Careers
Our Aim
At Hummersknott we pride ourselves on providing a full and varied careers programme. Enabling pupils to make fully, informed choices, every step of the way. We believe that all students, irrespective of their background or starting points in life, should have high aspirations in relation to their future lives and careers.
Context
At Hummersknott Academy we have a critical role to play in preparing our students for the next stage of their education or training and beyond. Our students will be embarking upon a career pathway which is more challenging and complex than that faced by previous generations. Global opportunities and increasing technological advances will result in young people having several careers during their working life and potentially working in a career which does not currently exist.
Consequently, we must equip them with adaptable skills to allow them to access and transition between the greater choices of education, training and employment experiences. Additionally, we need to expose them to a wide range of training and employment providers throughout their secondary school life in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks and the ALP careers policy.
We are working towards achieving the eight Gatsby benchmarks, identified as the core dimensions of good careers and enterprise provision in schools:
We work closely with our partners in Higher Education and Further Education and utilise the support offered by TVCA to identify opportunities for pupils to meet employers and the workplaces.
To access our Policy for Careers, Education Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG), please go to our Policies & Procedures page.
Students in Years 7 – 11 are entitled to:
- Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
- Hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options evenings, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
- Understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.
We have a whole school approach to careers education with every member of staff helping to deliver quality and impartial CEIAG, allowing students to access the necessary information to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Throughout all areas of school, we prepare students with the skills they will need to succeed in education and beyond into employment.
All young people in England must continue in education or training until 18 years of age. Young people have different choices at the end of Year 8 and the end of year 11:
- STEM Specialist School (UTC) from Year 9
- Full time study at a college, sixth form or training provider
- Full time work or volunteering combined with part time education of training
- An apprenticeship
- A traineeship
As part of our careers programme, students in all year groups receive careers information from a range of providers and have the opportunity to ask questions. This supports our Year 9 students when choosing their GCSE options and Year 10 and 11 when making choices for their next steps. Key Stage 4 students are also provided with a one to one guidance interview with a qualified careers advisor.
The Careers team consists of:
- Miss Tindale – Careers Lead – atd@hummersknott.org.uk
- Mrs Calloway – Life Skills Coordinator – zcw@hummersknott.org.uk
- Cath Gibbins – Careerwave
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 | |
| Assemblies | * | * | * | * | * |
| Independent one to one careers advice* | * | * | * | * | * |
| Work Experience | * | ||||
| Lunchtime drop in sessions | * | * | * | * | * |
| PSHE Lessons | * | * | * | ||
| Career Lessons | * | * | * | ||
| Career Drop down days | * | * | * | * | * |
| Form mentor programme | * | * | * | * | * |
| Options Evening | * | ||||
| Visits from employers** | * | * | * | * | * |
| College taster days | * | ||||
| Visits from colleges | * | * | * | * | |
| Visits from Universities | * | * | * | * | |
| Internal careers events | * | * | * | * | * |
| Careers Fair | * | * | |||
| Subject visits/tasters** | * | * | * | ||
| Application clinic | * | ||||
| Mock Interviews | * | ||||
| In school college interviews | * | ||||
| NCS assemblies and lunch pop ups | * | ||||
| Careers Week | * | * | * | * | * |
Measuring the Impact
Our monitoring and evaluation strategies encompass all of these aspects of delivery and are used to inform decision making about the future development of our careers programme.
Monitoring activities used to ensure that the careers programme is being implemented as planned include:
- Learning walks
- Lesson observations
- Career participation tracker
- Work scrutiny
- Curriculum plans
- Destination data
Evaluation activities are used to measure the impact of our career programme and inform future planning.
Evaluation activities include:
- Analysis of destination data – activity survey and sustained data (DfE),
- Learning walks
- Lesson observations
- Student voice
The Academy’s progress towards achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks is evaluated using the online Compass tool. This is carried out on a termly basis by the Careers Lead. The Careers strategy and action plan is based upon the outcomes of the Compass audit.
The effectiveness of our Careers guidance will be reflected in the higher numbers of students progressing to positive destinations such as apprenticeships, technical routes, sixth form colleges, further education colleges, universities or employment. Destination data (DfE) 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 Careers Programme is reviewed annually.
