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Careers

At Whitworth Park Academy we aim to consistently support and engage every individual student to understand and develop their own future pathway. To confidently raise and achieve their aspirations in an increasingly competitive and ever-changing world.

There has never been a time when careers guidance has been as important for young people as it is today. At Whitworth Park Academy we have a critical role to play in preparing our students for the next stage of their education or training and beyond. Our students will be embarking upon a career pathway which is more challenging and complex than that faced by previous generations. Global opportunities and increasing technological advances will result in young people having several careers during their working life and potentially working in a career which does not currently exist.

With greater choices of education, training and employment, our aim is to prepare students for these ever-changing opportunities, responsibilities and experiences. We also aim to equip them with the skills to manage the choices, changes and transitions ahead of them.

We have a whole school approach to careers education with every member of staff helping to deliver quality and impartial CEIAG, allowing students to access the necessary information to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Throughout all areas of school, we prepare students with the skills they will need to succeed in education and beyond into employment. The eight Essential Skills of listening, speaking, problem solving, creativity, staying positive, aiming high, leadership and teamwork are the ultimate transferable skills.

Our programme of activities, events and experiences throughout the year supports our careers education curriculum in line with the CDI Framework for Careers, Enterprise and Employability (2020) and the DfE document “Careers Guidance and Inspiration in Schools” (January 2018). Our careers plan also supports the achievement of the eight Gatsby benchmarks.

As part of our careers provision, we arrange the access of providers to students at school for the purposes of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer. This complies with the legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education act 1997 (the ‘Baker Clause’).

Finally, we aim to continue to develop a range of different resources, including the PSHE programme and school website. We work closely with Durham County Council, the local Area Action Partnership, the North East LEP, Durham Education Business Partnership and other relevant agencies in order to offer appropriate support, irrespective of ability so that all our students can make successful transitions within and beyond school.

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The Academy careers plan supports the achievement of the eight Gatsby benchmarks:

Benchmark 1: A Stable Careers Programme

Every school should have an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents and carers, staff, governors, employers and other agencies.

Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information

All pupils, parents and carers, teachers and staff who support pupils should have access to good-quality, up-to-date information about future pathways, study options and labour market opportunities. Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers may require different or additional information. All pupils will need the support of an informed adviser to make the best use of available information.

Benchmark 3: Addressing the Needs of Each Young Person

Pupils have different careers guidance needs at different stages. Careers programmes should help pupils navigate their concerns about any barriers to career progression. In addition, opportunities should be tailored to the needs of each pupil, including any additional needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils, young people with SEND and those who are absent.

Benchmark 4: Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

As part of the school’s programme of careers education, all teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. Subject teachers should highlight the progression routes for their subject and the relevance of the knowledge and skills developed in their subject for a wide range of career pathways.

Benchmark 5: Encounters with Employers and Employees

Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment opportunities, including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes, and could include pupils’ own part-time employment where it exists.

Benchmark 6: Experiences of Workplaces

Every pupil should have first-hand experiences of workplaces to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand their networks.

Benchmark 7: Encounters with Further and Higher Education

All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them, including academic, technical and vocational routes. This should incorporate learning in schools, colleges, independent training providers (ITPs), universities and in the workplace.

Benchmark 8: Personal Guidance

Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance meetings with a careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These meetings should be available for all pupils whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be scheduled to meet their individual needs. The careers leader should work closely with the careers adviser, SEND coordinator (SENDCO) and other key staff to ensure personal guidance is effective and embedded in the careers. programme

Pathways and Progression

All young people in England must continue in education or training until 18 years of age. Young people have different choices at the end of Year 8 and the end of Year 11:

STEM Specialist School (UTC) from Year 9
Full time study at a college, sixth form or training provider
Full time work or volunteering combined with part time education of training
An apprenticeship
A traineeship

As part of our careers programme, students in all year groups receive careers information from a range of providers and have the opportunity to ask questions. This supports our Year 9 students when choosing their GCSE options and Year 10 and 11 when making choices for their next steps.

Key Stage 4 students are also provided with a one to one guidance interview with a qualified careers advisor. Parents are welcome to attend these meetings.

Students and parents of students in year 7-11 can request a careers guidance interview by speaking to Mrs S Robson (Careers Leader) or emailing s.robson@whitworthpark.org.uk

Local Providers

General Careers Websites

Students have access to a vast range of careers related information online. With this in mind we have compiled a range of careers websites in order to support pupils and their parents in researching and planning their future careers.

Specific Careers Websites

www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk – For careers in engineering
https://www.engineergirl.org/ – For girls’ careers in engineering
www.ideasfoundation.org.uk – for careers in the creative industries
http://careers.abpi.org.uk/your-career/school-and-college-students/Pages/default.aspx – for careers in medicines/pharmaceutical research
www.healthcareers.nhs.uk – for careers in medicine
www.careerscope.uk.net – For careers in the Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality sectors
https://www.lawcareers.net – for careers in Law

Careers

Is your child considering A-levels? Do they know what career opportunities the subjects they take will open up for them? Take a look at this website to find out:

https://targetcareers.co.uk/careers-advice/a-level-choices/315491-what-a-level-subjects-should-i-take

Thinking about University

Thinking about Apprenticeships

Careers in the Armed Forces

www.army.mod.uk – For careers in the Army
www.royalnavy.mod.uk – For careers in the Royal Navy
www.raf.mod.uk – For careers in the Royal Air Force

Job and Apprenticeship Search

Employer Links

To support our delivery of careers, the Academy has strong partnerships with a wide range of educational institutions, training providers and employers who contribute to our careers programme through:

raising aspirations and increasing motivation – helping young people identify educational and occupational goals
demonstrating the relevance of the knowledge and skills learnt in subjects to future opportunities in learning and working
demonstrating the links between living, learning and earning
providing work enrichment opportunities including work experience, workplace visits, guest speakers, curriculum support.

Useful resources for students and parents:

The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to help students make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential and impartial advice and is supported by qualified careers advisers. You can chat with an adviser using webchat (8am to 10pm, 7days a week). Or you can call 0800 100 900 to speak to an adviser (8am to 10pm, 7 days a week). Calls are free from landlines and most mobile numbers.
icould provides career inspiration and information for young people through free access to over 1000 personal video stories, detailed job information, plus practical tips, insight and advice.
The National Apprenticeship Service website offers guidance on how to apply for an apprenticeship as well as listing current local apprenticeship opportunities. More information on apprenticeships can be found at http://amazingapprenticeships.com.
CareersBox is a free online library of careers related videos, news and information.
UCAS Progress is an online search and application tool for post 16 courses. This is the preferred method of application for some sixth form providers in Sunderland.
Careers Advice for Parents aims to give parents an easy-to-read overview of all the essential facts on finding jobs and apprenticeships or choosing further and higher education courses which could make a real difference to their child’s future career prospects.
Making informed choices at A Level What you study at sixth form or college can after your options at university and your future career. Use Informed Choices to help you understand which subjects open up different degrees, particularly at Russell Group universities.
Labour Market Information (LMI) – this website provides up to date LMI for the North East region including labour market profiles and vacancy data.
Business in the Community have produced the following infographics on the key features of the North East labour market; LMI Info North East
The weekly CfBT LMI Bulletin provides up to date information on regional developments and vacancies
Parental Guidance offers advice and information on all aspects of the process of career choice for young people aged 13 to 25.
350 Careers, One NHS

Labour Market Information

Labour market trends play an important part it the decision making process for anyone planning their future career or looking at a career change. There is broad a range of local and national information available to help you make those all-important decisions and to explore the opportunities that may be available in the future. We suggest the following links as a good starting point:

Measuring the impact of our careers programme

The Academy careers programme is delivered through PSHE lessons, the tutorial programme, within curriculum areas as well as through an extensive range of enrichment opportunities and activities. Our monitoring and evaluation strategies encompass all of these aspects of delivery and are used to inform decision making about the future development of our careers programme.

Monitoring activities used to ensure that the careers programme is being implemented as planned include:

Learning walks
Lesson observations
Questionnaires – students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
Focus groups – students and staff
Career participation tracker
Work scrutiny
Curriculum plans
Destination data

Evaluation activities are used to measure the impact of our career programme and inform future planning.

Evaluation activities include:

Analysis of destination data – activity survey and sustained data (DFE),
Career participation dashboard
Learning walks
Lesson observations
Questionnaires – students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
Focus groups – students, staff, Careers Champions (students and staff)
Student evaluations of personal guidance interviews

Evaluation of the careers programme is shared in a termly report with SLT and Governors and with parents / carers and other stakeholders through the Academy website and bulletins.

The Academy’s progress towards achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks is evaluated using the online Compass tool. This is carried out on a termly basis by the Careers Leader. The careers strategy and action plan is based upon the outcomes of the Compass audit.

The effectiveness of our careers guidance will be reflected in the higher numbers of students progressing to positive destinations such as apprenticeships, technical routes, sixth form colleges, further education colleges, universities or employment. Destination data (DfE) is used to assess how successfully students make the transition into the next stage of education or training, or into employment and to inform future careers provision. This is analysed by the Careers Leader with key trends and actions fed back to SLT and Governors. Action points are also included in the careers strategy and action plan and the Academy development plan.

A designated governor has responsibility for overseeing the quality of careers guidance. The Careers Leader reports to the Governor for careers on a termly basis with a one to one meeting.

A provider wishing to request access to Whitworth Park Academy should contact Mrs S. Robson who is in charge of CEIAG at the school. This can be done in the first instance by e-mailing s.robson@whitworthpark.org.uk or contacting the main reception on 01388 824800.

Please see the Careers Policy under the Policies and Procedures page on this website.