Careers & Guidance

 

St Benedict’s Catholic College is committed to providing a programme of Careers education from Year 7 through to Year 11 and to giving all students access to independent careers information, advice and guidance.

 

What is CEIAG?


CEIAG stands for Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance. It is the acronym used to describe any support and education which is provided to students which helps inform their next steps, whether that be a transition to the next phase of education (options at GCSE for example), decisions about post 16 education or training or indeed the choice of higher education, further education, apprenticeships or employment at the end of post 18 study.

All our students are given information, advice and guidance to help them plan their pathways at the end of Key Stage 3 and to make the best choice when it comes to further education at the end of Key stage 4. Our aim is for students to make informed choices in order to plan for, and achieve, their future goals.

The CEIAG strategy sets out that every secondary school and college should use the following ‘Gatsby Benchmarks’ to develop and improve Careers provision by:

 

  • Ensuring a stable careers programme is in place
  • Learning from Careers and Labour market information
  • Addressing the needs of each student
  • Linking curriculum learning to careers
  • Offering encounters with employers and employees
  • Offering experiences of workplaces
  • Offering encounters with Further Education organisations
  • Providing independent and personal guidanc

How we measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on pupils?

St Benedict’s Catholic College works closely with the Careers and Enterprise Company. This is an external organisation that supports schools to ensure they are following the DFEs newly devised Careers Strategy. The following information is an extract taken from this guidance.

“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: the existing duties to secure independent careers guidance and provide opportunities to a range of providers to inform pupils about technical education qualifications or apprenticeships and the new duty to publish information about the careers programme on the school website.”

As a trusted education establishment, we ensure we use the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks as a foundation when planning our Careers Strategy. The effectiveness of our provision is inspected and audited by the Careers and Enterprise Company using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool. This tool is used by schools and colleges in England to support the analysis and evaluation of careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice (known as the Gatsby Benchmarks).

Additional evidence used to inform us of the effectiveness of our provision comes from:

The whole college ‘Student Survey’
Staff and parental feedback
Destination data
NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) data
 

 

 

 

HOW IS IT DELIVERED? 


Our CEIAG programme is co-ordinated by the Careers Lead, Mr P Cretu, and our Careers Officer, Mrs A Martin.

As students progress through Key Stages 3 and 4 they will be taught how to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to manage their own learning including: how to evaluate themselves honestly and realistically, how to set targets, make decisions, review and summarise their progress, present themselves effectively and create action plans which match their personal skills to abilities, interests and careers aspirations. 

Students will also receive impartial careers advice from a Level 6 trained careers adviser.

During the designated careers’ sessions students have the opportunity to learn about future careers, they actively explore Labour Market Information, the options and pathways across the local area open to them to achieve their career aspirations. As students progress through KS4, they will have the opportunity to gain further CEIAG with reference to the careers they are interested in, including support in applying for FE provision.   

 

Useful resources to support students explore careers, future options and pathways

Resources relevant to all our students

 

Get the Jump campaign: explore your education & training choices (National Careers Service) - Website

Future TalentED (website of useful on-line career magazines 2018/2019/2020/2021/2022) - Link

icould (real stories to inspire your career & tools to support CV writing and revision planning) - Website

Unifrog for 11-18yrs (all students in KS3 and 4 will be using this platform) - Website

National Careers Service (includes a dedicated section for schools) - Website

Apprenticeships (latest news & info on apprenticeships & schemes plus tips on how to apply) - Website

Opportunities for young people with additional needs - Website

Child employment UK regulation - Child Employment

Prospects (career guidance and advice) - Website

Provider Access Policy

 

 

Resources relevant to year 10 and 11 students

 

Post 16 options (National Careers Service) - website

What next after GCSEs? Post 16 options (Family Careers Network) - video

Post 18 options (National Careers Service) - website

What are T Levels Film - video

Register & apply for current apprenticeships - website

T Level Offer in the local area 2023-24 - website

 

Local FE and HE

 

Gatsby Benchmark 4 - this benchmark states:

 

  • All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers.
  • STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.
  • By the age of 14, every pupil should have had the opportunity to learn how the different STEM subjects help people to gain entry to, and be more effective workers within, a wide range of careers.
     

At St Benedict’s Catholic College all subject areas link curriculum learning to careers within lessons, as part of enrichment activities and via guest speakers and outside agencies to support a wide range of activities and projects throughout the academic year.

 

St Benedict's Catholic College Careers Directory

 

 

Destination Figures


Year 11 Leavers 2023

Total Number of Leavers
179 Students
Colchester Sixth Form
107 Students
Colchester Institute
40 Students
CRGS
4 Students
Philip Morant
8 Students
CCHSG
3 Students
Others
15 Students

How the college measures and assesses the impact of the careers program 
The college is using the 'Compass evaluation tool' to assess ongoing progress in relation to the eight Gatsby Benchmarks. 
The college has a Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) policy and the Careers Lead together with the Careers Coordinator use it regularly to monitor compliance with our vision, values and statutory duties. 
The Careers scheme of work is reviewed each year to ensure personalised learning suitable for each year group’s career needs. 
 
The following steps are in place to evaluate the effectiveness of its careers programme each year. 
 
The evaluation cycle involves: 
Review of the objectives of the Careers programme (Tutor Careers Learning programme, Interviews and through Year Group activities) with a focus on outcomes for learners and assessing if the objectives have been met 
Focus on the delivery of the programme and evidence of impact on pupils  
Using feedback to adapt the programme to continuously improve it so it meets the objectives 
The evaluation also involves looking at a range of evidence such as: 
• attainment 
• progress 
• GCSE pathways 
• destinations data 
• reduction in NEET figure 
• feedback from students e.g. their understanding of different careers and pathways 
 
Feedback from other stakeholders includes: 
• Parents/carers 
• Careers and Enterprise Coordinator 
• Teachers 
• Governors 
• Employers 
An outline of the evaluation schedule is as follows: 
Are we making the best use of the resources we have allocated for careers work? (Termly) 
• The effectiveness of different guidance interventions, e.g. one-to one interviews, small group work, drop-in sessions 
Are we optimising students' learning from the careers programme? (Oct/July) 
• Evaluation of activities up to the end of the summer term 2024 
• The learning outcomes achieved at the end of KS3 and KS4 
How well are students succeeding in taking the next steps in their education, training or employment that are 'right for them'? 
• The effectiveness of the Year 9 Pathways process 
• The destinations achieved at the end of KS4  
The college’s next review of the Careers information will be published in September 2024. 
 

 

In line with the recommendations set out in Gatsby Benchmark 1, we as a school plan to review the published information on an annual basis, inviting feedback from key audiences.