Careers and Education Guidance
Weekly School Careers Bulletin 113 - W/C Monday 20th September
Careers Overview
Our Careers department aims to provide excellent Careers provision for all. Mrs Gaulton, our Careers Leader, is available daily for any advice and guidance, she can be found in the O’Brien Library, where there is a dedicated Careers area. Careers Education & Guidance is provided throughout the school and embedded in the curriculum.
‘The Careers department is extremely proud to announce that it has achieved all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks. The benchmarks are a framework for good career guidance developed to support schools in providing students with the best possible careers education, information, advice, and guidance. View the certificate 8-Gatsby-Benchmarks-EAN-school-certificate-STMC-march-21-2.pdf ’
Our designated Careers Leader is Mrs Gaulton, she can be contacted on 01279 654901
We have dedicated careers guidance & information which is delivered in three categories;
Universal; all pupils develop their careers knowledge and skills through assemblies, dedicated Careers PSHEE lessons, tutorial time. External independent speakers will be invited in to speak to students throughout the year.
Concentrated; pupils identified by Learning Co-ordinators with a need for advice will have an interview with either the Careers Leader or where a more intensive guidance needs are identified will be referred to our independent advisor who visits regularly throughout the academic year. Years 12 & 13 students intending to look for apprenticeships or employment are also identified and offered interviews as a priority.
Self-Referral; pupils and or their parent/carer may arrange an appointment to see the Careers Leader.
We support all pupils to consider a broad and ambitious range of careers to help our pupils’ develop high aspirations and understand where different choices can take them in the future. Our Careers Library is situated in the O’Brien library and is available to all students throughout St Mary’s. Our Careers Leader is available to discuss careers and work experience. We also offer independent Careers Education and Guidance drop-in sessions for all year groups with our external independent advisor who visits the school on set days throughout the year.
National Careers Week - W/C 1st March 2021
The National Careers Week Team want to encourage families to have conversations about careers and the future, especially this year in these challenging times. You can support young people to start exploring, spark their curiosity and build hope for their future by talking about careers during National Careers Week.
We have some resources to help. These can be found on https://ncw2021.co.uk/welcome/start/
- Information on many careers from over 40 National organisation, including the National Careers Week supporters, the Natwest Group and NHS Health Careers
- An online virtual careers fair https://ncw2021.co.uk/
- A short Believe film, created to support young people to imagine and believe in their potential
- Activities for both primary and secondary school students
- A short Hope film with stress and wellbeing resources. This features young people talking about their hopes and anxieties for the future. Wellbeing advice and practical tips on managing feelings of stress is provided by GP and broadcaster Dr Radha Modgil.
The National Careers Week Team hope that you can join them this year. You can link up with other families, schools, colleges, universities, careers companies and businesses celebrating careers by using #NCW2021 on social media.
Mrs Gaulton
Careers Leader
Careers Week Key Documents
National Careers Week Events & Resources
Parents Guide to National Careers Week
Supporting Young People in East Herts
Careers Programme
We deliver a structured Careers and IAG curriculum which is reviewed on an annual basis. the next review is due to take place in February 2021. Each aspect of the careers programme is evaluated for its impact and effectiveness through evaluation forms and group discussions.
To access the Careers 2020 Years 7-13 Programme please click on the link below:
Careers Programme 2020
Sixth Form
At St Mary’s we encourage all Sixth Form students to explore their post 18 options, whether that is University, apprenticeships, employment, a Gap year or other education or training. Opportunities for exploring future choices are available throughout the two years of Sixth Form. Sixth Form students are able to seek permission for up to 5 absences per academic year to attend visits to explore these post 18 options.
Students attend sessions on how to write effective personal statements for both University and Apprenticeship applications. Each person applying through The Universities and College Admission service ( UCAS ) receives individual form tutor support and a one to one meeting with the Director of Sixth Form. Students seeking an alternative route will be invited to attend an individual guidance interview with our independent advisor. Students receive regular emails of University Open days, Summer Schools and Taster days. We also send email updates about apprenticeship vacancies and Gap years for those considering alternative routes. Please see the sixth form page for more detailed information regarding post 18 options.
Additional careers support that year 12 and 13 students receive includes the following:
- On-site Academic and Industry speakers
- Talks from former students
- Opportunity to have an appointment with an Independent Careers Advisor
- Help with sourcing work placements
- Personal Statement and CV Preparation
- Tailored support for Oxbridge and other competitive entrance courses such as Medicine
- Mock Interviews
Employer Engagement
We recognise and value the importance of working with local employers in order to support our career provision at the school. We are extremely keen to establish links with employers who will be able to enrich our students’ education and show them new possibilities within the world of work. We engage with over 100 different employers through work experience placements for our year 10 students. Over 30 employers and other education providers attended our careers carousel and another 30 professionals attended our mock interview day for year 11 and 13 students. We welcome further support from employers specifically those within the finance and law industry.
For next academic year we are seeking employers to support our Careers Carousel, Year 10 work experience, year 12 work placements and mock interview day. If you are able to help us with any of these events please contact Kerry Gaulton, Careers Leader at info@stmarys.net
Guidance for Parents/Carers
Parents and carers play a very significant role in helping students make informed choices about their study options and decisions about their future careers. Parents and carers are encouraged to talk with their child about their options and future aspirations. We value parents and carers input and encourage you to attend activities at school such as GCSE and A Level options evenings. We would also appreciate any offers of help with our Careers Carousel and Mock Interview day.
Should you wish to discuss your child’s future please contact their form tutor in the first instance, or Mrs Gaulton, our Careers Leader via email info@stmarys.net
Year 10 Work Experience
Work Experience - A Guide for Parents
Work Experience Parental Consent Form
In July all Year 10 pupils will undertake one week’s work experience. In preparation for this the pupils will have a Careers PSHEE lesson to help them discover the range of careers available to help them to make an informed choice when it comes to planning their work experience placement
Year 12 Work Experience
Sixth Form Enrichment Work Experience Placement
Year 12 Work Experience - Letter home to parents
Mock Interviews
Mock Interviews for all Year 11 students will take place on Thursday 18th November 2021. This is a fantastic opportunity for all students to put those skills into practice. Our interviewers’ then give pupil valuable feedback on their CV and their interview performance.
Futures Meetings
Students attend two Futures Meetings with a senior member of staff. In this meeting, students are given advice and talk though their options post-16. Students progressing to GCE A levels are encouraged to think carefully about their subject choices and how this may impact their Post 18 options. The Russell Group of universities Informed Choices provides information on facilitating subjects which are preferred by Universities.
For those considering alternative pathways to Sixth Form we provide details about apprenticeships and Open Days and can assist with applications. There are numerous Employers with options for school leavers who offer comprehensive apprenticeship programmes. For further information about apprenticeships please read A Parent’s Guide to Apprenticeships
Labour Market Information
Current Labour Market Information can be found here: Living and Working in East Herts, Living and Working in East Herts 2. Labour Market Information We believe it is important for all of our students to understand the Labour Market because this will help them to make realistic choices about their future. During our recent Careers Week, all the students were shown the following short video to help them understand the Hertfordshire Labour Market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxEnwYjtk5w&feature=youtu.be
The Careers and Enterprise Company
We are signed up to The Careers and Enterprise Company – The Enterprise Advisor Network –programme. The is a free provision managed locally by Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to support us to achieve all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks by August 2020 – a target set by the department for Education in their Careers Strategy (Dec 2017).
Further information about The Careers and Enterprise Company can be found here:
https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/
Further information about The Gatsby Benchmarks can be found here:
http://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/focus-areas/good-career-guidance
Destination Data
CAREERS NEWS
The Young Professionals Conference - Thursday November 12th 2020
Students from Year 12 & 13 had the opportunity to take part in The Young Professionals Conference. Students listened to live webinars throughout the day from large multinational companies such as PwC, GSK, HSBC, Vodafone, IBM and many more. Students could take part in the recruitment and application sessions discussing assessment centres, psychometric testing and lots more. It was a great opportunity to really think about their future career path and find out about the range of opportunities open to them.
Careers Week March 2020
Careers Week 2020 was bigger than ever with 10 guest speakers scheduled throughout the week. Students also enjoyed careers-focused activities during form time, subject specific careers information during lessons, quizzes in the library at lunchtime and a pop-up information event by Harlow College to educate and inspire.
Students were invited to sign up to presentations from a wide range of industries to allow them to pick up skills and gain useful insights into potential future careers.
We hosted a number of presentations from a range of experts:
- A presentation by senior occupational therapist, Alison Parkes
- Jenny Barnett, a police superintendent, spoke about her role in the police force and what you need to do to become a police officer.
- Lois Robertson, brand and marketing manager for Stansted Airport, gave a presentation about brand management, PR and marketing.
- Lewis Bailey, from Price Bailey Accountants, gave an in-depth talk to students about careers in accountancy, the routes into accountancy and the apprenticeship opportunities they provide.
- Former student, Polly Manton, delivered a presentation about the construction industry and her role as a new apprentice at Mace, the international consultancy and construction company
- Local company, LP Archaeology, came to give a talk to students who are interested in geography and history.
We also held a number of workshops, including ‘The Apprenticeship Application’ workshop delivered by Trisha Seecharran from Amazing Apprenticeship.
Providing our students with opportunities to interact with employers and to develop their awareness of further study and employment options improves the success of their transition from school to work. It was lovely to hear our students talking about their dream jobs and to see them starting to get excited about their bright futures.
The following websites are recommended for information. This list is not exhaustive and a more extensive list of websites for particular career sectors can be found in our Careers Library.
https://university.which.co.uk/
nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk
https://www.getingofar.gov.uk/
https://amazingapprenticeships.com
https://www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk/
https://www.ucas.com/further-education/apprenticeships-and-traineeships/post-16-apprenticeships
St Mary’s Catholic School is not responsible for the content of external websites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. Websites are checked regularly but may be subject to change without notification.
