Careers Education

To view associated policies, visit the Policies page

We fully endorse the DFE's 'Careers Strategy' and the eight Gatsby benchmarks.

Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Gatsby Benchmark Overview Document

1. A stable careers programme. Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by students, parents, teachers, governors and employers.

2. Learning from career and labour market information. Every student, and their parents, should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information.

3. Addressing the needs of each student. Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each student. A school's careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers. All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.

5. Encounters with employers and employees. Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.

6. Experiences of workplaces. Every student should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.

7. Encounters with further and higher education. All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.

8. Personal guidance. Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a career adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made.

Place Within The Curriculum

There is a planned programme of learning experiences with outcomes for Year 7 to Year 11 as part of our life skills curriculum.  In Year 12 and Year 13 it forms part of our Personal Development curriculum.

This is supplemented by:

Tutor Time -  As with many aspects of life at Thurston Community College the Tutor has an overview of the progress of students in their care and is key in giving personal advice on different options and pathways through tutor time activities. This happens across all year groups.

During curriculum lesson time – Subject lessons are designed to signpost key subject related careers and opportunities.

After Thurston – The majority of students who leave our Sixth Form go to university and we offer a rigorous programme to prepare and support students with applications and life away from home.  At the same time we support all of our students in deciding whether university is for them and offer a whole range of sessions which explore different careers and entry requirements.      

Provision of external and independent careers guidance

An independent qualified Careers Advisor attends the College at regular and key times throughout the academic year to provide individual advice and guidance to students.  All careers advice and guidance is person centred, impartial, unbiased and confidential and meets professional standards of practice.

Other formal and informal partnerships

The College has a number of formal and informal partnerships with post-16 providers, colleges, employers, higher education and training providers. 

Destinations

View our Key Stage 4 Student Destination information on the GOV.UK website

Year 10 Work Experience Information Evening Presentation

What we do in Careers and our Future Plans

Evaluation of service and future strategy.

Over the past 18 months our Careers provision has changed greatly due to the impact the pandemic has had on our ability to deliver of careers advice and the impact on the world of work.

We have expanded upon networks and worked in partnership with other schools, providers and local authorities to ensure we continue to provide a varied quality service to our students.

We have kept students up to date with changes to the labour market, highlighted adapted opportunities such as virtual work experience, along with the ever changing requirements of attending an open event at College, Sixth Form or an apprenticeship.

We have continued to provide a blended learning approach across both campuses by seeing students face to face, speaking on the telephone and also video calling. This has enabled us to maintain contact and support them within their careers, exploration of the skills required for real life work, along with knowledge on what is available to them not only in the local area but regionally and nationally.

We are extremely pleased to have achieved 100% of students moving into a positive destination during this period and this has been through the hard work of the Careers Department providing a range of provision to ensure continual engagement throughout the pandemic and beyond.

Here are a range of activities we provide across the academic year. 

Daily

• Booking appointments
• 1:1 careers sessions
• Answering student queries
• Answering student, parent and careers queries via email and phone
• Drop in sessions during break and Lunch
• Dealing with staff requests via email and face to face for student support

Weekly

• 1:1 appointments notes
• Updating Careers Interventions on GO4schools
• Social media posts
• Year 11 tutor activities
• Updating careers spreadsheets
• Career drop-in sessions

Monthly

• Research LMI / employer engagement
• Posters and displays
• Share updated resources
• Networking with local colleges, employers, IAG Networks and training providers
• Virtual Work Experience
• Linking with Inclusion, Student Support, SEND and Year Heads on additional support
• Liaising with SEND Department, providing information for annual reviews

Termly

• Monitor Year 11 student applications
• Presentations
• Update screens around the College with information on Careers
• Destination data / liaising with SCC
• Network with Early Help Team and a range of external professionals
• Expansion of Alumni contacts
• Delivering Study Skills group sessions to Years 10 and 11
• Tracking of student appointments, % seen against missed appointments.
• Monitoring of future destinations

Academic Year

• Set training targets for individual staff
• Policy updates annual
• Destination data final figures and analyses
• Evaluating service and implementing changing legislation and government. requirements
• Deliver specific careers training to NQTs

Provider Access Statement

Pupil Entitlement

All pupils in Years 7 - 13 are entitled to:

• Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeship 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 and regional providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships - through options events, assemblies, group discussions and taster events.

• Understand how to make applications for the full  range of academic and technical courses.

Management of provider access request procedure

A provider wishing to request access should contact:

K Johnson & N Howe - Careers Leaders Years 7 - 13

01359 230885 careers@thurstoncollege.org

K Johnson - CDI Registered Careers Professional Years 7 - 11

01359 230885 (Option 5) kjohnson@thurstoncollege.org 

N Howe – CDI Registered Careers Professional Years 12 - 13

01359 234557 (1252) nhowe@thurstoncollege.org 

Opportunities for Access

We hold a number of events over the Academic Year which are integrated into the school careers programme and will offer providers an opportunity to come into school to speak to pupils and/or their Parents/Carers.