Careers Education

Meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks

• Benchmark 1: A Stable Careers Programme

  Cardinal Hume has a stable, structured careers programme, that has the explicit backing of the senior leadership team and the school governors. An experienced and well qualified senior teacher was appointed as careers leader in 2019 with responsibility for managing the provision of careers education across the school.
  The careers programme is published on the school website to enable pupils, parents, teachers and employers to access and understand it. The programme is evaluated on a termly basis with feedback from pupils, parents, teachers and employers as part of the continual evaluation process.

• Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information

  Pupils, and their parents, have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They receive help from our qualified careers advisers to make the best use of available information.
  Within the IAG programme all pupils, by the end of year 9, will have accessed and used information about career paths and the labour market to inform their own decisions on study options.
  Parents  are encouraged to access and use information about labour markets and future study options via the ‘weduc’ system and parent information evenings, to inform and support their children’s decisions.

• Benchmark 3: Addressing the Needs of Each Pupil

  At Cardinal Hume we acknowledge that pupils have differing needs at different stages of their careers guidance.  Opportunities for advice and support is tailored to the needs of each pupil. Our careers programme looks to embed equality and diversity considerations throughout it’s delivery, actively challenging stereotypical thinking and raising pupil aspirations.
  Systematic records are kept of individual advice given to each pupil and subsequent agreed decisions. All pupils are e-mailed a copy of these records to support their career development.
  The intended destinations of all school leavers are collated and recorded to ensure effective progression

• Benchmark 4: Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

  Teachers at Cardinal Hume embed careers information into lessons by teaching about relevant career pathways and job roles within lessons.  For example, Maths teachers highlight the relevance of numeracy within careers such as Architecture, Games Design, Accountancy, Engineering and many more.  English teachers highlight how literacy skills are required across a wide range of careers such as Journalism, Law, Blogging, Creative Writing, Publishing and many more.

  All subject leaders have included how they meet this benchmark within their department development plans to ensure coverage across the entire curriculum.

• Benchmark 5: Encounters with Employers and Employees

  Pupils receive multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. Within Cardinal Hume this is delivered through a range of enrichment opportunities including visiting speakers during IAG and lessons, mentoring, enterprise schemes, virtual events and trips to workplaces.

  Our aim is that each year,from year 7 onward, all pupils should participate in at least one encounter with an employer or employee to learn about what work is like or what it takes to be successful in the workplace.

• Benchmark 6: Experience with Workplaces

  Every pupil at Cardinal Hume is given the opportunity of first-hand experience of a workplace through work visits, work shadowing and work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.

  All pupils in year 10 are given the opportunity to embark on a work experience placement. This takes place in July during the final week of the summer term. In year 12 students are given a second opportunity for a work experience placement. Additional to this, students are encouraged to participate in virtual work experience in their own time, with many VWEX opportunities being shared with students via teams and e-mail.

  All work experiences’ are additional to any part-time jobs that pupils may already have.

• Benchmark 7: Encounters with Further and Higher Education

  All pupils are made aware of 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. By the end of year 11, each pupil will have received an opportunity to explore what it is like to learn in a range of educational environments, including sixth form, college, university and apprenticeship providers. Additional guidance is given to students in Y10/11 by the North East University Collaboration Programme (NEUCP) during IAG sessions.
  By the end of year 13, all pupils who are considering applying for university will have had at least two visits to universities to meet staff and pupils. Any students considering applying for apprenticeships after sixth form are provided with advice and guidance on how to achieve this. Training providers are encouraged to send apprenticeship opportunities to the school, that are forwarded to students so that they can apply if interested.

• Benchmark 8: Personal Guidance

  Every year 11 pupil at Cardinal Hume receives an impartial guidance interview with a level 6 qualified Careers Adviser and receives an individual action plan tailored to meet their specific careers aspirations. A second interview is provided in year 13 to further explore pupils individual needs, which may have changed significantly since year 11. The advice and guidance they receive reflect these changes. Students intended destinations are discussed at length with them during these sessions to ensure they have a suitable plan in place for their future progression.

Careers IAG Programme

• Year 7 - Positive Character Attributes for Employability

  Session 1 – Character attributes/Raising Aspirations

  Session 2 – Challenging Gender Stereotypes within Careers

  Session 3 – World of Work Employer Encounters

  Session 4 – Introduction to Unifrog 1 – Personality & Interests Profiling

  Session 5 – Introduction to Unifrog 2 – Investigating careers linked to personality and interests profile

• Year 8 - Raising Aspirations for Employability

  Session 1 – Raising Aspirations – HE/Future Careers

  Session 2 – Employability Skills & Aspirations 1

  Session 3 – Employability Skills & Aspirations 2

  Session 4 – Discovering Your Personality

  Session 5 – Career Pathways

• Year 9 - Careers Planning - KS4 Options

  Session 1 – Options Introduction – Pathways to Careers

  Session 2 – NE University Connect Programme – ‘The Choice is Mine’

  Session 3 – Career Pathways & Labour Market Information 1 – Unifrog

  Session 4 – Career Pathways & Labour Market Information 2

  Session 5 – Employer Encounters

• Y10 - Preparation for Work Experience

  Session 1 – Career Pathways & Labour Market Information – Unifrog

  Session 2 – Are you job ready?

  Session 3 – Preparation for Work Experience 1 – ‘How to contact employers’

  Session 4 – Preparation for Work Experience 2 – ‘H&S and how to behave on work experience’

  Session 5 – NE University Connect Programme – ‘What If – Work Experience?’

• Y11 - Post 16 Options - Pathways

  Session 1 – Life in Sixth Form at Cardinal Hume

  Session 2 – College, Apprenticeships and Other Options

  Session 3 – NE University Programme – ‘What if HE?’

  Session 4 – NE University Programme – ‘Apprenticeships Explained’

  Session 5 – Recording Initial Intended Destinations