Careers 

Career Vision

The careers education at St Joseph’s Catholic Academy informs, promotes and supports every student’s best possible future to allow their light to shine. ]

St. Joseph’s has a strategically planned whole school provision in place for careers education, information, advice and guidance that is designed to inspire all students to make informed choices about their future aims and ambitions. The CEIAG programme consists of a mix of teacher-led activities, online resources and engagement with external employers and professionals. It has been developed following Gatsby Benchmark and Careers Development Institute guidelines.

Aims:

St. Joseph’s Careers Education and Guidance policy has the following aims:

  • To support self-development where students understand themselves and the influences on them.
  • To contribute towards raising achievement by increasing motivation through student goals and aspirations.
  • To provide opportunities for career exploration in learning and real-life context.
  • To provide information for students to make informed choices and confidently adjust plans to manage change and transition.
  • To develop enterprise and employability skills.

Information for students

Here at St. Joseph’s CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) is taught as part of PSHE. Topics of study include finance awareness, work related learning, enterprise, work experience preparation and employability skills. You will also have several opportunities to meet and work with a variety of employers in different sectors.

Topics are taught in 5 weeks modules and each topic will be taught by the Form Tutor. An overview of the programme will be provided at the beginning of each academic year.
All Subject areas make links to careers and where appropriate design Schemes of Learning with a specific Careers focus.

During the year there will be opportunities for you to evaluate the various activities and provide feedback on how we can improve the programme.

Information for parents and carers

A bespoke programme has been developed for each year group to ensure individual needs are met and activities are appropriate to students’ stages of career learning. This is delivered through PSHE, subject areas and key events. Throughout the year students will engage with employers from a variety of sectors, some of which will be during the school’s enrichment week in the summer term.

Parents and carers have the opportunity to provide feedback about school life, including the career programme, at information evenings and parents’ evenings. Information and supporting materials for key elements of the programme such as work experience are available on the website to support. Information on careers and Local Market Information is also shared with parents’ in the weekly parent newsletter.

Information for staff

The career programme is part of St. Joseph’s PSHE programme which is a static timetabled lesson every week. Each year group has its own programme, and this operates as a carousel across the year. The programme is shared with staff via Microsoft Teams and can be found in the PSHE folder. Topics are usually taught in 5 week blocks and all materials are shared.

Each subject area makes their own explicit links to careers in the curriculum. Staff are also provided opportunities to reflect on careers provision during CPD.

The programme is evaluated in the summer term and includes opportunities for staff to feedback; outcomes inform future planning.

Information for employers

A range of events, integrated into St. Joseph’s careers programme, will offer providers an opportunity to speak to students and/or their parents. These are delivered through assemblies and our careers day where there is availability. An overview of these opportunities and how to access them can be found in our Provider Access Policy on the website.

Evaluation for CEIAG at St. Joseph’s include:

  • Analysis of destinations of leavers.
  • NEETs % figures.
  • Feedback from student leavers surveys
  • Reports to governors about careers.
  • Feedback on the careers programme from parents, students, employers and staff and use this to inform future career planning.
  • Careers evaluation found within school evaluation procedures and processes e.g. SEF, SIP.

Further Information

For further information about any of the items shown in this section, please contact the school’s Career Leader, Mr MA Simpson, office@stjosephs.uk.net or telephone 0191 428 2700.

CareerWave 16+ Choices Guide

Policies regarding our Careers Programme, including our Provider Assessment Statement can be found on our Policies page.

Work Experience

During the summer term all year 10 and 12 students will have the opportunity to carry out a work experience placement.

Work experience aims to provide all young people with an opportunity to:

  • obtain a wider awareness of the world of work as part of their general education
  • learn outside the classroom
  • increase their economic understanding
  • relate their studies to the world of work and training.

Where possible we expect students to arrange their own work experience. The process of contacting possible empoyers is a valuable tool for the development of skills and confidence. Students will be supported in this process by their form tutors and pastoral staff.

There is additional supporting information regarding local companies provided by Unifrog. Students can access this via their form tutors during timetabled planning lessons.

Students will receive a work experience placement logbook and examples of how to structure an email or phone call when arranging their work experience.

All placements will need to be confirmed with completed forms on Unifrog by the May half term. This will allow time to review the placements and carry out relevant risk assessments ready for the students to complete work experience.

Further information on how to log your work experience can be found on Unifrog’s website: https://www.unifrog.org/teacher/resources/shared/know-how-how-to-use-the-placements-tool