Sandhurst School – Careers Plan
Work-related Learning Coordinator: Mrs H Nicholls
Building on the school’s achievement of being awarded Investors in Careers for the past 15 years, careers education and guidance begins in Year 7 at Sandhurst and is mapped against the new Gatsby Benchmarks to support the changing landscape for career guidance. ‘The eight Gatsby Benchmarks define an ambitious framework for career guidance that works for schools, employers and, most importantly, young people and their families’ Sir John Holman, April 2018. The careers programme will be reviewed annually, next review, November 2018.
At Sandhurst school we continuously review how we deliver CIAG to ensure that we raise aspirations, aim high and open more doors for every individual. Good career guidance means showing all students the options open to them, whichever route they eventually take. The Benchmarks provide a clear framework to help us develop our careers provision across the whole school.
The eight Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Throughout their time at Sandhurst, students will have numerous opportunity to meet with employers and visit workplaces. There will be access to STEM events, careers fairs, apprenticeship events and visits to local colleges and universities. Through the curriculum and tutor time there will be a variety of planned activities to increase knowledge and ensure students are able to make informed decisions. All student activity is recorded and available to individuals on request. Students will also receive Impartial careers guidance and an action plan from KS4 onwards.
Key Personnel
Deputy Head – Mr Southwood
Careers Lead – Mrs Nicholls
Head of PHSCE – Mrs Richardson
Head of Business – Mr McKane
Link Governor – Mrs Brundish
Head of Sixth Form – Mr Marshall
UCAS Lead – Mr Bishop
Careers & Enterprise Adviser – Allison Giles
Romans (LRG) Business Lead – Vanessa Foot
Adviza PA – Careers Guidance – Claire Thomas
2018/19 Work Related Learning Programme
Equipping our young people with essential knowledge and skills for the future
Careers in curriculum calendar
Careers in the curriculum
Through timetabled PHSCE lessons we will deliver a number of career and work-related learning sessions to students from Year 7-13, giving opportunity to learn more about employment law, options, qualifications, skills & attributes, being work ready, the skills gap, labour market information, applying to college & sixth form, cv writing and interview techniques. Students will also use their maths and English skills through all of their subjects as well as taking part in visits and hearing from external speakers that will give students the chance to see how their subjects can relate to different careers. Students will have further opportunity to see how subjects relate to careers during the Year 9 option taster lessons and the Year 10 Sixth Form taster day. All careers information & guidance is impartial and fully inclusive with all students encouraged to explore individual interests based on their skills and capabilities.
The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and Learning to Work (LTW)
Our partnerships with both the CEC and LTW allow us to really engage students with the world of work. Through collaborative working we have good, established relationships with local employers and are regularly able to invite employers in to school or take students out to industry for awareness days throughout the year. In 2017/18 we welcomed a new partner, Romans (LRG), who continue to support and compliment our existing provision with a number of exciting events, including the return of the hugely successful Year 11 Interview Skills Day.
ASK Apprenticeships
Delivering apprenticeship workshops to Year 10 – 13. Ensuring students have the knowledge to make informed decisions about future choices, they will be given the opportunity to learn more about the apprenticeships being offered, at what level and how to apply. Interested students will be signed up to the National Apprenticeship website and will be invited to attend our annual mock assessment centre day.
Parents guides are available through the website and information leaflets are given to all students at appropriate times. WWP Learning and Development Ltd deliver two assemblies each year and during National Apprenticeship Week tutors will engage students in a number of activities to raise awareness.
Work Experience
Every Year 12 student should complete a week of work experience in the summer term. Students are expected to source their own placements and should be related to individual lines of study and future aspirations. Work experience is highly valued by employers and universities.
Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths [STEM]
We are pleased to hold the Silver Award for STEM participation from Reading University and continue to build on this provision through our on-going relationships with the Royal Military Academy and Microsoft. This is further supported with a number of extra-curricular clubs that we offer at lunch time including coding, gaming and robot building.
Co-Curricular
An opportunity to meet employers & apprenticeship providers and explore further & higher education.
The Public Service Show, Farnborough Air Show [2020], NCS, UCAS Exhibitions, Farnborough College Careers & Futures Day, WOOP – STEM programme, Berkshire Apprenticeship Show, What Career Live, Medical Mavericks and Bracknell Forest Careers Fair are all fantastic opportunities to meet individual needs.
Employers
Romans (LRG) continue to engage students and offer us several opportunities to encounter the workplace. We are fortunate to have these annual events embedded into the school calendar; Interview skills day, business insight days at HQ, town planning workshop, dragons den and the store wars challenge. LRG also attend our end of term assembly and offer a number of additional events that support music and art students throughout the year.
Employers who would like to get involved with any of our events or have other programmes to offer can contact us through our contacts page or call the careers coordinator on 01344 775678.
Parents
Regular career updates are posted in the school’s weekly newsletter and include information on; apprenticeships, forthcoming events, open days, qualifications and post 16 options & opportunities. Timely letters are also sent home to parents throughout the year and our impartial external careers advisor, Claire Thomas is available at parents evenings.
Adviza
Specialist, impartial careers advice is received by all students in KS4 & 5 through a programme of workshops and individual interviews. In addition each student will receive a comprehensive action plan to support them moving forward. Adviza will be available every Wednesday, by appointment only. They will also be available at Year 9, 10, 11 & Sixth Form subject evenings to speak with students and parents.
Additional support is available for our SEND students.
Moving On Magazine Online
‘Moving On’ magazine forms part of our KS4 student’s careers education and we hope that students and parents alike will spend some time looking through each edition.
Post 16 – Planning ahead
In Year 9 there is a robust programme in place to ensure students are adequately supported through the option process. It is important that students with specific career ideas check the college/university websites to see if they require specific GCSE subjects to apply for courses, however, for most we recommend choosing subjects that they enjoy, are good at and are happy to continue studying for a further two years. In the Autumn Term of Year 11, all students will need to submit their applications for college and those looking at apprenticeships will need to start researching and applying online.
Students can apply to more than one institution and it is encouraged that they have a back-up plan in case their first choice is not successful. Students are reminded to be realistic about their final grades when selecting which levels to apply for. As a general rule, 5 GCSE’s at grade 4 or above (including English & maths) are required to access A Levels or Level 3 courses. In some instances, particularly in STEM, students may be required to have specific subjects at GCSE and up to grade 6.
Those who do not obtain the grade 4 or above in English and/or maths will be required to continue studying these subjects whilst at college.
The National Careers Service
The National Careers Service online advisers help students and their parents to get instant advice and help on anything to do with careers, education and training. The web chat service is easy to use – if you’re aged 13 or over and live in England they can help. An adviser will chat online with you to help you plan out your next steps and help build on the advice you receive in school. They can even arrange to send you a copy of the chat by email so that you can use this as an action plan.
What you can expect:
- Experienced, impartial advisers available from 8am to 10pm every day
- Help for young people (and their parents too!)
- Confidential and FREE
- Access the service as many times as you like
- The option to remain anonymous
Student Voice
At Sandhurst we feel it is important for students to be engaged in the design, delivery and evaluation of information, advice and guidance provision. We welcome any feedback from students and encourage our young people to offer their views and opinions. All feedback and ideas should be given to Mrs. Nicholls.
Feedback & Evaluation
We welcome all feedback that will positively influence and shape the careers programme from staff, students, parents and employers. The careers lead is available at parents evenings and a questionnaire provides students and parents with a chance to express their views and opinions. The information that we receive forms part of the annual review. With the support of our linked governor, Tracey Brundish, we further assess the impact that the careers programme has through the school council, progression & destination analysis and the compass tracker tool.
Web Links & Resources
There is a comprehensive list of web based resources displayed in each tutor base and students are encouraged to use a number of key sites through careers education lessons. These are also shared through the newsletter and will be communicated by letter as appropriate.
Coming Soon
New for 2020, the introduction of T Levels. Initially these will be offered in limited subject areas, however, we encourage students, teachers, parents and employers to find out more about these qualifications. We will provide further details following an information assembly to students in September 2019.
Contact
Mrs Nicholls, Careers Lead on 01344 775678 or the schools contact page.
Web Links
Which? University Milkround Not Going to Uni Student Ladder Inspiring Futures eCLIPS Online
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