Careers

As part of the PSHE ‘World of Work’ curriculum, lessons focus on a range of vital career related areas including:

• Developing skills and aspirations (careers, teamwork and enterprise skills, and raising aspirations)
• Financial decision making
• Community and careers (equality of opportunity in careers and life choices, and different types and patterns of work)
• Setting goals (learning strengths, career options and goal setting)
• Employability skills (employability and online presence)
• In Year 7, all students prepare and apply for a job and are then individually interviewed by our Year 12 Careers Ambassadors, with encouraging feedback to support their oracy skills
• In Year 8, students have the opportunity to attend a university visit

In Year 9 there is more emphasis on career exploration as pupils choose their optional subjects at GCSE.

• Industry day forms a key part of this with various industries/apprenticeship providers invited in for students to explore as part of their career journey

• As part of the PSHE ‘World of Work’ curriculum, lessons focus on a range of vital career related areas including:
  • Financial decision making (the impact of financial decisions, debt, gambling and the impact of advertising on financial choices)
  • Work experience (preparation for & evaluation of work experience and readiness for work)
• During Year 10, students will have the opportunity to have a week’s work experience alongside further ‘World of Work’ focussed time to broaden their horizons
• In both Year 10 and Year 11, students attend our ‘Best Next Steps Fair’ where they have the opportunity to speak with and ask questions of a range of employers and providers across the region and beyond 
• In Year 11, each student will be allocated at least one careers interview with the school’s qualified independent careers advisor. During this time, they are encouraged to consider their options after leaving school including A levels, Apprenticeships, Vocational and Technical courses and T levels plus guidance on which degree courses might suit their chosen career path.

• There is ample opportunity for students to complete further work experience once they reach the sixth form. This is likely to be more focused and career-specific than the Year 10 placement.
• Sixth formers are also strongly advised to have at least one appointment with our careers advisor, in order to gain vital information about university courses, student finance, UCAS, gap years and apprenticeships.
• Significant support is put in place through the pastoral team to guide students through the options of “Best Next Steps” including but not limited to –
  • A ‘”Best Next Steps” week at the end of Year 12 with students off timetable to explore and plan for their options and choices beyond year 13
  • Ongoing sharing and information on Apprenticeships including upcoming opportunities
  • Opportunities to experience life in certain sectors including law (working with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors)
  • An Employability Skills workshop run by a local university
  • A Best Next Steps Careers Evening including presentations on Apprenticeships / Higher Horizons (the most recent was attended by more than 25 providers from across the country)
  • CV preparation / Employability skills
  • Mock interviews

• Local Employer Visits – a range of local employers visit our school frequently to talk about careers and/or to lead sessions (e.g. our Business Breakfast initiative) or assemblies. Some examples include our local army careers officer, apprentices from Bentley, a clinical psychologist, lawyer, GP and our local Chief Inspector of police. We are fortunate enough to have excellent links with a variety of organisations in our community and we utilise these links to the full, in order to provide our students with the best possible practical advice. We have launched our LinkedIn page to build our Alumni network allowing us to provide further opportunities and share stories of inspiration with our students.
• Impartial Careers Advice – Our Careers Adviser attends parents’ evenings for Year 9 – 13 and is happy to speak to parents and students alike. Any student between Year 9 – 13 is welcome to request a full careers interview at any point during the school year, in order to gain tailored 1-2-1 advice on careers and higher education.
• Careers research area – pupils are encouraged to use the careers section in the main library, which is open to pupils at lunchtime and after school. Our librarian also coordinates our careers programme. 
• Apprenticeship bus – Students are given the opportunity to visit the Apprenticeship Bus, which makes an annual trip to the school during the spring term. This gives them insight into apprenticeships at all levels.
• Unifrog –  All students, staff and parents too are able to make use of the Unifrog platform. In the words of Unifrog, they – “……. bring all the available information into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices….”
• Teams updates – All students are part of a Team where careers information suitable for their year group is posted. For sixth form, career information is added to the dedicated Year group Teams pages.

• Career link teachers – Understanding how a subject might link to future career paths is an essential part of the CEIAG journey. As such, each subject area has a named career link teacher with a focus on ensuring the promotion of career links within their curriculum area.  This will often include – 
  • the competition of Careers Profiles by each member of their department
  • the organising of subject specific talks or visits
  • a board of up to date information on linked career options
  • the highlighting of related careers to a specific topic area
• Unifrog provides an excellent source of information on careers linked to subjects which students, teachers and parents can access
• The apprenticeship.gov.uk website provides some excellent easily accessible information on careers linked to different subjects
  • Subject snapshots (apprenticeships.gov.uk)
• The following websites provide further useful information for students, teachers and parents on careers in the curriculum
  • Careers and Enterprise Company – Careers in the Curriculum
  • https://www.planitplus.net/Schools/SubjectCareerPosters/
  • DfE – Careers guidance and access for education and training providers
  • Barclays Life Skills – Embedding employability across the curriculum

As part of our commitment to broadening the horizons of all our students and providing a diverse and enriching careers programme, we are always interested in hearing from and forging working relationships with businesses and organisation – both local and nationwide.

For further information, or if you are interested in coming into school to present to our students / be involved in some of our career initiatives, please contact a member of the careers team.

• DfE – Careers guidance and access for education and training providers
• Youth Employment – 10 tips for an employer wanting to work with schools
• Youth Employment – Wagstaff Recruitment Employer Case Study

There is a requirement for all young people to continue in either education or indeed training until their 18th birthday. The options for this extend beyond simply staying at Sixth form and studying A levels at St. Joseph’s.

• They could study full-time in one of the other Further Education establishments in and around the city and beyond (see the details below) or with a training provider
• They could work or volunteer full time alongside part time education or training
• They could take up an apprenticeship or traineeship

As a parent / guardian, the choices available to your child can feel overwhelming not only to them, but to you too.  Whilst it needs to ultimately be their choice, your role in supporting them with their future choices is key and in many cases, your guidance can be so influential.  

As such, it is important that you are armed with the right information you need to provide the right level of support.  There is some further guidance and web links on options below but the most important advice from us to you would be to spend time with them, talk and listen! 

• Find out what careers they are interested in – and ensure that they are exploring the requirements to keep them on this pathway (this could well include their options in Year 9!)
• Encourage them to find out what courses, training and work experience opportunities are available to secure their decision on career direction.
  • This should include looking at alternative pathways such as Apprenticeships and Traineeships so they are fully informed
• Use the Unifrog website alongside your child, with quizzes to help identify their interested, skills and qualities. Find out about local labour market information and the importance of employability skills
• The below powerpoint and short youtube video from Unifrog provides useful guidance
  • UniFrog Parent Information
  • Unifrog webinar: Parents – YouTube
• Think ahead – not only in discussing their choice of study post 16 but also, post 18 if they are thinking of Higher Education – choices here can be shaped by choices and grades at GCSE

Remember, you are not on your own – please do contact either Mrs Cumbo or Mrs Tomkins if you have any questions and we will do our best to guide you.

Useful Websites For Students, Parents AND Teachers

Career choices can feel overwhelming but hopefully through your time in KS3 and KS4, you will have had the opportunity to explore various options and understand the pathways open to you.

As a reminder, you must stay in some form of education through until your 18^th birthday.

This could well mean staying at St. Josephs College to study A levels – but there are other options available to you as well from A levels at other colleges to Applied qualifications (BTECs), T levels and Apprenticeships.

1. A levels – studying a subject that has often been studied at GCSE, to a greater depth with different colleges having different entry requirements. They last for two years and students typically study three. They are assessed predominantly through examinations at the end of the two-year period – some have a coursework element. They can lead to university, higher and degree level apprenticeships or indeed employment.
   • Understand what A-levels are & what you can do with them (ucas.com)
2. Applied qualifications (Level 3) e.g. BTECs – are equivalent to A levels and provide an opportunity for students to apply their learning to a general job area. There is a wide range including Agriculture, Business and Law, Construction, Engineering, Finance, Performing Arts, Retail, Science and Travel and Tourism. They often involve a mix of classroom learning and practical skills.  On completion, they allow entry to a range of higher education courses at university, higher and degree level apprenticeships or indeed employment.
   • Careerpilot : Get information : Vocational qualifications : Applied General Qualifications
3. T levels – are the equivalent of three A levels and like A levels, run for two years. The key difference is that 80% of time is classroom learning and 20% is as a placement in industry (at least 45 days) as the T level focuses on vocational skills.  They can lead to university, higher and degree level apprenticeships or indeed employment.
   • T Levels | The Next Level Qualification
   • What are T Levels? (amazingapprenticeships.com)
4. Apprenticeships – Advanced Apprenticeships (Level 3) are equivalent to two A levels and typically run from 18 – 48 months. Learning is 80% working with the employer and 20% of the time in structured learning. They can lead to university, higher and degree level apprenticeships or indeed employment.
   • Amazingapprenticeships.com
5. Traineeships – can vary in length from 6 weeks to 1 year though most are less than 6 months (the work placement is a minimum of 70 hours). They are supported by training providers (who will provide maths, English and digital skills) working with local employers and can support individuals in taking the next step into an apprenticeship, work or further study.
   • What are Traineeships? (amazingapprenticeships.com)

The links below will take you directly to various local college websites to view the courses available.  College prospectus are also available in the library in the careers section.

• Reaseheath College, Nantwich https://www.reaseheath.ac.uk/
• Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group – https://nscg.ac.uk/
• Sixth Form College, City of Stoke on Trent https://stokesfc.ac.uk/
• Stoke on Trent College https://stokecoll.ac.uk/
• Cheshire College (South and West) https://ccsw.ac.uk/
• Thomas More Catholic Academy, Stoke-on-Trent https://stmca.org.uk/

As students come to the end of their sixth form journey, you reach the next decision point – your post 18 destination.  There are three main pathways to choose from:

Apprenticeships

• Student – amazingapprenticeships

University

• UCAS | At the heart of connecting people to higher education
• Complete University Guide – University Rankings, Guides and Courses (thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk)

Full-time employment

• The link below is a useful starting point – a Careermag for School leavers.
  Careermag – Students & Teachers – Careermap

LMI For All is a comprehensive portal that collates various sources of LMI to provide high-quality data but what is LMI?In short, LMI refers to any relevant information about the current state of the jobs market and so is helpful in understanding the current skill gaps in the market. The information can be quite overwhelming but the following websites can be helpful in understanding the job market a little more clearly.

• What is LMI, How Can It Help Young People, and How Do You Use It? – Youth Employment UK
• Labour Market Information | Careers Writers Association (parentalguidance.org.uk)
• Dos and don’ts for using labour market information in your career decisions | TARGETcareers
• LMI summary – Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire

  LMI can include information like:

• The industries and businesses that operate in a certain location e.g. local to the student
• The types of jobs that exist and what they involve.
• How many of those jobs there are.
• The skills that are currently or will be in high demand.
• Commute and travel to work patterns.
• Typical rates of pay.
• Career progression opportunities.

It can be both quantitative (related to numbers and statistics), and qualitative (information and phenomena that can be observed but not measured). Qualitative LMI is usually based on studies and on data such as the Census, while qualitative LMI is based on interviews, anecdotes, press reports, networks, and so on.

Why Is LMI Useful?

The world of work is a complex and fast moving area – LMI helps to simplify it a little and thus, equips individuals to make informed choices on their career progression based on information that is relevant at that point in time and in the location they are living in. LMI also importantly looks to ‘project’ future skills areas that will be in demand.

Anne Milton, MP explained it like this: “It is vital, in an environment where new industries are emerging and many of the most important jobs of the future don’t yet exist, that individuals have access to high-quality labour market information and earnings data to underpin their choices”.

LMI can give a individuals some insight into areas including:-

• Are there job opportunities where I live, or do I need to consider relocating?
• Can I earn what I hope for in this career?
• What is the career progression like?
• How competitive is this industry? What is my backup plan if it doesn’t work out?
• National Figures
• UK Commission for Employment & Skills – Working Futures 2014 – 2024

Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.

It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.

Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.

Careerometer – LMI For All