CEIAG Policy & Overview

Click here to view Careers Policy updated Sept 2024

Rationale

Careers education, information and guidance (CEIAG) programmes play a major part in raising aspirations and helping young people choose pathways that suit their interests, abilities and individual needs.

A planned programme of activities supports them in choosing 14 – 19 pathways that suit their interests and skills and inspire them to consider a range of career pathways to help ensure sustained employability throughout their working lives. Careers Education Information, Advice and Guidance is central to the ‘Aspire to Inspire’ and ‘Be the Best Version of Yourself’ components of the whole school ethos.

The Careers programme at Weaverham High School helps our students to plan and manage their career aspirations effectively, ensuring progression which is ambitious and aspirational. It promotes equality of opportunity, celebrates diversity and challenges stereotypes. The programme is designed to meet 100% of the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and conforms to statutory requirements.

Vision and Commitment

Our vision is for careers provision that aims to raise our students’ aspirations; to broaden their horizons; to inspire and to empower them to make informed course choices and realistic decisions at key transition points in learning and in preparation for the world of work. We want all students to have knowledge and resilience to be clear about the skills they need to acquire in order to achieve their aspirations, reach their full career potential, meet the needs of employers and to contribute to economic growth, both locally, nationally and on a global scale.

Statutory duties

Weaverham High School has a statutory duty to secure independent careers guidance for all year 7 to 13 students (The Education Act 2011 / Careers Guidance and Access for Education and Training Providers – updated in January 2023). The new provider access legislation (occasionally referred to as the ‘Baker Clause’) now requires all schools and academies to provide opportunities for a range of education and training providers to access all year 8 to 13 pupils to inform them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. The Skills and Post-16 Act 2022, strengthens this legislation by introducing a minimum number of six provider encounters that every school must provide and, for the first time, introduces parameters around the duration and content of these encounters so that we can ensure they are of high quality.

Leaders and Governors must ensure that the independent careers guidance provided:

• is presented in an impartial manner, showing no bias or favouritism towards a particular institution, education or work option.
• includes information on the range of education or training options, including apprenticeships and technical education routes.
• is guidance that the person giving it considers will promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given.

Weaverham High School is committed to providing all students in Years 7-11 with a programme of careers activities and related employment focused activity. The programme has been developed in line with the eight Gatsby benchmarks for ensuring best practice and to meet the requirements of the Department for Education’s statutory guidance (2018).

The Gatsby Benchmarks

1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each student
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experience of work places
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance

Weaverham High School is proud to have achieved the IAG Gold Standard Award in recognition of the quality of our CEIAG provision.

The Careers programme is delivered through a combination of methods. Information and guidance is provided within the ‘Life’ (PSHCE) curriculum throughout years 7,8,9,10 and 11.

1:1 personal careers guidance is also provided via external specialist careers advisors (M-Ploy) to ensure that our programme can meet the individual needs and aspirations of all students.

We also offer aspirational visits to workplaces and allow Colleges, Further & Higher Education providers the opportunity to give informative and aspirational assemblies to Ys 9-11.

In National Careers Week, all curriculum areas are involved in a whole-school CEIAG focus on GBM 4 (Linking Curriculum To Careers) that involves Careers related lesson activities, assemblies, employer visits and external careers trips.

In Year 10, all students take part in a work experience programme to broaden aspirations and help prepare them for the world of work.

In years 8-11 all students have the opportunity to speak to employers, FE/HE providers from a wide range work places and industries through our ‘Aspirations Evening’ careers fair, whereby parents and carers can join their children in investigating personalised future study / employment avenues.

In line with new provider access statutory guidance (PAL 2023-24), we also provide a minimum of six opportunities for Year 8-11 students to have opportunities to meet a range of providers of approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

From Aut Term 1 2024 students in Y7-11 will be provided with access to Unifrog – a market leading 24/7 ‘one-stop shop’ for local, national and global information and guidance relating to post 16, post 18 courses and industry sectors. We have adopted and adapted Unifrog’s taught curriculum to enhance the quality of careers provision within the LIFE curriculum.

In line with Gatsby benchmark 4, there are also clear links to careers opportunities within each curriculum area ensuring our students develop a clear understanding of the prospective careers opportunities available to them within respective fields of interest.

A summary of the Careers provision is shown below on page 7.

Meeting Students’ Needs

Weaverham High works closely with M-PLOY and Warrington & Vale Royal partners (such as the PLEDGE and CWACH YPS) to provide additional careers guidance interviews, work related learning opportunities and one to one support for targeted / vulnerable students and those at risk of not participating post-16 (NEET). This includes students with additional needs, such as special educational needs and disabilities and those who may leave care between the ages of 16 and 18.

PP and / or SEND pupils in KS4 are given priority when scheduling Career Connect 1:1 Careers Guidance Interviews. These cohorts area also prioritised for local careers fair visits.

*The school also engages with motivational work placements that allows students on alternative education programmes intervention programmes in KS3/4 to develop vocational and employability skills that raise aspirations and provide clarity of potential next steps.

During National Careers Week, specific Year group Careers assemblies are delivered and impartial careers advisors are commissioned by the school from M-Ploy and Young Peoples Services. These advisors specialise in working with our disengaged cohorts in Y8/9 and works to support them from becoming NEET post Year 11. This is complemented by a range of organised CEIAG in‐house events, including trips/workshops for disengaged / SEND students in Y8/9 that raise aspirations, provide insight into a variety of careers and allow students to work / engage with employers.

We also ensure that Y10 and Y11 career Aspirations / Ambitions are monitored via our Aspirations Audit & participation tracker which provides detailed analysis of students’ post-16 and post-18 ambitions, future career sectors of interest and sub-cohort data trends in order that our CEIAG programme can be tailored to suit whole, sub-cohort and individual choices.

*Specific entitlement opportunities are flexible and may alter based on the specific needs of the students and the year group.

Access to Careers Information

Students, staff, parents and other stakeholders have full access to Careers information via the school’s website. Information relating to Further Education and Apprenticeships are fully available within this area. Students are also able to access programmes that support decision making about their future careers. Information is also available relating to Higher Education.

Key Personnel

We have a appointed a Designated Careers Lead – Jennie Walsh. They have overall responsibility for the coordination and quality of the Careers programme, which includes the production of high-quality lessons for delivery within PSHCE and the coordination/management of further CEIAG opportunities within the school. The Designated Career Lead is also required to assess if our provision is meeting the requirements of the Gatsby Benchmarks.

The Designated Careers Lead is line managed at Senior Leadership level by Gary Makin, Assistant Headteacher for Personal Development, Aspiration and Wellbeing. Fortnightly meetings take place within each half term to evaluate the quality and outcomes of the provision and ensure there is a clear improvement strategy for the year.

Heads of Year and Personal Development Tutors (Y7-11) also support Careers related learning and opportunities via the Life (PSHCE) curriculum and other enrichment opportunities. HOY 9 are instrumental in securing annual aspirations visits to Chester University / Edge Hill University and HOY 10/11 are key personnel in arranging 1:1 guidance appointments and in liaising with post16/post-18 providers regarding assembly talks.

All staff contribute to careers information, advice and guidance through their roles as faculty leaders, learning tutors, subject teachers or pastoral support. National Careers Week sees a whole-school focus on GBM4 with all curriculum areas contributing to a variety of subject related career activities.

Specialist CEAIG sessions are delivered by trained staff from a range of outside agencies with Career Aspirations visits throughout the year from a wide range of industry sectors.

The Principal has an overall responsibility for the provision of careers education.

Measuring the Impact of the Careers Programme

Our monitoring and evaluation strategies encompass all of these aspects of delivery. This regular and systematic monitoring and evaluation (using the strategic model in the diagram below) is used to inform decision making about future development of the careers programme. Monitoring activities used to ensure that the careers programme is being implemented as planned include:

• Learning (Environment) walks
• Lesson observations (Life curriculum, NCW GBM4 focus)
• Questionnaires – students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
• Focus groups – student leadership group, LIFE tutors and parent feedback groups
• Aspirations / Ambitions Audit Career participation tracker (providing detailed analysis of student ambitions future career paths and sub-cohort data trends in order that our CEIAG programme can be tailored to suit whole, sub-cohort and individual choices
• 1:1 Career Connect Appointments Records
• Compass+ Toolkit Termly Evaluation of provision v Gatsby Benchmarks
• Unifrog data
• Evaluation activities are used to measure the impact of our career programme and inform future planning. Evaluation activities include:

Analysis of destination data

• Compass+ Toolkit Evaluation v Gatsby 8 Benchmarks
• Aspirations and Ambitions audit analysis
• Enrichment Audit analysis
• Destinations data (Career Connect)
• Learning walks
• Lesson observations
• Questionnaires – students, staff, parents and carers, external partners
• Focus groups – students, staff, Careers Champions
• Student evaluations of personal guidance interviews

Weaverham High School’s Excellence in Monitoring & Evaluating Provision Cycle. Supporting Sustained Achievements within the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks

The effectiveness of our careers education information and guidance can be measured in line with termly reviews of our progress within the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and will also be reflected in the high numbers of students progressing to positive destinations such as apprenticeships, technical routes, sixth form colleges, further education colleges, universities or employment.

Destination data is used to assess how successfully students make the transition into the next stage of education or training, or into employment and to inform future careers provision. The school monitors closely the destination information of former pupils (for the required 3 years post Weaverham High in line with GBM 3 requirements) and uses this to inform the development of the careers programme.

The careers policy is reviewed on an annual basis by the Careers Leader, SLT and Governors.