Post-16 Careers Guidance
Okehampton College believes that good career guidance is critical if young people are to lead a life of choice and opportunity. Okehampton College understands that every young person needs high-quality career guidance to make informed decisions about their future. We aim to raise awareness and confidence, increase motivation and broaden horizons. We help the students to look at preparing themselves for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences they will encounter at school, in further education, and in working life so that all young people can thrive.
The Department for Education has updated its guidance and advice for schools, independent careers guidance must be provided in schools in England to all students in years 8 — 13.
- It must be provided in an impartial manner — no bias or favouritism towards a particular education or work option.
- It should explore the range of education or training options — including apprenticeships and other vocational pathways.
- Advice should promote the students’ best interests.
The Gatsby Benchmarks that we follow at Okehampton College are a framework of 8 guidelines that define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. Gatsby welcomes the release of the new government careers strategy and its adoption of the Gatsby Career Benchmarks.
The eight Gatsby Benchmarks of good Career Guidance are:
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Benchmark |
Description |
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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 pupils, parents, teachers and employers. |
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2. Learning from career and labour market information |
Every pupil, 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. |
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3. Addressing the needs of each pupil |
Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. |
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4. Linking curriculum learning to careers |
All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths. |
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5. Encounters with employers and employees |
Every pupil 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. |
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6. Experiences of workplaces |
Every pupil 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. |
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7. Encounters with further and higher education |
All pupils 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. |
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8. Personal guidance |
Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers 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. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs. |
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At Okehampton College, all students are provided with a planned and effective careers education program of lessons and activities to translate inspiration from the workplace into motivation in the classroom to help them make decisions and plan their careers, both in School and after they leave.
Careers education information and guidance (CEIAG) in the College aims to enable pupils to access impartial information, advice and guidance to help them make successful choices, manage transitions in learning and move into the workplace.
Careers education is vital in raising the aspirations and expectations of all pupils as well as developing pupils’ employability and promoting equality of opportunity with it being accessible to all pupils.
Commitment
Okehampton College is committed to providing a planned programme of impartial and accurate careers education information and guidance for all pupils in Years 7-13 in partnership with the Careers South West Enterprise (CSW), Unifrog and Futuresmart.
If you are a parent, carer or local business who would like to get involved in supporting the careers education of our students, then please do get in touch. This could be through our work experience programmes, work shadowing opportunities, workshops or mock interviews. I am keen to work with local providers in order to strengthen our careers provision at Okehampton College and to improve the skills base of young people coming into the local workforce.
Post-16 Work Experience
In courses where Work Experience is neither the core aim of the study programme or required as part of the qualification, we provide or facilitate it as an enrichment activity to add value to an individual's study programme. Work Experience, as outlined by the Education Funding Agency, is 'designed to bridge the gap between education and the world of work. It can help inform career choices, provide the opportunity for young people to prove themselves to an employer, and help instil the attitudes and behaviours expected at work.' Work experience can take many forms including work tasters; running a student enterprise; participation in social action, volunteering or a Work placement.
Our Work Experience Scheme enables students to spend a week in a situation where they gain a first-hand experience of the ‘world of work’ learning many crucial skills. We will launch this scheme to the Year 12 students officially in September during a Year 12 induction morning, all students are informed of their expectations and provided with a timeline that should be met in order to secure their chosen placement.
Here are just some of the placements at organisations that Okehampton College students have managed to obtain.
