumstances. We ensure that each student has access to careers advice and is provided with tailored resources and training where needed.

Please see below some resources to help students and parent/carers with next step decisions.

Surrey County Council - Preparing for Adulthood (young adults with additional needs)

Innervate - Guide to Post-16 and Post-18 SEND Options

Careers Appointments

An Innervate Careers Service Adviser is in school every Friday to offer impartial one to one guidance to students. They are happy to advise on any aspect of careers whether it is advice on options, university, apprenticeship applications or "what can I do with a specific subject?"

Students can book an appointment via the 'St Bede's School Careers Appointments' system. These appointments are open to the whole school, but the main focus being on Year 10 and above.

These appointments are popular, so book today!

Baker Clause - Provider Access Requests

A provider wishing to request access should contact Mrs Twigg

Email: school.careers@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk

Any opportunity to broaden our Careers Education programme with information, advice and guidance is welcome. Providers are also encouraged to send a copy of their prospectus, relevant information about courses, apprenticeships or technical job opportunities.

These will then be shared with these students either in the careers library, through the student bulletin or in our weekly sixth form careers and higher education bulletin.

St Bede’s endeavours to ensure that all students are aware of all routes to higher skills and are able to access information on technical options and apprenticeships (In line with the Department of Education, July 2021: “Baker Clause”: supporting students to understand the full range of education and training options, and the Provider Access Legislation, January 2023).

Provider Access will support the St Bede’s policy for Access to other education and training providers to achieve the following:

To develop the knowledge and awareness of our students of all career pathways available to them, including technical qualifications and apprenticeships.

To support young people to be able to learn more about opportunities for education and training outside of school before making crucial choices about their future options.

To reduce the drop out from courses and avoid the risk of students becoming NEET (Young people not in education, employment or training).

Evaluating the Careers Education at St Bede’s

At St Bede’s we recognise the importance of monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the careers provision for students. Every term, we use the Careers and Enterprise Company’s Compass tool to evaluate how our careers programme performs against the Gatsby Benchmarks.

We regularly ask students, staff, parents and external providers for feedback via questionnaires and surveys after careers-orientated events and activities which are then evaluated to ensure any required improvements are identified and actioned.