Careers education, Information, Advice and Guidance
At Patchway we provide a comprehensive Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme for every year group. View our Careers Policy here.
Most people spend many years of their life in a working environment and it is therefore important to equip our students with the necessary skills for them to make decisions about their future, to know how and where to access information and to link subject areas and qualifications with possible careers.
Good quality Careers Education will raise the aspirations of and help our students to become effective career planners and managers of their own progression through learning and work. It will increase motivation by linking activities in school with preparation for life Post 16 and Post 18. By providing quality information, advice and guidance, our aim is to raise students’ aspirations and ambitions for their futures and increase confidence, whilst offering equality of opportunity for all.
Our careers programme is supported by our business volunteers from the local area who regularly participate in the careers activities, provide Industry talks and workshops and share their knowledge and skills with students. We run regular Business Networking events throughout the year to recruit Business volunteers and further develop our existing Business links. If you have your own business or work in an organisation and are interested in coming along to one of our events, please contact Sue Happy who works in a shared post with Winterbourne Academy, as our Careers and Partnership Coordinator at [email protected]
We also work closely with our local Higher Education (HE) providers which includes Bristol University and the award winning Pre HE Careers Service at UWE.
A series of external visits and trips across the year groups to universities, local businesses, careers fairs, and cultural establishments further enhances the work the students take part in and provides a greater awareness of their own needs, interests and abilities.
Our programme permeates through the school and makes a significant contribution to preparing young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life ahead.
To celebrate students' achievements we hold an annual awards evening at Aerospace Bristol, underneath the iconic Concorde. This event is supported by business sponsors including:
For an overview of our careers programme for 2019/20 please follow the link:
The Careerpilot website is a fantastic Careers based website that can help students in all year groups make decisions for their future and forms part of our Careers programme for the current year. To visit the website, please click on the Career Pilot logo above.
CAREERS SIGNPOSTING WEBSITES
There are a number of other useful websites available, these include:
www.justgohigher.co.uk – Information about Higher Apprenticeships
www./nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx – Careers advice
www.notgoingtouni.co.uk – Information about jobs, apprenticeships, gap year and educational opportunities
www.icould.com– An excellent introduction to career pathways
www.barclayslifeskills.com– Life skills and training advice needed to go forward into work
WORK EXPERIENCE
All Year 10 students have the opportunity to take part in a work experience placement for one week during the academic year (excluding exam weeks) provided that all paperwork is completed and returned to Mrs Happy, 2 weeks prior to the placement.
This is an exciting opportunity for students to learn about the world of work before leaving school as well as providing the opportunity to develop employability skills needed in the workplace.
Work experience can be a great help when trying to decide on what sort of career you want.
For a copy of our latest Work Experience booklet, providing all of the information you need, click on the image below or follow: /docs/CEIAG/WEX_booklet_January_2019.pdf
For a list of employers that have previously accepted work experience placements, please email: [email protected]
Once you have secured a placement please complete the placement details sheet and pass it to Mrs Happy as soon as possible. You can download a copy of the form by clicking the link /docs/CEIAG/Placement_Details_Sheet.pdf
YEAR 10 'YOUNG PROFESSIONALS' WEEK
We recognise that it can be very difficult for Year 10 students to secure meaningful work experience; some of the barriers include:
- Businesses only accepting students on set weeks
- Businesses being reluctant to offer placements
- Students finding placements relevant to their interests
- Students competing with other schools for placements
To address this we are organising, in partnership with Employers, Universities and Apprenticeship providers, an off timetable 'Young Professionals' week for all Year 10 students, to take place nearer the end of the school year. This will be a week packed with:
- Industry visits and workshops
- information, advice and guidance on Apprenticeships
- workshops and talks from a range of Colleges and Universities
All of which will be aimed at providing students with the information, advice and guidance that they need for their next steps following GCSE's and beyond.
For further information on careers or work experience, please contact Mrs Happy Careers & Partnership Co-ordinator at [email protected]
