CEIAG Staff

Careers Policy

Rationale

This policy was developed by the Teacher in Charge of Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG). Careers education and guidance plays a major part in helping young people choose programmes that suit their interests, abilities and individual needs. A robust careers programme helps avoid disengagement, puts school learning into a wider and more relevant context, and helps raise aspirations.

The careers programme at Culcheth High School will help our students to plan and manage their careers effectively, ensuring progression which is ambitious and aspirational- continuing to promote our ethos of Respect, Honesty and Excellence. It will promote equality of opportunity, embrace diversity and challenge stereotypes. The policy will be guided by the Gatsby benchmarks and conform to statutory requirements, in particular the DfE’s careers strategy and the revised statutory guidance.

Context

From September 2013, The Education Act of 2011 placed schools under a duty to ensure that all registered pupils in Years 8-11 have access to independent, accurate and impartial information, advice and guidance. Schools are free to make arrangements for careers guidance which best suits the needs of their students, engaging where appropriate with independent providers. Updates to this guidance issued in September 2022 extend this duty of schools across all year groups to now include Year 7.

Here at Culcheth High School, it is our duty to provide students with high quality, impartial careers advice and guidance as we prepare our young people for their futures in whichever pathway they choose to follow, whether that be university, employment or further training within apprenticeships or traineeships. CEIAG is delivered to our students through the curriculum, during form time and with dedicated, targeted sessions throughout their school life. High quality CEIAG is accessed by all students throughout the year.

Current DfE guidance states that all students should leave school prepared for modern life in Britain; this includes ensuring academic rigour supported by excellent teaching and developing in every young person the values, skills and behaviours to get on in life. As a school, we aim to provide all students with a rich provision of classroom and extra-curricular activities that develop a range of character attributes, such as resilience, excellence, honesty and respect which underpin success in both education and the workplace. We acknowledge that high quality careers guidance is crucial in motivating our young people, by giving them a clear idea of the routes to jobs and careers that they will find engaging and rewarding.

With the government’s reforms to technical education and skills and the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market, there is not an increased need for schools and colleges to work in partnership with employers, careers advisors, local authorities and other education and training providers to support students to prepare for the workplace and to make informed choices about the next step in their education and training. With this in mind we have updated our Provider Access Policy to sit alongside the Careers Policy to ensure we are working closely with external partners to provide suitable, meaningful encounters at appropriate points for our students.

A further addition to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 states that schools in England “must ensure there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access registered pupils during the relevant phase of their education, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships.”

At each point where we deal with students leaving the school, we strive to ensure that they are purposefully provisioned in terms of advice and guidance, including information and support regarding apprenticeships, employment or re-commencement of study with another provider.

Aims

The aim of CEIAG is to raise our students’ aspirations, creating a growth mind set and broadening their horizons. Through this, we aim to widen their horizons, challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations, empowering them to make informed, realistic decisions at all key transition points in learning and work. The role of the Lead Teacher (Mrs J Haworth) and our Independent Careers Advisor (Paul Williams, employed by Career Connect) is to assist all of our students with their career learning, planning and development by managing and delivering CEIAG within Culcheth High School. We aim to inspire our young people through more real-life encounters and experiences within the world of work to help them understand where different choices and learning at this stage can lead them in their future career.

Our aim is to ensure every student receives advice and guidance so that they are inspired and motivated to be the best that they can be. For most students, this will be through structured high-quality careers input during their Personal Development lessons; for others this will also be through one-to-one meetings with our Independent Careers Advisor.

We will

• Create strong links with external providers including colleges, technical colleges, employers, apprenticeship providers, universities and local businesses.
• Raise aspirations and increase motivation - helping young people to identify educational and occupational goals.
• Demonstrate the relevance of the knowledge and skills learnt in subjects to future opportunities in learning and working.
• Develop skills for effective learning - reviewing achievements, setting targets, planning and taking action
• Demonstrate the link between living, learning and earning.
• Develop information and communication skills.
• Promote current and relevant careers to our students using knowledge of the local employment network and local job market information.
• Actively encourage students to make use of support available to them including, but not limited to National Careers Service, an in-school Careers Advisor, Local Authority Support Teams as well as financial support available to some during their post-16 study.
• Focus more guidance to those who need it namely, but not limited to, those in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding and those with an Education Health Care Plan.
• Support students, to the best of our ability, who receive offers of work experience with appropriate and approved employers. Completing any necessary risk assessments and safety checks.
• Provide students the opportunity to encounter, and talk to employers and employees from a wide range of work places, both from within the local community and further afield. These encounters will take place twice in key Stage 3 and twice in Key Stage 4 as per ‘The Baker Clause’
• Provide students with at least one experience of a workplace during their time at Culcheth High School. This will be provided via a range of opportunities both in person and virtual. The virtual work experience programme will form a fundamental part of the Personal Development delivery.
• Allow students the chance to visit at least one higher or further education establishment during their time at Culcheth High School.
• Provide local colleges, including technical colleges, sixth forms, work-based learning centres and employers alike, the opportunity to meet with students through assembly time, lunch time drop-in sessions and careers fairs.
• Widen horizons, challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations.
• Support students to make an informed choice about an academic option, for those interested in going to University and a technical route, including T-Levels or an apprenticeship for those interested in this route also.
• Keep records of students intended destinations and career pathways for at least three years after they leave Culcheth High School.

Our Students will be able to

• Build self-confidence and self-reliance.
• Have a positive and informed attitude to learning.
• Connect learning to their future.
• Make sustained progress.
• Open new doorways and pathways to learning.
• Avoid dropping out of education before the age of 18.
• Use the knowledge and skills gained to make successful transitions to the next stage of their life.

All of this will be done by

• Delivering careers specific units in Personal Development lessons.
• Special events and extra-curricular activities being organised for our students (Key Stage 4 information evenings, college taster days, assemblies, visits to external providers)
• Drop-in sessions and meetings with the Careers Advisor for all students (Year 8-11 focus groups)
• All students within Year 11 will receive a 1:1 guidance session with an external, fully qualified Careers Advisor to discuss their future careers pathways. These sessions will be offered in order of students Risk Of NEET rating as determined by their behaviour, attendance, and belonging to other key focus groups acknowledged to have low EET ratings (Pupil Premium, SEND etc)
• Careers-based activities delivered during Ready for Learning sessions
• National Careers Week focal activities for all year groups, providing access to encounters with employers and experiences of workplace.
• Seeking accreditation of our work through gaining the Quality in Careers Standard Mark.
• Seeking accreditation of our work through gaining the Quality in Careers Standard Mark.

Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance at Culcheth High School (CEIAG)

Culcheth High School has a statutory duty for securing impartial IAG for all students. We aim to provide all of our students with a range of impartial, high quality and up-to-date IAG on Level 2 study as well as post-16 opportunities. IAG at Culcheth High School is delivered across a number of platforms including Personal Development lessons, Ready for Learning Activities and whole-school events.

Staffing

The school guarantees impartial and independent advice via an Independent Careers Advisor, Paul Williams, employed by Careers Connect, who attends school one day per week. Appointments can be made with Paul through student, tutor or parental referral.

In addition to this, students will also receive ongoing input and guidance from all staff at Culcheth High School through their individual roles as Form Tutors and Subject Teachers. Specialist sessions will be delivered to students by the Personal Development team The CEIAG programme is planned, monitored and evaluated by the teacher in charge, in consultation with the Assistant Headteacher. There is also a member of the Senior Leadership Team with responsibility for CEIAG who, alongside the Teacher in Charge of CEIAG works to ensure that students are receiving high quality, impartial guidance at every key transitional stage of their education at CHS.

Students can also access careers information in the Year 11 Study Area, which can be accessed outside of lesson time by all Year 11 students as well as in the ILC for all other year groups.

CEAIG in the Curriculum

As part of the wider school Personal Development programme delivered to students in Years 7-11, students will receive a series of lessons relating to careers and enterprise, providing them with the opportunity to learn about their skills, investigate choices available to them for GCSE study, understand how skills and qualifications can link to careers and research options available to them post GCSE. The careers programme includes careers education sessions, careers guidance activities, information and research activities. Other focussed activities and events take place during registration sessions with Form Tutors, assemblies, National Apprenticeship Week, National Careers Week.

The careers-based sessions will make use of local market information to show students exactly what jobs are available locally linked to their strengths and likes within school.

Assessment

Students will regularly be assessed as part of the careers and enterprise units delivered in the Personal Development programme in accordance with the school assessment policy. The focus of assessment will be based upon students’ awareness of their own abilities and skills, student awareness of qualifications available to them and the opportunities they can lead onto and their ability to describe the specific requirements of jobs and careers in regards to skills and qualifications.

Staff Training

Staff training needs are identified on a regular basis. based upon Learning Walks and observations completed. The teacher in charge will ensure staff are fully equipped with the knowledge and resources to deliver high quality CEIAG sessions.

Monitoring

The programme and policy will be reviewed annually by the teacher in charge and the Assistant Headteacher. Careers work is constantly being promoted and relies on teaching staff to deliver the sessions. An annual report detailing destinations data will be delivered to the Senior Leadership Team and Governors where required. This will contain information on colleges selected, course enrolled on, level of study as well as PP, SEND, and gender comparisons in addition there will also be comparisons to national averages. Active research and evaluations are undertaken by the teacher in charge to ensure the quality of CEAIG being delivered is consistent across the school.

Entitlement

Every student at CHS is entitled to a thorough, personalised and aspirational programme of careers events throughout their time at the school. They are given support to whichever route they choose.

Students will come into contact with careers, employability and enterprise in the following ways:

Through a variety of year group assemblies at differing points in the year.

•  Through a variety of year group assemblies at differing points in the year
• Through their Personal Development careers and enterprise lessons, which are timetabled for one 6-week unit, one-hour per fortnight, each academic year.
• Parents/carers are welcome to speak to the Careers Team, which includes: their child’s Form Tutor, Progress Leader, SENCO, Careers Advisor if they have any questions about their child’s progress and their child’s participation in careers events.
• Students, parents/carers are entitled to have access to information about the options process - provided via letter, brochure, on the school website and on GCSE Options Evening.
• Each Key Stage 4 student will have at least one personalised careers session with our Careers Advisor, Paul Williams, by the end of Key Stage 4.

Implementation

Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)

• One meaningful encounter with an employer through the Careers and Enterprise Curriculum, assembly or our in-school Next Steps Careers Fair
• Subject Options Evening support and booklets
• Attendance to the in-school Next Steps Careers Fair to meet with potential employers and future training and education providers
• Careers Advisor support for select cohorts of students to support with Options Process

Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)

• One meaningful encounter with an employer through the Careers and Enterprise Curriculum, assembly or our in-school Next Steps Careers Fair
• All students given details on how to access careers support in school. This includes one-to-one support in form time with careers staff and students can also use the careers lunch drop-in service
• Next Steps Taster Days with local post-16 providers and local employers.
• Regular careers input via planned sessions in registration time and assemblies
• One meaningful personalised guidance session with Careers Advisor
• Additional support for those seeking an apprenticeship including CV writing, interview skills and mock interview sessions
• Lunch time drop-in sessions with Careers Advisor as well as local education and training providers

Visits

• Regular visits to local colleges, training providers and universities take place with select cohorts of students to attend a variety of sessions including Masterclass Programmes, STEM events as well as taster sessions
• Visits to other careers fairs and university events take place with select cohorts of students

Protocol for transition reviews for Year 11 student who have an EHCP

• Intended destinations sheet details all Year 11 students’ ideal post-16 destination - this is accessible only to staff on the careers team
• Staff from intended destination(s) will be invited to the review of any EHCP during the final academic year for that student
• A careers plan will be completed at the review if not already by Careers Advisor in school
• Any completed careers plan will be forwarded to any chosen destinations

To download a copy of the CEIAG Policy, please click here.