CEIAG at Parklands and the Gatsby Benchmarks - Summary

CEIAG – Careers Education Information and Guidance 2018

“Good careers guidance is important for social mobility because it helps to open pupils’ eyes to the careers they may not have considered” - Good career guidance, Gatsby Foundation

What is our aim?

At Parklands we aim to provide a range of quality careers encounters in each year of secondary school to all students. These should provide students with the information they need to develop career aspirations and to become motivated toward success in school as part of the route to their dream career.

How will we achieve it?

By planning and holding ourselves accountable against the Gatsby benchmarks we aim to build on existing strengths, and introduce new careers guidance elements. We will also reflect on provision each year, seeking feedback from students, parents and staff to pro-actively improve on what we do. Local labour information will be used to keep our provision relevant, and post-16 destination data used to make sure we are suitably preparing and guiding students.

Key Staff?

Miss Berry is the careers leader at Parklands High School, with several years experience in careers. She has an excellent understanding of the routes post-16, and both the Lancashire and National employment climates. Quality relationships have been established with local college providers, with apprenticeship providers and with local employers. These relationships already provide students at Parklands with a wealth of encounters with prospective employers or further education providers.

Mr Galbraith is the senior leader responsible for careers education information and guidance (GEIAG) and provides the link between the careers leader and Leadership/Governors.

Strategic planning against the Gatsby benchmarks is shared with the Head Teacher and the Governing body, and performance against them tracked over time. There is also a CEIAG link governor, Mr Gosling.

All teaching staff, and support staff share a responsibility to promote the importance of careers education in school – to help the students realise their aspirations.

Research of best practice across several countries by the Gatsby Foundation has provided 8 ‘benchmarks’ in careers provision.

These aim to unite aspects of current careers guidance into one coherent structure, which can be planned for and monitored yearly. Schools are challenged to meet all 8 of these benchmarks by 2020.

The 8 Benchmarks

The remainder of this document summarises how we aim to meet each of the Gatsby benchmarks.

There are also some key pieces of information used in planning and informing around careers – all are available via links on the careers section of the school website.

1. Destination summary data for students leaving Parklands: How do we use it? How do we inform the students?

2. Local labour market information: What employment climate are Parklands students heading into? How do we prepare and guide them?

3. The Careers Activity Plans for the academic year: What are we going to do at the whole-school and curriculum level to embed a rich and relevant careers program?

4. Feedback on our CEIAG provision: Opinion on events/activities with a view to year-on-year improvement. https://www.parklandsacademy.co.uk/

Benchmark One - A stable careers programme ‘Every school should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by students, parents, teachers, governors and employers’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1.

Every school should have a stable, structured careers programme that has the explicit backing of the senior leadership team and a person responsible for it.

2.

The careers programme should be published on the schools website so students, parents, teachers and employers can access and understand it.

3.

The programme should be regularly evaluated with feedback from students, parents, teachers and employers as part of the evaluation process.

How we will achieve them.

This document, and those referenced in it will be available via the website. Key pieces of information will be mailed to parents/employers and shared via information evenings and newsletters.

Our designated CEIAG leader is supported by an allocated SLT member, who is turn reports to the Headteacher and a CEIAG link governor.

CEIAG planning documents will be published and circulated to parents and employers with links to the whole school development plan made clear. Events and career information will be published via Parkland’s sister sites ‘Career of the Week’ and ‘Careers News’ Feedback on key events throughout the year will be followed with requests for feedback via surveys and questionnaires, with development points being published on the website and in planning documents.

Benchmark Two – Learning from career and labour market information ‘All students and parents should have access to high-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’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1.

2.

By the age of 14, all students should have accessed and used information about career paths and the labour market to inform their own decisions on study options.

Parents should be encouraged to access and use information about labour markets and future study options to support their children.

How we will achieve them.

Local and National labour market information is available in many formats. The role of the school will be to present this information in the most relevant way, and engage students in thinking about what they might do as they leave school and enter the labour market.

This is done at Parklands via: a. b. c.

d.

e.

Regularly updated displays in the careers section of the library and on the school website.

Assemblies to each year-group about the labour market (and destination data) and the routes they may wish to consider.

Mailings to parents and students with summaries of the labour market information, including links to the relevant college routes and apprenticeships in the main employment areas.

Bespoke days (Respect Days) in year 7-9 where students carry out workshops such as ‘jobs of the future’ or ‘letter to my future self’ – considering what their routes post 16 might be. These days also include opportunities to meet employers, with ‘speed dating’ style interviews and handson workshops.

Work Experience in year 10, where the labour market information is used to guide students towards potential placements.

Benchmark Three – Addressing the needs of each pupil.

‘Schools have different career guidance needs at different stages.

Opportunities for advice and support should be tailored to each of these stages, with diversity and equality embedded into the schools career programme’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. A School’s careers programme should actively seek to challenge stereotypical thinking and raise aspirations.

How we will achieve them.

Students meet with their House Achievement Leaders (HALs) yearly, and as part of this process discuss their career aspirations and their background information (parents careers, barriers to success) – the aim of collecting this information being to inform teaching staff of students who have aspirations aligned with a particular subject area.

This information also feeds into the school-wide ‘context sheets’ used by staff to record information about the classes they teach.

2. Schools should keep systematic records of the individual advice given to each student and subsequent agreed decisions. All students should have access to these All student interviews with Miss Berry in year 10 records to support their and 11 are recorded via the ‘compass’ system (this career development also used to track wider provision from year 7.

3. Schools should collect and maintain accurate data for each student on their education, training or employment destinations for at least 3 years after they leave school

Destination data is received annually and summarised for publication via the website. The information is communicated to students, parents and staff via emails, assemblies and briefings to ensure all parties are aware of what students are doing when they leave, and how this relates to the local labour market information.

Benchmark Four – Linking curriculum learning to careers.

‘All teachers link curriculum learning with careers’

Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subject teachers highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.

2. By the age of 14, every student has had the opportunity to learn how the different STEM subjects help people gain entry to a wide range of careers.

3. All subject teachers emphasise the importance of succeeding in English and maths.

How we will achieve them.

At Parklands, every curriculum area submits an annual CEIAG plan. This document outlines the provision within their subject(s) for promoting careers awareness, examples include: visits to workplaces, guest speakers, workshops with local employers, case studies and schemes of work tailored to local and national employers. Each curriculum leader will meet with SLT to discuss the plan, and to set aside time as a team to develop existing provision and devise new strategies.

STEM subjects meet to collaborate on projects that link their subjects and promote career routes in STEM. These subjects also provide extra input in terms of clubs, workshops, visitors and competitions. STEM experiences begin in year 7 with an aim of at least one significant focus per year group.

Whole school literacy and numeracy strategies promote the development of English and mathematical abilities in all subject areas.

Curriculum CEIAG plans are also evaluated for opportunities to develop these skills.

Benchmark Five – Encounters with employers and employees ‘Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from

employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. Students should participate in at least one meaningful encounter with an employer every year between years 7-13.

2. Work with your regional LEP to make sure you are aligning to the strategic economic plan of the region.

How we will achieve them.

Benchmark Six – Experiences of workplaces ‘ Every student 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’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. By the age of 16, every student should have had at least one experience of a workplace, additional to any part-time jobs they may have.

2. By the age of 18, every student should have had one further such experience, additional to any part-time jobs they may have.

How we will achieve them.

Benchmark Seven – Encounters with further and higher education ‘All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and the workplace’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. By the age of 16, every pupil should have had a meaningful encounter with a provider of the full range of learning opportunities.

2. By the age of 18, all students who are considering applying for university should have had at least two visits to universities to meet staff and students.

How we will achieve them.

Benchmark Eight – Personal Guidance ‘Every student should receive guidance from trained staff, at times to suit their individual needs’ Key aspects of the benchmark?

1. Every student 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 for their individual needs.

2. Every student should have at least one such interview by the age of 16, and the opportunity for a further interview by the age of 18.

How we will achieve them.

Summary Careers education information and guidance is included in the whole-school development plan. We endeavour to meet all 8 Gatsby CEIAG benchmarks by focussing on the following: 1)

A well planned approach – for whole school and curriculum level provision, from year 7 to 11, and beyond.

2)

Regular review – against the benchmarks via internal audit, but also in terms of quality – student, parent, employer, staff and governor feedback all being used to inform improvement year on year.

3)

An informed approach – Using local labour market information, destination data, enterprise partnership information and other information sources to make sure students are receiving the most relevant careers guidance possible.

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