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Understanding careers education and provision

The careers team will be delivering a programme to each year group which ensures that The Gateway Academy meets the government's guidance on careers education.

Careers guidance in schools, colleges and universities (England)

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7236/

Since September 2013, local authority-maintained schools in England have been under a duty to provide impartial careers guidance to pupils from years 8 to 13 (ages 12-18). The Department for Education has published statutory guidance (most recently updated in July 2021) for maintained schools on their duty to provide careers guidance. In September 2022, this duty will be extended to pupils in year 7, and to all academies. 

Careers Hubs, run by the Careers and Enterprise Company, work with schools and colleges to train staff to improve careers advice and provide opportunities to engage with employers.

DfE Careers Strategy and the Skills and Post-16 Education Act

The Department for Education’s Careers Strategy was published in December 2017.  It set out a series of measures to be implemented between 2018 and 2020 to improve careers guidance in England, including the introduction of new benchmarks for careers education.

Gatsby Benchmarks:

1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information _ Google Classroom and notice board, half termly labour update and advise bulletin
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil - Term 2 of each year, parent and student questionnaire to be sent out and evaluated
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers – Now built into the curriculum, to be evaluated through questionnaire and review
5. Encounters with employers and employees – whole school and targeted opportunities as they arrive along with planned activities throughout the 5-year plan
6. Experiences of workplaces – mainly through year 10 but also as online opportunities where appropriate
7. Encounters with further and higher education – Featured universities,
8. Personal guidance – Every student to have at least one 1-1 meeting in year 11 along with targeted risk of NEET in all other years

Baker Clause statements:

• All advice given will be impartial, ensuring that all post 16 pathways are explained and available to all students.
• The Academy will actively promote engagement from all post 16 providers and make them available to all learners and ensure all sectors are represented in career activities and initiatives.
• There will be no bias attributed to academic, vocational or work opportunities as part of any part of the curriculum or career guidance.
• All efforts will be made to ensure that the Gatsby benchmark threshold is achieved and this will be reviewed half-termly as part of quality assurance and the review process.

Provider access legislation

The updated provider access legislation (PAL) has now been enacted. It specifies that schools must provide at least six encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education for all their students:  

• Two encounters for pupils during the ‘first key phase’ (year 8 or 9) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend 
• Two encounters for pupils during the ‘second key phase’ (year 10 or 11) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend 
• Two encounters for pupils during the ‘third key phase’ (year 12 or 13) that are mandatory for the school to put on but optional for pupils to attend 

For further reading;

• Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on providing careers guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools
• National Careers Service https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/
• The Careers and Enterprise Company https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/
• The Careers Development Institute https://www.thecdi.net/Home

All staff and students have access to the Unifrog careers platform. The programme provides a learning journey that equips students with knowledge about the world of work, it impartially informs them about opportunities and encourages aspiration.

Unifrog is a database which enables the user to research career paths, search for courses at colleges, sixth forms, access live apprenticeship opportunities, explore higher education routes and much more. Students can then store the information and create a short list, giving them responsibility and ownership of their own destination options when leaving school and moving on to their next steps.

Students can click here to log in https://www.unifrog.org/sign-in

If your student is having trouble logging in to their account, they can see Mrs Fuller during your break or after school, or email anna.fuller@theglc.org.uk.

During the course of the academic year, Year 11 students will be invited to attend a careers interview to discuss their aspirations and next steps. This will be by appointment and it is vital that students do not miss their allotted time. The careers office will be open during breaks and after school for students to drop in for further support and advice.

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Office Opening Times:

Monday - Friday 8am - 3pm.

[No appointment needed]

 

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Information about events and opportunities for students can be found on your Careers Google Classroom.  This is updated regularly, so check in, so you don’t miss out!

 

Events

As part of the Careers programme, students will have opportunities to take part in workshops, hear from guest speakers and attend aspirational visits to Universities, Colleges and Sixth Forms.  For an overview of the Careers Activities and Events - please click here

Support

Your young person can get more support and advice from Inspire Hub

24-28 Orsett Road, Grays, RM17 5EB

01375 413 735

thurrockcareers@thurrock.gov.uk

www.thurrock.gov.uk/career-support-for-young-people/thurrock-careers

Further Education at College and Sixth Form

Are you or your young person thinking of Further Education at College or Sixth Form? There are a range of subjects and qualifications they could opt for.

The academic route is A levels. You will typically study three complimenting subjects for 2 years. Each subject studied will end in an examination. You could then continue on to higher education at University or enter the world of work, embarking on your chosen career.

The vocational route includes a range of qualification types including BTEC, NVQ, CACHE, UAL. You will be focusing on one particular subject or industry. These courses are very practical and you may be required to attend a work placement too. These courses are mainly coursework-based, although some do include assessments for some units studied.

T Levels are an alternative to A levels, apprenticeships and other 16 to 19 courses. Equivalent in size to 3 A levels, a T Level focusses on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships.

1. Attend as many College and Sixth Form Open Evenings as possible. These are usually with in the first term of Year 11. You can find dates and times advertised on the college web sites, in the career’s office and on your Careers Google Classroom.
2. Choose subjects you enjoy, excel in or that will support your next steps and career aims.
3. Consider the distance how you will travel each day.
4. Ask about a bursary. You may be eligible for financial support to help with the cost of travel or study equipment.
5. Ensure that the College or Sixth Form can provide the additional support you require.

Teacher Feedback

"It is with pleasure that I give this feedback. The support you have given year 11 is just amazing, I know that they have valued this immensely too, along with their parents.  The work you have put into the possible NEET students will hopefully pay dividends and all this with a friendly smile too.  Oh, I forgot about the Uni trips and the follow-up visit from one of them. I was in this group and had such a great day.  One of the students didn’t want to come in that day because of the trip but managed to persuade his mum to send him, in time and this had such an impact on him.  Thank you, you have been a godsend" - Anna Year 11 Lead Coach

"7S 1 look forward to Wednesday's career PAD session. They are fully engaged and have great recall of previous job of the week. They give great feedback and ask many questions. They like to compare the salaries for the jobs.

This session shows the most engagement. Some of the students in my PAD cannot read so we pause the videos to allow me to read this to them.

They try and guess what the next job of the week could be" - Ashley Year 7 Tutor

"Year 11 students have all had at least 1 appointment with Anna, some have had more, they have all discussed their next steps, college applications, apprenticeships and more. We have been inundated with reference requests as so many students have applied for college and 6^th forms following their meetings with Anna and the information she regularly shares with students.

We have had 3 visits from outside providers to discuss the opportunities they offer, including a visit from Writtle College about university finance and life. This is because over 70 students have expressed a keen interest in attending university post 18 yrs.

Anna is now in the process of coordinating a bespoke programme for 20 students to really direct them with their next steps once they leave the Academy. The year 11 team really enjoy working with Kate and will continue to support her moving forward to ensure all students are confident in their next steps away from the Academy." - Laura Head of Year 11