Careers Education at Rastrick

In KS3, all students experience work on Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) through their tutorial sessions, as well as lessons on Enterprise and Employability, which also incorporates elements of CIAG and building links with local employers such as Lloyds Bank.

Throughout KS3, targeted students are invited to attend further and higher educational establishment visits to provide advice and guidance, and raise aspirations, as well as being invited to attend part of our careers fair and meet with our independent careers advisor from C&K Careers to discuss their future. Moreover, students are encouraged to participate in a variety of STEM activities and competitions, both in lesson time and through extracurricular clubs, to develop their employability and enterprise skills, with again, where appropriate, employers delivering this learning. There are also direct opportunities to build skills that are vital for the workplace through subjects such as Physical Education, and also through volunteering activities, with students acting as volunteer librarians, student leaders and participating in schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh award.

To support Year 9 students with their options process, there is a clear support package for students and parents/carers to support them in making the best choices for their GCSE subjects. This includes, but is not exclusive to small group sessions with our independent careers adviser as well as time dedicated in tutorials for students to complete work around their options and familiarise themselves with this process.

Targeted students receive specific CIAG interventions, where appropriate, such as being invited to raising aspiration programmes with local universities and businesses, such as law firms, etc. as well as students being invited to participate in
apprenticeship events to deepen their understanding of this possible route.

At KS4, CIAG and Enterprise and Employability continues to be taught through the tutorial programme, again building on the links with local employers established in KS3. To supplement this work, students have dedicated sessions, both on a 1:1 basis and in small groups to meet with our independent careers advisor for advice and guidance. They also participate in large scale events such as our mock interviews hosted by local employers, and our careers fair, which incorporates a range of providers such as Colleges, Sixth Forms, Employers, Universities and Apprentice Providers.

The school’s assembly programme ties into the tutorial programme and the large scale events, with both in-school and external speakers sharing further advice and guidance with regards to careers. An independent careers advisor is on hand at all KS4 parents’ evenings to offer advice where necessary.

The academic curriculum also incorporates elements of CIAG and enterprise and employability, for example, in Business Studies, which further enhances the work students complete as part of the tutorial programme. Additionally, students on some courses will have the opportunity to visit relevant workplaces as part of their study.
In order to develop employability skills, students are encouraged to take part in volunteering opportunities with students further down the school, as well as participating in schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh.

To prepare students for options after KS4, staff currently use the local and key
sector labour market information (LMI) to guide assemblies and external speakers
to support students in accessing appropriate education or training after the age of 16.

Supporting your child in choosing the best and most appropriate career for them can be a challenging process. At Rastrick, we want to ensure all students understand the ‘next steps’ that are most suited to their individual needs and make this process as smooth as possible. This is achieved by the school working to ensure the eight Gatsby Benchmarks are worked towards every academic year.

To ensure students develop a thorough understanding of the wide range of options available to them, once they complete their studies at the age of 16, such as A Level and Vocational studies, apprenticeships and employment. We strive to ensure all students have at least one meaningful encounter with a provider each academic year. In order to support these encounters, you may wish to talk to your son/daughter about careers they are interested in and the requirements for these careers on a regular basis.

You can access a number of services as a parent/carer to provide support when discussing careers with your son or daughter, and these are detailed below:

• Contact our in school, independent C&K Careers Adviser Ruth Evans
• Visit your local Job Centre Plus or their website
• Visit the National Careers Service Website. This service also allows young people to phone, web chat and email the service to gain further advice about careers.

Careers Education at Rastrick High School

Throughout all Key Stages, all students have the opportunity to attend drop in sessions with our independent careers adviser if they wish, and also participate in tutorial sessions around Careers and Enterprise and Employ ability, which consist of two blocks ofwork of around 3-4 weeks each, with each session in the blocks lasting for 40minutes.

At Rastrick, our Careers guidance is very much a personalised approach, meeting the needs of individual students and small groups, however, the information below gives you an insight into some of the approaches we take.

Key Stage 3

In KS3, all students experience a block of work on Careers, Information,  Advice and Guidance (CIAG) through their tutorial sessions, as well as a separate block on Enterprise and Employability, which also incorporates elements of CIAG and building links with local employers such as Lloyds Bank. These themes are developed through activities such as ‘The Real Game’ – a simulation designed to encourage pupils to think carefully about howeducation influences different types of employment and how the career they choose could affect their lifestyle.

Throughout KS3, targeted students are invited to attend university visits to provide advice and guidance, and raise aspirations, as well as being invited to attend part of our careers fair and meet with our independent careers advisor from C&K Careers to discuss their future. Moreover, students are encouraged to participate in a variety of STEM
activities and competitions, both in lesson time and through extracurricular to develop their employ ability and enterprise skills, with again, where appropriate, employers delivering this classroom learning. There are also direct opportunities to build skills that are vital for the workplace through subjects such as Physical Education, and also through volunteering activities, with students acting as volunteer librarians, student leaders and participating in schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh award.

To support Year 9 students with their options process, there is a clear support package for students and parents/carers to support them in making the best choices for their GCSE subjects. This includes, but is not exclusive to: small group sessions with our independent careers adviser, plus time dedicated in tutorials for students to complete work around their options and familiarise themselves with this process.

Targeted students receive mspecific CIAG interventions, where appropriate, such as being invited to raising aspiration mprogrammes with local muniversities and businesses, such as law firms, etc. as well as students being invited to participate in
apprenticeship events to deepen their understanding of this possible route.

Key Stage 4

At KS4, CIAG and Enterprise and Employability continues to be taught through the tutorial programme, again building on the links with local employers established in KS3. To supplement this work, students have dedicated sessions, both on a 1:1 basis and in small groups to meet with our independent careers advisor for advice and guidance. They also participate in large scale events such as our mock interviews hosted by local employers, and our careers fair, which incorporates a range of providers such as Colleges, Sixth Forms, Employers, Universities and Apprentice Providers.

The school’s assembly programme ties into the tutorial programme and the large scale events with both in-school and external speakers sharing further advice and guidance with regards to careers, and an independent careers advisor is on hand at all KS4 parents’ evenings to offer advice where necessary.
Some of the KS4 courses studied incorporate elements of CIAG and enterprise and employ ability, such as Business Studies, which further enhances the work students complete as part of the tutorial programme. Additionally, students on some courses will have the opportunity to visit relevant workplaces as part of their study.
In order to develop employ ability skills, students are encouraged to take part in volunteering opportunities with students further down the school, as well as participating in schemes such as the National Citizenship Scheme.

To prepare students for options after KS4, staff currently use the local and key
sector labour market information (LMI) to guide assemblies and external speakers
to support students in accessing appropriate education or training after the age of 16.

In recent years, we have developed our Raising Aspirations event, inviting Russel Group Universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, local business people and local apprenticeship providers, such as Covea Insurance into school to talk to our students about opportunities in each of these areas. The opportunity to speak to local business people encourages the students to consider self-entrepreneurship, and similarly, apprentice talks from local businesses encourages students to consider apprentice opportunities in areas where, historically, apprenticeships may not have been available. As with all of our CIAG, this is very much personalised to the individual student.