Gatsby Benchmark Three: Addressing The Needs of All Students
“Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace.”
(Good Career Guidance-The Gatsby Foundation)
- Our careers programme is driven by the individual needs of each young person rather than by those of the school. We achieve this by supporting each young person to pursue their unique career aspirations by exploring their unique expectations, plans and behaviours.
- All of the advice that our pupils receive is independent, impartial, offers multiple perspectives and fosters criticality.
- We ensure that we know where each young person is in terms of their career learning and plan activities to move them forward from their unique point.
- In Year 9, pupils begin to think about their future during Options Day and their understanding continues throughout the options.
- In Year 10, we begin to map each pupils’ future study intentions, career aspirations and the behaviours/skills required to achieve these, then use this to help guide and educate our pupils during their personalised guidance interviews, as well as assisting us in providing each with the best opportunities in and out of school to achieve these.
- Following each pupils’ personalised guidance interview, this internal record is updated and each young person is provided with a bespoke ‘next steps’ report that informs them of how to best achieve their ambitions. You can view a sample of this here. This report is also emailed home to parents and carers alongside advice on how they can assist in helping facilitate the ‘next steps’ by using specific sections of our careers website alongside their child.
- The pupils continue to update their internal record throughout KS4 so that we can monitor how their aspirations shift and change as the experience from their involvement in the careers programme increases, ensuring that our guidance is always timely and relevant.
- To ensure that all of our employer encounters are individualised and meaningful, we collect information from our Y10 and Y11 pupils regularly about their career interests and destinations. We then match employer encounters against these. For our ‘careers cafe’ events employers speak with smaller groups of pupils and offer a more intimate and personalised experience.
- With the assistance of our learning providers, we also track the post-16 applications that our pupils make so that we can offer targeted guidance to those pupils who are having more difficulty in making a decisive decision about their future.
- Although our PSHE careers programme educates pupils about the future opportunities that are available to them and the skills and experiences they must develop in order to be successful, its primary purpose is encourage our pupils about what is possible and to develop strategies that challenge inequality, prejudice and power.
- We provide a package of support so that our young people with SEND are prepared for transition into further learning or work.
- Our curriculum support team meet with selected pupils and parents/carers ahead of the Y9 options selection to discuss the range of choices available and offer guidance on the most appropriate combinations.
- Although all of our pupils attend a ‘College Taster Day’, sometimes it is appropriate for us to arrange separate individual visits to our learning providers where, accompanied by a member of our curriculum support team, particular pupils can transition to post 16 more gradually. Furthermore, travel to and from the taster days are supported when needed.
- Our KS4 WorkSkills BTEC qualification assists some of our pupils to improve their understanding and application of work-based skills. This flexible, vocational course teaches the knowledge, skills and understanding that are relevant, current and useful. Units of study include communicating solutions to others, positive attitudes and behaviours at work, and building working relationships with colleagues and customers.
- In addition to the careers PSHE programme, some pupils will also work with curriculum support in smaller groups throughout KS4, completing a series of lessons developed by ‘LifeSkills’, based around ten key skills; character development, interviews, communication, enterprise, identifying strengths, teamwork, personal development, goal setting, 21st century skills and problem solving.
- As there is a three year delay in official government destinations data, we collect and maintain our own accurate data for each of our pupils for at least three years after they leave school. This involves a tremendous amount of work liaising with colleges, further education providers and apprenticeship programmes. Lancashire County Council have commended our approach and tenacity with regard to how we relentlessly pursue and track destinations. You can see more e here.
