Careers

Introduction

1. Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) encourages students to prepare for their future lives, equipping them with skills and self-knowledge to make informed decisions about their education, training and occupations.
2. A young person’s career is the progress they make in learning and work. All young people need a planned programme of activities to help them choose 14-19 pathways that are right for them and to be able to manage their careers and sustain employability throughout their lives. Schools have a statutory duty to provide careers education in Years 8 - 13 (Education Act 2011, Education Regulations 2014), to give students access to careers information and impartial guidance (Education Act 2011, Educations and Skills Bill 2008) and to inform all students of the varied range of education or training options, including apprenticeships and technical education routes (Technical and Further Education Act 2017).
3. The Government’s careers strategy, published on 4 December 2017, sets out a long term plan to build a world class careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them. This statutory guidance has been updated to expand on the aim set out in the strategy to make sure that all young people in secondary school get a programme of advice and guidance that is stable, structured and delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience.
4. To achieve this aim, 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.
5. At Bourne Grammar School, in line with Government guidance, we are using the Gatsby Benchmarks to develop our careers programme. This forms part of our commitment to helping students to fulfil their potential, raise their aspirations and experience success through an educational environment which responds to individual needs and stimulates each and every student to become effective planners and managers of their own progression through learning and work.

Aims and Objectives

Students’ entitlement

1. Students are entitled to CEIAG which meets professional standards of practice and which is person-centred, impartial and confidential. It will be integrated into students’ experience of the whole curriculum and be based on a partnership with students and their parents or carers. The programme will raise aspirations, challenge stereotyping and promote equality and diversity.

Students’ needs

1. The careers programme is designed to meet the needs of students at Bourne Grammar School. It is differentiated and personalised to ensure progression through activities that are appropriate to students’ stages of career learning, planning and development:
2. To help students to manage change and transition at key points during their education, to be prepared for training and work in a society where constantly evolving technology and working practices mean they will need to be flexible
3. To help students identify their interests, skills, values and aspirations
4. To help students understand the link between their formal education and their future careers, thus increasing their motivation and encouraging them to participate in continued learning
5. To help students prepare for the professional and personal choices necessary on leaving school and make them fully aware of the available opportunities
6. To help students to become self-reliant, take responsibility for managing their own career development and make informed career choices
7. To make students aware of progression routes in education, available qualifications, apprenticeships, career paths and labour market information

Implementation

Management and co-ordination

1. CEIAG is led and co-ordinated by the UCAS and Careers Coordinator who reports to the Assistant Head (Pastoral). The Manager of UCAS and Careers is responsible for embedding work-related learning into the pastoral programme of the School.

Staffing

1. All members of staff contribute to CEIAG through their roles as tutors and subject teachers. The CEIAG programme is planned, monitored and evaluated by the UCAS and Careers Coordinator.

Curriculum

1. The careers programme includes year group careers talks and presentations, careers-focused trips, career guidance activities, including individual interviews, information and research activities, CV support, applications and interview techniques. Other focused events are provided, particularly in Year 11 and the Sixth Form, including visits and presentations/talks from external speakers from universities and the world of work. Sixth Form students are given the opportunity to undertake work experience.
2. We use the Unifrog online platform to underpin the programme and to meet the requirement for independent advice and guidance.

Resources

1. Funding is allocated in the annual budget planning round in the context of whole school priorities and particular needs in the CEIAG area. The UCAS and Careers Coordinator is responsible for the effective deployment of resources.

Staff Development

1. Staff training needs are identified as part of the performance management process. Funding is provided from school funds.

Provider Access Statement

1. In accordance with the Baker Clause this sets out the school's arrangements for managing the access of providers to students at the School for the purposes of giving them information about the provider's education or training offer with regard to technical education or apprenticeships. This complies with the School's legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997, as amended by the Technical and Further Education Act 2017.
2. A provider wishing to request access should contact Helen Elliot in the first instance.
3. There is a biennial Careers Fair, open to all students. Providers are actively encouraged to book a place at this event.
4. Providers may provide a copy of their prospectus or other relevant course literature to the Careers Leader who can then make it available in the Careers Office, which is available to all students.
5. Specific requests should be discussed with the Careers Leader.
6. Any visitors to the School will be subject to the School’s safeguarding procedures.
7. Access will be provided based on meeting the following criteria:
   1. Students are available to attend, depending on the dates requested in conjunction with curriculum and examination considerations.
   2. Adequate room[s] and equipment are available, based on existing timetable and examination commitments.
   3. Staff are available to attend, taking into account participant numbers and teaching timetables, to ensure DBS regulations are complied with.
   4. Providers are able to present impartial, unbiased and high-quality, age-appropriate content, meeting equal opportunity requirements.
   5. Providers are GDPR compliant.
8. The School will make available audio, visual and other specialist equipment where possible to support careers presentations. This will be discussed and agreed with the UCAS and Careers Coordinator in advance of the visit.

Monitoring, review and evaluation

1. An annual report is submitted to the Leadership Team and to governors via the Headteacher’s report.

APPENDIX A: Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance

1. The Gatsby Benchmarks originated in a research report (Good Career Guidance) from the Gatsby Foundation in 2013. The report was commissioned by Lord Sainsbury and Sir John Holman was appointed to lead a research team to focus on international evidence for ‘what works’ in career development. The benchmarks are:
   1. A stable careers programme
   2. Learning from career and labour market information
   3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
   4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
   5. Encounters with employers and employees
   6. Experiences of workplaces
   7. Encounters with further and higher education
   8. Personal guidance

Ownership and Date of next review

1. Policy owned by: Pastoral and Community committee.
2. Last reviewed and approved on: 11 May 2022
3. Next review due: May 2024.