Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance

At Chiltern Academy, we are committed to providing pupils with high quality Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) so that they have the skills, knowledge and resource to achieve their potential and make informed decisions about their future.

Our careers programme currently runs from year 7 – 9 but will expand to include opportunities at key stage 4, as the school continues to grow. Careers education is embedded into the curriculum and pupils have access to accurate and up-to-date labour market information. Pupils will develop their understanding of the diverse and changing world of work through encounters with employers and careers learning, and will be able to explain the range of pathways (including academic, vocational and apprenticeships) available through further and higher education literature and events. Our careers provision is aligned to the eight Gatsby Benchmarks, a framework of good careers guidance that are at the heart of the Government’s Careers Strategy.

Our careers leader is responsible for the implementation of the careers programme and supports pupils throughout their Chiltern careers learning journey. Please take a look at our CEIAG hub which has been designed for pupils, parents and staff, to complement our careers offer. There a host of useful careers related resources and information.

CEIAG Hub - Click here to enter

A breakdown of the CEIAG offer is outlined below:

Year 7	Journalism workshop with guest speaker Katya Adler, BBC editor Assembly from Poets Karl Nova and Adisa followed by workshops on becoming a poet and writing techniques Interactive session with Luton and Dunstable Hospital on the careers available within the NHS Personal finance workshop with Nationwide Explicit links to careers in lessons during careers week
Year 8	The Brilliant Club Assembly from Poets Karl Nova and Adisa followed by workshops on becoming a poet and writing techniques Bringing engineering lessons to life with ARUP STEM Day Aircraft Project in partnership with Smallpeice Trust and Leonardo Explicit links to careers in lessons during careers week
Year 9	South Hampstead Debating Competition Interactive session with Luton and Dunstable Hospital on the careers available within the NHS Key Stage 4 Options Evening PSHE lesson with PC Coleman from Bedfordshire Police Team – Meggie Initial phases of construction workshop with JJ Rhatigan What it takes to become a professional athlete with Luton Town Football Player Josh Neufville Advice and guidance session with Brunel University Personal finance sessions with finance expert Mrs Mummy Penny and Charter Insurance Institute (CII) Virtual careers talk for our pupil council with Luton Councillor Jacqui Burnett Assembly from Poets Karl Nova and Adisa followed by workshops on becoming a poet and writing techniques Explicit links to careers in lessons during careers week

To maintain quality and ensure compliance with the latest statutory guidance, the careers strategy will be reviewed every two years and the impact of the careers programme will be measured and evaluated regularly.

Pupils

It can be difficult to know where to start in making decisions about your future. However, career planning and exploration is important as it allows you to:

Make informed choices
Identify goals and produce an action plan of how you will achieve these
Develop your skills and experience that are relevant to your area of interest – this in turn will enhance your employability as you can demonstrate that you are motivated, proactive, and well prepared for the further studies/employment

You may or may not know what you want to do in the future, but a good place to start is to think about:

What are my strengths and what would those around me say I am good at?
What do I enjoy doing? This can be in school, through extra-curricular or in your spare time
What opportunities are available now and in the future? Do I know what jobs are declining/increasing?
What motivates me?

Please see a list of resources at the bottom of the page, that you can use to explore your career ideas and consider the choices and pathways available

Parents

With an array or careers information and an ever changing labour market, it can be difficult to know where to look and what to read when it comes to understanding what is available to your child. The choices available to your child today, are likely to be very different to what was available to you at school. However, parental guidance has always played a significant role in a pupils decision making and so it is important you have access to relevant and up-to-date information. Our careers programme sets out the range of opportunities available, which aims to develop pupils sense of self, knowledge of the working world and to raise ambitious aspirations for their future.

For more advice and careers information, specifically for parents, please visit:

Parent Adviser - http://www.parentadviser.co.uk/
Parent Adviser is another handy site, helping parents simplify the confusing process and finances involved in applying to higher education, helping your child choose the right course, league tables and alternatives to college and university. You can also sign up to the Parent Adviser Community and join the forum to discuss issues and share advice with fellow parents/carers
Parental Guidance - http://www.parentalguidance.org.uk/
Parental Guidance offers clear, concise and impartial information on the post 16 choices available. Led by experienced careers writers and advisers, this website is a helpful guide to parents, with useful articles, news and updates, from preparing applications and interviews to looking at labour market information
Chiltern Academy CEIAG Hub link

If you have any careers related questions concerning your child, please contact Miss Lynch (careers leader) on 01582 310644 or email llynch@chiltern-academy.co.uk

Employers

To increase pupil’s awareness of the world of work and the knowledge and skills required, we endeavour to provide a range of employers and careers related opportunities to each of our pupils. Below are some examples of careers activities an employer could get involved with:

Offer a work experience placement through your organisation to one or a group of our year 10 pupils
Take part in our Business, Education, Skills and Partnership (BESP) events where pupils ask you questions about your job role, the organisation you work for and your careers journey
Provide a careers insight talk to pupils about your career path or sector in which you work in
If you work in a growing industry, share with pupils the upcoming opportunities that they may be available to them
Deliver/support a subject lesson specific to the industry in which you work in; bringing real-life context to a particular subject area or topic
Offer a mentoring programme to enhance pupils employability skills
Deliver an activity/skills based workshop i.e. CV writing, interview preparation, team building task

If you are a business or an employer and would like to support our pupils in any of the above activities and build a mutually beneficial relationship with the school, please get in touch with our Careers Leader, Louise Lynch on 01582 310644 or email llynch@chiltern-academy.co.uk

Staff

There are many ways in which staff can promote careers education and link curriculum learning:

Schemes of work and lesson plans show how career relevant learning is embedded into your teaching
Motivate and encourage pupils to be ambitious and to reach their full potential
Talk to pupils about the careers related to your subject
Provide pupils with impartial, up-to-date and accurate advice on the pathways available and the skills in demand from employers
Share careers related resources with pupils such as labour market information, local initiatives/opportunities and useful website links
Get involved with nationally recognised events such as National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week
Organise extracurricular activities to develop and enhance pupils’ core competencies such as teamwork, communication and leadership
Encourage pupils to take onus of their careers learning journey through independent research tasks
Inform pupils of contacts within school that can support them in their decision making, particularly at key transitional stages
Organise employer visits and industry trips to promote pupils understanding of the world of work
Invite employers in to give a careers talk, share expertise or provide real life context to a topic