Vision and purpose
Promoting a career development culture is an essential part of the mission and ethos of our school. We aim to support the aspirations of all our learners and to ensure that they gain the understanding, skills and experience they need to make progress and succeed in learning and work. We believe that effective careers education and guidance not only contributes to the well-being of individuals but also to the wellbeing of their families, the communities to which they belong, wider society, businesses and the economy.
Student entitlement
All students in Years 7-11 are entitled to:
- find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
- hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
- understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.
Management of provider access requests
Procedure
A provider wishing to request access should contact Mr E Wright, Careers Lead.
Telephone: 01704 228940; Email: [email protected]
Autumn Term
Year 8
- Event for University Technical Colleges
- Life Skills – assembly and tutor group opportunities
- STEM Careers event
Year 9
- Event for University Technical Colleges
- Enterprise project – from ideas to production and sale.
Year 10
- Life Skills – work experience preparation sessions
- Enrichment Days
Year 11
- Life Skills – assembly on opportunities at 16
- Event for University Technical Colleges
- YR11 Enrichment Day College Carousel where colleges and universities deliver information sessions
- Apprenticeship advice session
- Year group assemblies delivered by college/Higher education providers.
- Career assembly advising on different options available post 16
- College application workshops.
Spring Term
Year 8
- KS4 options event
- Options Assemblies
Year 9
- STEM Careers event
Year 10
- Colleges taster day visits
- Enrichment Days
Year 11
- Post-16 evening
- Post-16 taster sessions College Masterclasses
- Mock interviews with local employers.
- Form time sessions for delivery of specific information and guidance
- Form time CV/personal statement sessions
Summer Term
Year 8
- Life Skills – assembly and tutor group opportunities
Year 9
- STEM Careers event
Year 10
- Life Skills – assembly and tutor group opportunities
- Enrichment Days for whole year group scheduled each term.
Year 11
- Form time and assemblies on a weekly basis.
- Life Skills-How to revise sessions and exam preparation sessions
Please speak to our Careers Leader to identify the most suitable opportunity for you.
How we measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on pupils
Stanley High School works closely with the Careers and Enterprise company. This is an external organisation that supports schools to ensure they are following the DFE’s newly devised Careers Strategy. The following information is an extract taken from this guidance.
“The careers strategy sets out that every school and academy providing secondary education should use the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to develop and improve their careers provision. This statutory guidance has been restructured around the Benchmarks with information on what schools need to do to meet each one. The Gatsby Benchmarks are not a statutory framework but by adopting them, schools can be confident that they are fulfilling their legal duties: the existing duties to secure independent careers guidance and provide opportunities to a range of providers to inform pupils about technical education qualifications or apprenticeships and the new duty to publish information about the careers programme on the school website.”
As an education establishment we ensure we use the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks as a foundation when planning our Careers Strategy. The effectiveness of our provision is inspected and audited by the Careers and Enterprise Company using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool. This tool is used by schools and colleges in England to support the analysis and evaluation of careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice (known as the Gatsby Benchmarks). The Careers and Enterprise Company coordinate the Audit deadlines. This ensures the development of our careers strategy is ongoing to ensure best practice. Stanley High School is a member of the Liverpool Careers Hub. The benefits of being a Hub Member include networking and support. Below is the list of published deadlines from the Careers and Enterprise Company for the completion of audits until the end of 2022.
In line with the recommendations set out in Gatsby Benchmark 1, we as a school plan to review the published information on an annual basis, inviting feedback from key audiences.
The evaluation cycle involves:
- Review of the objectives of the programme with a focus on outcomes for learners and assessing if the objectives have been met
- Focus on the delivery of the programme and evidence of impact on pupils
- Using feedback to adapt the programme to continuously improve it so it meets the objectives
The evaluation also involves looking at a range of evidence such as:
- attainment
- progress
- options pathways
- destinations data
- feedback from students e.g. their understanding of different careers and pathways
Feedback from other stakeholders includes:
- parents/carers
- teachers
- governors
- employers
An outline of the evaluation schedule is as follows:
Are we making the best use of the resources we have allocated for careers work? (Termly)
- The effectiveness of different guidance interventions, e.g. one-to one interviews, small group work, drop-in sessions
Are we optimising students’ learning from the careers programme? (Oct/July)
- Evaluation of PSHE Days
- The learning outcomes achieved at the end of KS3 & KS4
How well are students succeeding in taking the next steps in their education, training or employment that are ‘right for them’?
- The effectiveness of the Year 9 options process
- The destinations achieved at the end of KS4
Careers Connect
This external organisation provides links between the school, colleges and employers to provide guidance for students after they leave Stanley.
Our Careers Connect Advisor is Elaine Meredith
Telephone: 07837464087 / 0151 243 1800
email: [email protected]
http://www.careercompanion.co.uk/
Some useful websites
- http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/ – apprenticeship job search database
- http://www.ucas.com/ – search for a university or Higher education information.
- http://www.icould.com/ – Careers information.
- http://www.careercompanion.co.uk/ – Independent and impartial gateway to careers information (username: merseyside – password: merseyside)