Careers & Post-16 Pathways
Introduction
Schools have a statutory duty to provide Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance to Years 7-13. (Careers Guidance and Inspiration in Schools, 2015) At St Edmund’s Catholic School, this is an objective that we take very seriously and believe that by doing so, it will assist the school in meeting the objectives of the Rapid Improvement Plan and more importantly ensure that our students are given the tools to make a successful transition to their chosen pathway. The detail of this report has been written with reference to the Government guidance on careers education in school, alongside Ofsted requirements for CEIAG. The report has been written in consultation with the Career Advisor provided by the Kent EBP.
Aims and Objectives
St Edmund’s Catholic School Catholic School is fully committed to promoting CEIAG from the top down across the school. We believe that strong CEIAG is crucial to a young person developing their employability skills and resilience needed to cope in modern society that will ultimately have a positive impact on educational attainment. We have a part-time member of staff who is qualified to Level 6 in Careers Guidance to provide outstanding and impartial guidance to our students. We also seek out additional time from external organisations to provide independent guidance to targeted students.
The programme will encapsulate all students from the gifted & talented to students with special educational needs alongside ensuring that students in alternative provision are supported. There will be particular emphasis placed on the impartiality of the guidance and focus on each student’s individual needs. We aim to give students the opportunity to engage with industries and educational establishments alongside local labour market information, which will subsequently allow them to make informed choices about their future career paths. We aim to meet requirements on destinations figures and use this data in an analytical manner to improve delivery of the programme.
Delivery of CEIAG
There is a structured arrangement within the school to deliver CEIAG.
Responsibility for CEIAG and Transition for all Key Stages lies with:
- The Careers Leader Mr J Jukes who can be contacted at jjukes@st-edmunds.com or on 01304 201551
- Our Careers Advisor, Mrs J Lasslett who can be contacted at juliet.lasslett@ebpkent.co.uk
- Our PSHE co-ordinator with responsibility for the PSHE programme which includes the delivery of CEIAG, Mr J Walmsley who can be contacted at jwalmsley@st-edmunds.com
- Our Heads of Houses who support tutors in CEIAG related activities and student progression to relevant year groups.
Student Entitlement
We believe that students should be entitled to a comprehensive programme of CEIAG across each year group. This entitlement will be reviewed on an annual basis. Staff will be privy to the student entitlement through the school’s internal communication. It will be available to all students and parents through the school website.
Resources
An annual budget will be agreed by senior leadership team and will be the responsibility of the Assistant Headteacher in charge of CEIAG and Career Advice. It will make allowances for students to receive a programme of aspirational trips and activities that will meet the student entitlement.
Partnerships
We work with a number of different organisations to support our students to ensure they receive outstanding independent and impartial IAG alongside maintaining staff are well resourced on current issues and developments. These include:
- Kent Education Business Partnership.
- Kent County Council
- NHS
- Dover Counselling Centre
- Port of Dover
- National Citizens Service
In addition, we aim to strengthen our links with local employers and educational providers. This includes ensuring that our students are able to access outstanding educational opportunities.
Labour Market Information (LMI)
Labour Market Information (LMI) can provide us with insights into different jobs and opportunities, telling us what is available now or predicted to be in the future. It can be gathered from a wide array of sources from websites run by Government funded organisations, through to adverts for job vacancies in local papers and online. Even anecdotal sources such as conversations with friends and family can give us information on who may be recruiting. Each source can provide us with information on the labour market.
Parents
An independent careers adviser is available for all year groups. Years 7, 8 & 9 have group career guidance, where Years 10 & 11 are seen on a one-to-one basic, Year 13/12 are seen as requested. All students are offered unbiased advice. Students who have an EHCP/SEND are provided with additional support by our SEND provision.
To enable you to support your children through their career journey, the following websites may be useful. In addition, please also look at the Post 16 Life After 6th Form page….. and the useful links menu below.
- Parental Guidance from The Careers Writers Association - Home
- Advice for Parents of Students Applying for University (applytouni.com)
- Apprenticeship resources for schools, teachers, parents (amazingapprenticeships.com)
There are a number of resources available on our website that will help you to talk to your child regarding their career aspirations.
A parents' toolkit for career conversations (talkingfutures.org.uk)
Parent Advisor has some advice which you may find useful.
You may also find it helpful to sit down with your child and check out one of the websites such as National Careers or Career Box
Post-16 Provision Open Days
These will be updated as and when we receive information.
Dover Boys Grammar School Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 16th November 2023 from 17:00-19:00
Dover Grammar School for Girls Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 23rd November 2023 from 18:00
East Kent College: Canterbury Campus Sixth Form Open Evening - Tuesday 7th November 2023 and Thursday 23rd November 2023 from 15:00 to 19:00
East Kent College: Dover Campus Sixth Form Open Evening - Wednesday 8th November 2023 from 16:00 to 19:00
East Kent College: Folkestone Campus Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 16th November 2023 from 16:30 to 19:00
Goodwin Academy Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 9th November 2023 from 17:00 to 19:00
Sandwich Technology School Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 5th October 2023 at 18:00
Sir Roger Manwood's School Sixth Form Open Evening - Tuesday 14th November 2023 at 17:30
St Anselm's Catholic School Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 16th November 2023 at 18:30
The Canterbury Academy Sixth Form Open Evening - Thursday 16th November 2023 at 17:00
Important Dates
KentChoices4U website opens for Year 11 - Wednesday 1st November 2023
St Edmund's Year 11 Next Steps & KentChoices4U Advice Evening - Tuesday 17th October 2023
St Edmund's Progression Fair - Tuesday 7th November 2023 from 14:00 to 16:00 (Open for Parents at 15:00)
Teachers
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) is delivered throughout our curriculum. Further information on this can be found in our subjects' learning journeys.
Students
Students have access to a wealth of information in school, available from our independent careers adviser, Mrs Lasslett, and our House Teams.
Employers
Are you an employer or an alumni of the school who is able to support our Careers Programme?
We welcome enquiries from other providers and guest speakers as outlined in our Provider Access Statement. If you would like to come and deliver a talk to students on ‘careers’, please do contact our careers leader, Mr Jukes at jjukes@st-edmunds.com
Evaluation of Provision
The CEIAG policy will be reviewed on an annual basis by the SLT with input from key staff and students. We value the input of our staff and more importantly, students, parents and they will be asked for the input of how to improve the CEIAG provision.
At St Edmund's Catholic School, we always seek to receive feedback from our guests and outside agencies. Here are a few comments made following recent events.
"A very worthwhile and well-organised event. The conduct of the Year 11s was excellent and I enjoyed speaking to them." Dan Polden
"Thank you for inviting me over to speak to your students. They came across really well and were a pleasure to talk to." C Stanley
"I was impressed by the seriousness and maturity of the students I spoke to - they are a credit to both themselves and you." Mr Lee Hunter
The date of our next review is July 2024
Progression Framework
Annual Compass Results
| Benchmark | Description | % of Schools achieving 100% on this benchmark nationally | St Edmund's Catholic School 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. A stable careers programme | Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers. | 64% | 100% |
| 2. Learning from career and labour market information | Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information. | 79% | 40% |
| 3. Addressing the needs of each pupil | Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. | 55% | 90% |
| 4. Linking curriculum learning to careers | All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths. | 76% | 100% |
| 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 activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes. | 81% | 100% |
| 6. Experiences of workplaces | Every pupil should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks. | 65% | 100% |
| 7. Encounters with further and higher education | All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace. | 53% | 100% |
| 8. Personal guidance | Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs. | 75% | 100% |