Careers Guidance

High Close School Careers Vision

Whilst at High Close School, the young people learn the skills and attitudes required to enable them to become as independent as they can be and to prepare for adulthood. We aim for students to have an enriched and stimulating curriculum to give them every opportunity to reach their full potential.

High Close supports careers development through high quality and personalised work experience opportunities. We enjoy high quality relationships with a number of external organisations and local businesses to provide opportunities for students to work in ‘real’ settings.

The High Close careers programme provides our young people with the opportunity to plan and manage their careers effectively and appropriately. It promotes equality of opportunity, celebrates diversity and challenges stereotypes.

We are always looking for additional opportunities to inspire and educate our students about the world of work. If you think you could help, please contact hmalloy@highclose.org.uk

Click this link to see our careers intent statement

BAKER CLAUSE

Baker Clause Statement

This policy statement sets out the High Close arrangements for managing the access of providers to pupils at school for the purposes of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer.

This complies with the legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education act 1997 (the ‘Baker Clause’).

Student Entitlement

Students in Years 7 – 13 are entitled to:

• Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the 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 options evening’s, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;

• Understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.

Management of Provider Access Requests

Any provider wishing to request access to High Close should contact hmalloy@highclose.org.uk

Careers Programme

At each stage of the learning journey, our young people are supported and encouraged to consider their future beyond school. Our careers programme lists some of the elements of careers information, advice and guidance that a student will encounter during their time with us.

A number of careers events take place, including career specific speakers, workshops, information about college, apprenticeships and sixth form, CV writing, interview techniques etc. As part of the PSHE curriculum we provide career-related lessons, activities where local businesses help to provide a realistic experience such as mock interviews, college and apprenticeship events and trips related to various career topics.

Here is our Careers map based on the Gatsby benchmarks.

Here is our guide to the transition to college.

Careers Leader - Hayley Malloy

Tel - 0118 9785767 hmalloy@highclose.org.uk

The Gatsby Benchmarks – what are they?

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a key measure of the effectiveness of career advice. They are also a very important part of the Government’s career strategy. In order to ensure our young people enjoy high quality careers guidance and experiences, we will be working to embed the below eight Gatsby Benchmarks throughout our Careers Programme by the end of 2020 in line with DfE expectations.

· A Stable Careers Programme

· Learning from Career and Labour Market Information

· Addressing the Needs of Each Pupil

· Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

· Encounters with Employers and Employees

· Experiences of Workplaces

· Encounters With Further Education

· Personal Guidance

For more information on the Gatsby benchmarks please refer to www.goodcareerguidance.org.uk

Measuring the impact of the careers programme?

High Close School will assess the impact of its careers programmes on students by completing an annual student survey and analysing destinations data at Year 11 as well as NEET (not in education, employment or training) statistics. In addition, the views of students and parents will be surveyed after key events. e.g. BCA seminars, Yr 10 Mock Interview day and Year 11 work experience.