Careers Advice

Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is an essential part of the support we offer to students at Halliford School. Effective careers support can help to prepare young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life; it can help them to make decisions and manage transitions as learners and workers. As options for young people become more varied and complex, it is vital that we support them to develop the knowledge and skills they need to make informed choices for their future.

The School Careers Programme has the following aims:

• To offer students a stable careers programme which aims to meet the needs of each student
• To encourage and promote labour market information enabling students to make informed choices
• To offer students access to advice and guidance so they are motivated to fulfil their potential
• To inspire students to develop high aspirations
• To develop a curriculum link between learning and careers
• To educate and encourage our students on the importance of experiences within workplaces
• To encourage students to challenge stereotypes and consider a broad and ambitious range of careers
• To inspire and inform students by exposing them to real-life contacts with the world of work as well as further and higher education providers

The above is achieved through a combination of tailored activities throughout the year, as well as personal guidance.

PSHE (Careers) Lessons

All students have a number of careers lessons, which are delivered as part of the PSHE programme with topics ranging from confidence building to personal finance and budgeting. There are also tutor interventions and 1:1 meetings where necessary. The topics studied will be tailored to the needs of individual year groups and students. In addition, the school will hold several one-off events to engage learners and offer specific targeted information, advice and guidance. This includes various professions plus skills and personal finance, a World of Work (WOW) Day, Year 8 Enterprise Day and an introduction to careers and the world of work.

Career talks are offered throughout the year, giving students opportunities to meet with professionals from a range of industries. Particular focus is provided in the Sixth Form as part of the Lower Sixth Student Enrichment Lecture Series, where a range of speakers from various careers speak regularly. These speakers range from Parents and Halliford Alumni to paid speakers from a range of professions.

Innervate Careers Service

We work with Innervate, an independent career services company which provides careers and personal guidance services for schools. They have developed a thorough all-encompassing programme of careers and personal guidance delivery that supports schools in all areas of the Gatsby benchmarks.

Innervate aims:

• To inspire young people about careers, the world of work and education and training opportunities
• To connect high-quality careers education and personal guidance with raising aspirations and achievement
• To increase participation in education, employment or training and reduce exclusions
• To prepare young people for adulthood, employment, and career and economic well-being
• To bridge the gap between the school’s statutory responsibilities, students’ specific needs, and resources

Work Experience

We are committed to providing our students with the best possible opportunities to learn and develop skills that will be useful in their future careers. One of the ways we do this is through work experience placements, which we believe are an essential part of a student’s education.

Amongst many other benefits, work experience will help our students to:
• Discover a career path
• Choose an appropriate higher education pathway
• Build up a network
• Develop employability and soft skills
• Have an understanding of working environments
• Identify strengths they may not be aware of and also possibly what areas they need to work on
• Prepare for interviews by providing experiences, knowledge and understanding

Lower Sixth students are encouraged to ensure they have acquired relevant experience over the summer holidays to support their personal statement in the UCAS / university application. Students are also encouraged to use external programs such as Barclays Life Skills to further assist them with their application process.

Work Experience supports the Gatsby Benchmarks by:
• Learning from careers and labour market information
• Providing encounters with employers and employees
• Providing an experience of workplaces

Unifrog

The school provides the Unifrog platform to help students conduct independent research on a range of university providers as well as access information on careers and apprenticeships. Year 10 students are signed up to Unifrog in the Summer Term to allow them to do research that may help with A Level choices and decisions about further education. Students remain signed up to the platform until they leave the school in the Upper Sixth. Unifrog allows students to explore how interests lead to different education and training pathways and see what steps are needed to stand the best chance of application success. They have access to MOOCs via the platform that allows students to try out different subject areas and enhance their academic CV. Through the platform students are able to record competencies and successes which enable them to write their personal statement for UCAS entry as well as a letter of application to support them as they enter the workplace.

UCAS

Lower Sixth students have the opportunity to attend a local UCAS fair, helping them make the initial research into university course options. Support will also be provided for students seeking alternative routes such as apprenticeship routes that are becoming more popular.

UCAS provision supports students by:
• Learning from careers and labour market information
• Addressing the needs of each student
• Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Encounters with employers and employees via video clips and links to professional bodies – the UCAS exhibition usually has stands showcasing separate career opportunities
• Encounters with further and higher education
• Personal guidance

Personal Statement Writing Seminar

The school uses The Life Skills Company to introduce students to writing a personal statement. This one-day seminar is for Lower Sixth students and is held in the Summer Term. Whilst it is primarily to help students get started on writing their personal statement for UCAS applications, it also doubles as a way of teaching students how to write a letter of application for job interviews.
The personal statement writing seminar supports students by:
• Addressing the needs of each student
• Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Personal guidance

Careers Fair

We run a biannual careers fair where we are visited by over 40 employment, apprenticeship and higher education providers. Local schools are also invited to attend.