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Careers - Overview
‘INSPIRE, INFORM AND PREPARE – EVERY PUPIL AT EVERY STAGE’
The provision of careers guidance and support at St George’s Church of England Foundation School seeks to deliver on the updated 2023 Department for Education Careers Strategy. We have been awarded the Investor in Careers award, a Quality in Careers Standard, through CSW Group Ltd. Following our assessment, St George's Church of England Foundation School has been accredited as “Fully meeting all the accreditation criteria, incorporating the Gatsby Benchmarks.”
An outline of our Careers journey at Secondary is shown below. Our Provision can be found on THESE PAGES.
Every pupil should have an encounter with an employer for every year of their education - in 2022/2023, all pupils had at least one Careers experience. Year 7 and 8 had talks from the Fire Service and Years 10 and 11 from Army Careers. We have had alumni visits to year 9, 12 and 13 lessons from a member of the RNLI, a timber frame manufacturer and a science equipment manufacturer. All year 7, 8 and 10 pupils had lesson visits from the DWP.
We have a Career of the Week and a termly focus on a particular transferable skill, based on Skills Builder. We had a very successful Careers Fair in July 2023, which was open to our pupils during the day and to the community after school.
ANY pupil can request a Careers Interview with our unbiased, independent advisers.
The Career team "deliver a strong careers programme drawing on a range of external support." Kent Enterprise Co-ordinator
"A real team effort" - School visitor
"A big thank you to you for your support with applications and interviews this year" - Parent
"Students receive high-quality careers advice. By the time students complete Year 13, they have experienced the world of work. Very few students leave the sixth form without having secured a place in training, education or employment" - OFSTED, 2019
"A comprehensive programme of CEIAG which includes Careers Education... across the Curriculum... impartial careers advice and a range of work-related learning activities and events.
A very thorough and well organised programme." Investors in Careers assessor, 2023
Updated May 2024 – reviewed annually
Our Careers Team and Aims
WHO IS INVOLVED?
The Careers Team is :
Mr Morgan (Assistant Headteacher - Personal Development, Careers Leader)
Mrs Howard (Director of Transition and Progression - on maternity leave)
Miss Hyde (Director of 6th Form, oversee 6th Form Careers and Transition)
Mr Duffy (Primary)
Our Careers Link Governor is Reverend Paul Worledge.
Our Enterprise Coordinator is David Fretton (The Education People) and our Enterprise Adviser is Hayley Tyler (Cyberfort Limited),
The team work to plan and deliver a Careers programme, which includes advice for pupils, parents and staff as well as employer engagement and support. Pupils are also supported in their “Career Planning” by Chris Targett and Becky Towner. Both are independent and impartial Career Development Professionals employed by CXK.Ltd (www.cxk.org). We also receive support from the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) and have an Enterprise Adviser and Enterprise Co-ordinator. ANY pupil can request a Careers interview - teachers have an online referral form.
The Enterprise Advisor Network (EAN) is supported by KCC and CEC, bringing employers and schools together. We have worked together during the past year to develop a strategy and plan for the careers provision at St George’s. We utilise tools such as ‘Compass’ to measure our progress towards achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks (see below).
If you have any queries or would like to more about our Careers Programme, please contact either Mr Morgan (davidmorgan@st-georgescofe-thanet.kent.sch.uk) or Mrs Howard (lucyhoward@st-georgescofe-thanet.kent.sch.uk )
The government has mandatory guidance for schools which are called the Gatsby benchmarks:
The 8 Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
We want:
- all of our pupils to understand the full range of opportunities available to them, to learn from employers about work and the skills that are valued in the workplace and to have first-hand experience of the workplace;
- all pupils to get an excellent programme of advice and guidance that is delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience;
- all pupils to get support tailored to their circumstances, with access to face-to-face advice.
- all pupils to get the information they need to understand the job and career opportunities available, and how their knowledge and skills can help them in considering suitable careers.
We evaluate our Careers Programme annually and complete a Compass+ assessment in terms 2, 4 and 6 of each year.
Labour Market Information
Labour Market Information (LMI) can provide us with insights into different jobs and opportunities, telling us what is available now or predicted to be in the future. It can be gathered from a wide array of sources from websites run by Government funded organisations, through to adverts for job vacancies in local papers and online. Even anecdotal sources such as conversations with friends and family can give us information on who maybe recruiting. Each source can provide us with information on the labour market.
Turning it into intelligence, however, is key. To do that it is important to ask yourself, How was the information gathered, when, by whom and for what purpose? This will affect what the data is attempting to prove (if biased) or what it may mean for you and your career decisions.
For example: If the data was collected five years ago? How reliable is it? (not very) However, if the data was collected last week it is likely to be more reliable.
Careers Quizzes to try
BUZZ QUIZ
Explore different roles and search by subject areas to find out where your choices could take you. Complete the personality quiz called “The Buzz Quiz” to see if your personality is a good fit with different occupations. This is useful for some students but not the only way to decide on your future choices.
16 PERSONALITIES
Take this personality quiz to see how your character may link to your future career aspirations. It's suitable for some pupils but not all.
KENT CHOICES : Information on all Post 16 options and routes. Application and support platform for Post-16 studying. We will provide all year 11 students with a password and usernames before they complete year 10 and show you how to log on the first time.
NATIONAL CAREERS SERVICE : For information about specific career interests. Search what a job involves by using the job profile box.
DISCOVER UNI : Thinking about university? Take a look at some information
NOT GOING TO UNI : This site can help school leavers with searching different opportunities available to them.
APPRENTICESHIPS : For apprenticeship vacancies you can research Thanet, or further afield, or sign up to create an account to make applications
PLANIT : A to Z information about different Careers
