Careers

In a world with a rapidly changing economic paradigm, it is essential that our students are given the knowledge and skills that will be crucial to becoming socially and economically successful in the dynamic, innovative and competitive economies of the future. The goal of the King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys Careers CEIAG programme is to develop the knowledge, planning skills, self-awareness and decision-making skills of our students.

King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys places a high value on providing high quality CEIAG for our students. The outcomes of the government’s 2017 policy paper “Careers Strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents” and the Department for Education’s statutory inclusion of the Gatsby Benchmarks has led to an even more inclusive and comprehensive whole-school programme which serves to nurture the skills and knowledge that our students require to enhance their employability.

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby Benchmarks provide a guideline for planning that will assist King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys achieve an effective and successful, whole-school CEIAG programme. The fundamentals of each benchmark are outlined in the table below.

Gatsby BenchmarkTitle of BenchmarkSummary of Benchmark
1A stable careers programmeImplement a stable and structured careers programme.Have a dedicated Careers Leader within school (see contact).Evaluate the Careers Programme with feedback from students, parents, teachers and employers.
2Learning from Careers and Labour Market Information (LMI)Ensure that by the age of 14, students have accessed career and labour market information to inform their options.Encourage parents to access this information to support their children.
3Addressing the needs of each studentChallenge stereotypes and seek to raise the aspirations of students.Keep records of the advice given to each student and provide students with access to their records to support their career development.Collect accurate date on the education, training, or employment training of students.
4Linking curriculum learning to careersHighlight the relevance of how your curriculum links to careers.Teach students the importance of STEM (see references) subjects for gaining entry to a wide range of careers.Demonstrate how STEM subjects help people to be more effective in the workplace.
5Encounters with employers and employeesGive students at least one meaningful encounter with an employer, every year.Develop links with local employers.
6Experience of workplacesBy age 16, every student should have had at least one experience of a workplace.
7Encounters with Further and Higher EducationBy age 16, students should have encountered the full range of learning opportunities available to them, both academic and vocational.
8Personal guidanceBy age 16, every student should have at least one guidance interview with a trained careers advisor.

Careers programme for Years 7 to 11

The King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys School CEIAG programme can be accessed below. The programme is evaluated and modified annually.

The themes of the CEIAG programme for each year group are:

  • Y7 – Universities, their courses and the jobs that an undergraduate degree can lead on to
  • Y8 – Apprenticeships, what are they and the jobs that they can lead on to
  • Y9 – T-Levels and BTECs, what are they and the pathways that they can lead on to
  • Y10 – Soft skills and the world of work
  • Y11 – Post-16 pathways applications and future pathways

Providers (i.e. employers and Further Education or Higher Education employees) who wish to work with King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys Schools are encouraged to consider the theme for each year group and to read through the CEIAG programme to identify where their input would be most suitable. Further information can be located on the ‘For Providers’ tab (near the top right of this page, in the blue box), including contact information for the school’s Careers Leader.
King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys CEIAG Programme

Student entitlements

Throughout Years 7 to 11, each student is entitled to:

  • find out about technical education and apprenticeship opportunities within a careers programme that offers access to a full range of education and training options, available at each transition point
  • hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships, through talks, workshops, educational trips, options evenings, assemblies and fairs
  • receive unbiased, impartial careers advice that is in their best interests, made by a qualified impartial careers advisor
  • understand how to make applications to the full range of technical academic and apprenticeship courses

Evaluation

Each year the Careers programme will be evaluated on a range of a data including a parent survey, a pupil survey, an analysis of the percentage of students who enter further education, employment or training, qualitative feedback and qualitative feedback from ex-students who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) as to how the school could have supported them further. The evaluation of the evidence will lead to changes made to the careers programme in order to enhance and improve it.

Further information including useful website links, information for parents, information for teachers and information about post-16 options is accessible via the tabs in the blue box, near the top right of this page.

The King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys CEIAG policy can be accessed below.

King Edward VI King’s Norton School for Boys CEIAG Programme

ADI Students Make the News!

Year 10 students who are completing a pre-apprenticeship at local engineering firm, ADI, had the chance yesterday to showcase some of the excellent work that they do when they featured in a BBC News report about the company. This vocational course provides an opportunity for some of our boys who may wish to choose an engineering career pathway to gain vital experience in the workplace while developing skills that will help them post-16.