Careers Plan

Stephenson (MK) Trust: Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance

The Trust is committed to providing high quality Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) to all of our students.
 
In line with the new statutory guidance produced by the Department for Education, we offer a varied programme of careers education embedded within all areas of the curriculum and delivered through our project based learning, princes trust lessons and careers activities, trips and encounters with local employers. The careers programme is delivered from years 7-13.

We have recently undergone an audit of the careers delivery in The Stephenson Trust using the Compass tool provided by the Careers Enterprise Company in which we evaluated our provision against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of good practise. We have subsequently developed a two year improvement plan to ensure our students benefit from an outstanding careers programme. We actively encourage and welcome outside agencies, employers and education & training providers to come and meet with our students and believe that all interactions of this kind can help our students to gain a wider understanding of their options and the labour market. These positive and meaningful encounters encourage our students to consider new ideas which can help to raise their aspirations.

Please contact our Careers Adviser to make arrangements for this (Kerry Clifford  kerry.clifford@bridgeacademy.org.uk)

Our provision is revaluated termly using the compass tool and our careers plan has been approved by our senior leadership team and our board of governors. The careers plan is reviewed every year.

The views of students and parents are very important. They are welcomed and actively used in all evaluation and planning of the programme.

The careers delivery for each year is summarised and reviewed in an end of year report by the Careers Adviser that is sent to the senior leadership team and the board of Governors. Details of our student’s destinations are counted and published each year in the Activity Survey.

The Activity Survey is a statutory report that Local Authorities provide to the DfE each year and it is finalised on the 31^st January.  It provides initial destination information of young people who left school the previous September and is based on their activity on 1^st November.

The information is gathered together by the Youth Faculty by working with schools, local colleges and training providers. The Youth Faculty team also track young people by contacting them by phone, email, letter, and in some circumstances, home visits.

KEY PEOPLE

Careers Leader – Kerrie Marshall, Deputy Principal, Bridge Academy
Careers Adviser – Kerry Clifford
Enterprise Adviser– Adam Naisbitt, Director and Founder, Digitally Engaged
Enterprise Co-ordinator, South East Local Enterprise Partnership – Deborah Foster
Link Careers Adviser, The Youth, Advice and Guidance Service. Youth Faculty, Milton Keynes Council - Caroline Keen
Governor with strategic interest in careers for Bridge Academy – Paula Lawson
Governor with strategic interest in careers for Stephenson Academy – Daniel Hickling

CAREERS GUIDANCE

Our Careers Adviser offers impartial face-to-face guidance to all students at the school, helping them to make informed decisions about their future destinations and career pathways.

Students are offered a careers interview at their point of entry to Bridge Academy and again in year 11.

Students at Stephenson Academy are offered a careers interview in year 9, 11, 12 and 13. The Careers Adviser will attend all annual reviews (where possible) in year 9 and 11.

All students receive a personalised careers action plan. Our careers adviser works with our students until the October following the summer when they leave to provide wrap around support during the transition period from statutory education to post 16 education, training or employment.

We work closely with the Information, Advice and Guidance service and have a named adviser; Caroline Keen who is linked to our school. Caroline visits us regularly during the spring term to meet our year 11 students to introduce herself and for us to tell them about the service. YAG can support our students until they are 20 (25 for those with an EHCP).

Caroline can be contacted at YAG, The Youth Faculty (MK Council) on 01908 556700   

Careers @ Key stage 3

• Careers is embedded into project based learning lessons and where appropriate in all subjects across the curriculum.

Princes Trust lessons that include:

• Recognising our strengths and values
• Raising self esteem
• Communication skills
• Goal setting
• Economic wellbeing
• Teamwork
• Employability skills; interview preparation, writing a CV. 
• Careers Carousel – Work Tree
• Opportunities for Employer mentoring
• Opportunities for Work shadowing
• STEM activities - to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
• Enterprise Activities
• Careers assemblies
• Careers notice board to display careers information in each centre.
• Trips and visits – skills shows, apprenticeships fairs.
• Careers guidance interview with all new students (Bridge Academy)
• Careers guidance interviews with all students in year 9. The careers adviser will attend annual reviews during year 9.

 Careers @ Key stage 4 

• Careers is embedded where appropriate into all subjects across the curriculum. 

Princes Trust lessons that include:

• Recognising our strengths and values
• Raising self esteem
• Communication skills
• Goal setting
• Economic wellbeing
• Teamwork
• Employability skills; interview preparation, writing a CV.
• Careers Carousel – Work Tree
• Opportunities for Employer mentoring
• Opportunities for Work shadowing
• STEM activities - to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
• Enterprise Activities
• Careers assemblies
• Careers notice board to display careers information in each centre.
• Trips and visits – skills shows, apprenticeships fairs.
• Careers guidance interview for all year 11 students.
• Visits to local colleges and training providers.
• Careers workshops and talks
• Employer visits
• Mock interviews with employers
• Opportunities for work experience
• Introduction to the Youth, Advice and Guidance service for all year 11 students.
• Employability sessions delivered by the schools adviser from Jobcentre plus.
• Support with post 16 applications and interviews.
• Referral to the employability programme delivered by People Plus.
• Careers Adviser in attendance at all annual reviews for year 11 students.
• Carefully managed and supported transition from school to college.
• Joint home visits with Youth, Advice and Guidance over the summer.
• Continued support from the Careers Adviser until October half term following the end of year 11 to ensure students have been able to engage successfully with their post 16 destination.
• Intended destination and September guarantee information provided to the local authority.
• Work in partnership with the local authority to provide information for the Annual Activity Survey.

Careers @ Key stage 5 (Stephenson Academy only)

• Opportunities for Employer mentoring
• Opportunities for Work shadowing
• Careers notice board to display careers information in each centre.
• Trips and visits – skills shows, apprenticeships fairs.
• Careers guidance interview for all year 12 and 13 students.
• Visits to local colleges and training providers.
• Careers workshops and talks
• Employer visits
• Mock interviews with employers
• Opportunities for work experience
• Employability sessions delivered by the schools adviser from Jobcentre plus.
• Support applications and interviews.
• Referral to the employability programme delivered by People Plus.
• Careers Adviser in attendance at all annual reviews for 6^th form students.
• Carefully managed and supported transition from school to college.
• Joint home visits with Youth, Advice and Guidance over the summer.
• Continued support from the Careers Adviser until October half term following the end of year 11 to ensure students have been able to engage successfully with their post 16 destination.
• Intended destination and September guarantee information provided to the local authority.
• Work in partnership with the local authority to provide information for the Annual Activity Survey.

 EXPLORING CAREERS INDEPENDENTLY

Students are encouraged and expected to take responsibility for exploring their own career ideas and options. Here are some good websites that students can use: Icould  - Careers advice, choices & ideas
www.icould.com

Careersbox - Watch videos of people in different jobs.
www.careersbox.co.uk

Success at School – Explore jobs by career zone
www.successatschool.org/careerzones

Take a quiz to explore careers in different worlds of work: www.icould.com/buzz 
www.prospects.ac.uk

Find out about different jobs:
www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/job-profiles/home
 

WORKING WITH EMPLOYERS - THE FRIENDS OF STEPHENSON TRUST (FOST)

The Stephenson Trust is committed to increasing the opportunities that our students have for engaging positively with adults from the ‘world of work’. We know that young people benefit from activities such as work experience, work shadowing, workshops, careers talks, workplace visits and mentoring.

Together with Deb Foster our Enterprise Co-ordinator from SEMLEP and Adam Naisbitt our Enterprise Adviser we are in the process of bringing together a network of professional people and organisations who are sympathetic to the challenges our students face and are motivated to want to help.

The FOST are a group of positive role models, people with interesting jobs, people who would like to inspire, motivate and encourage young people to reach their potential.

Full training and support is provided. If you would like to find out more about the FOST or if you are an employer who would like to work with our school please contact our Careers Adviser – kerry.clifford@bridgeacademy.org.

LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION

Link for student and parents to access LMI
Careerometer widget: http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/widget/

Clifford is the qualified and impartial Careers Adviser for Stephenson (MK) Trust.

Kerry is registered with the Career Development Institute and helps students to explore their ideas and make plans for the future. Currently Kerry offers one to one careers guidance for all students in years 11, 12 and 13 and this will be rolled out to other year groups over the next two years. Kerrie Marshall, Deputy Principal is the Careers Leader for the Trust. 

As a Trust we work with a number of local further education providers, apprenticeship providers and local, national and international employers to encourage our young people to have high aspirations for their future. 

We also work with a wide range of employers to offer talks, mentoring and experiences of work to inspire our learners, give a greater understanding about the world of work and to develop employability skills.

Careers education is delivered across the curriculum and students are invited to take part in lots of different and interesting visits to skills fairs, careers workshops and events such as careers carousels.

In line with the new statutory guidance for careers published in January 2018 there is in place a new careers vision for the Trust and a two year action plan to achieve this. We believe that all young people should receive personalised advice and guidance to support them to choose post 16 / post 18 path and career that is right for them.

We actively encourage and welcome outside agencies, employers and education & training providers to come and meet with our students and believe that all interactions of this kind can help our students to gain a wider understanding of their options and the labour market. These positive and meaningful encounters encourage our students to consider new ideas which can help to raise their aspirations. Please contact our Careers Adviser to make arrangements for this.

Kerry Clifford
Careers Adviser
kerry.clifford@bridgeacademy.org.uk

LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION

Link for student and parents to access LMI
Careerometer widget: http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/widget/