St Claudine's Catholic School for Girls is committed not only to meeting the statutory requirements, but to raising awareness of careers, employability, and work related learning amongst all pupils. Careers advice and guidance enables students to make the correct choice of courses, and to be well informed of what decisions they need to make in the interests of their potential careers.  Careers are supported within the school by a Careers Guidance Leader and an Oxbridge/Russell Group Universities Mentor. This support is available to all girls from Year 7 through to Year 13. An extensive programme of work related learning is in place and the school has effective industry links to provide a realistic impression of the world of work.

At St Claudine's we measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on pupils against statutory GATSBY requirements. We also carry out an in-depth analysis of destinations of leavers.

 

Key Stage 3 

In year 7 students are introduced to ‘Start’ (www.startprofile.com), an online careers platform where they create their own username /password and the ideas generated are based on their interests to begin their journey in planning their careers.

In year 8 the emphasis is on GCSE subject choices and options and students use Start (www.Startprofile.com) to continue exploring their career ideas. During PHSE they use the Steps programme workbook to explore decision making and making choices. Parents and students attend GCSE options evening where the Careers Guidance Leader is available to answer questions.

During National Careers Week in year 9 students engage in careers learning through subjects in the wider curriculum.

 

Key Stage 4

In year 10 students attend a week’s work experience at the end of the Summer term. As a part of the preparation for this employability skills workshops (interviews/cv writing/telephone techniques) are delivered by an external organisation (Making the Leap Charity). They also take part in a mock interview event using external employers and employees where they are provided with verbal and written feedback. Students receive a work experience log book to record their experiences and guide their reflections. All Year 10 students attend the school’s careers fair which takes place during the Spring term. A number of students also participates in the Urban Scholars programme run by Brunel University.

In year 11 students attend one-to-one interviews with the Careers Guidance Leader to support them to make decisions about their Sixth form/College placements, appropriate courses for their career path and academic background. These interviews are impartial with the advice being tailored to suit the needs of each individual student. All Year 11 students attend the school’s careers fair which takes place during the Spring term.

 

Key Stage 5

Students receive a full programme of assemblies, tutorials and personal development lessons on UCAS/higher education and apprenticeships. Specific guidance is available from the Oxbridge/Russell group mentor for those students applying to these institutions and to the most competitive courses. Students are also supported to apply to the Sutton Trust summer school in America. Year 12 students attend a week’s work experience at the end of the Summer term. They also attend the school’s careers fair which takes place during the Spring term.

 

Labour Market Information

To help you make informed career decisions it helps to know what people in different jobs get paid and where the jobs are located. You can explore through the following websites:

ICould - https://icould.com/

National careers Service - https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

Prospects - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/

LMI for all - https://www.lmiforall.org.uk/widget/

 

Parents and carers

Careers support and guidance is available to all students whilst at school through our programme to build on students aspirations and help them make a decision about their future. However, we understand that there is a lot of information which can be difficult to process by both parents and students. As parents have a great influence on the decision your child makes so it’s important you have access to the right and most up to date information. Your guidance is very important particularly in Year 8 and year 11.

For advice and careers information for parents please visit:

https://amazingapprenticeships.com/parent-zone/

www.parentalguidance.org.uk

https://nationalcareersweek.com/parents-guide-2023/

 

Employers

Here at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls we make every attempt to give our students every opportunity to access the world of work, and we welcome employers, industry representatives and training providers to contact us to support our students in increasing their knowledge about employability. Here is a list of possible activities you could get involved in within our school:

• Work experience placements
• Workplace visits
• Careers talks
• CV writing advice
• Interview preparation
• Mentoring
• Enterprise competitions

If you are able to support any of the above activities to help our students, we would really like to hear from you.

You can contact Beverly Lawrence  at the school on 020 8965 2986 ext. 204 or email office@stclaudines.co.uk

 

Ms B. Lawrence
Careers Leader

Email: blawrence@stclaudines.co.uk
Tel: 020 89652986

Links:

https://amazingapprenticeships.com/

www.ucas.com

https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/

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