Careers and Employability

 

Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG), quite a mouthful I would agree!

So what is taught under the umbrella of CEIAG and what will it look like at KS3, KS4 and KS5?

CEIAG encompasses a range of activities provided by our school to develop necessary Career

management and employability skills, in order to become employable.  These activities and

resulting skills allow our learners to make informed decisions that will ultimately affect them,

their future, education and employment.

 

There are three Aims at 3 Key Stages

• Self-Awareness
• Career Exploration
• Career Management

Self-Awareness is the key to enhancing student’s employability whereby there is an opportunity to:

• Identify an awareness of personal qualities, skills, aptitudes and aim to link these to careers.
• Identify preferred learning style and ongoing achievements.
• Review how their career aspirations have developed and how their attitudes to education and employment has changed.

Career Exploration is the key to progressive personal career planning where students understand that learning in school helps to develop skills needed for work by:

• Researching progression routes into careers
• Getting involved in enterprise activities
• Understanding changes in the workplace
• Using ICT to help collect careers information
• Recognising the importance of Health and Safety and appropriate behaviour in the work place.

 

Career Management is the key to applying skills to enhance employability through effective decision making skills, to manage transition in school and in future employment.  This is accomplished by giving students access to:

• Present themselves in a range of mediums – CV, application forms, interviews etc.
• Present evidence to support their subject and course choices at all Key Stages

 

Year 8	Year 9		Year 10
Unit 1 Introduction to Employability Unit 2 Employability Skills Unit 3 Literacy Task Unit 4 Being Enterprising Unit 5 My Town	Unit 1 Career Management Unit 2 The Work Generator Unit 3 Employability Challenges Unit 3a Literacy Task Unit 4 Creating a Careers Leaflet		Unit 1 Career Preparation and Planning Unit 2 Option Choices Unit 3 Plan B Career Planning
Key Stage 4 OCN Level 2 Vocational Skills (equivalent to a B at GCSE)
Year 11		Year 12
Unit 1 Career Preparation and Planning Unit 2 Desktop Publishing Skills Unit 3 Health and Safety in a Working Environment		Unit 4 Applying for Employment Unit 5 Effective Interview Skills
Key Stage 5 – Year 13 and Year 14
Application to Queens Senior Academy Application to Queens Pathway Programme Applications to FE/HE Update CV Young Enterprise Living Law Program University Road Show Creative Industry Events Work Experience HE Apprenticeships Queens/Ulster Open Day UCAS application with one-to-one interviews Interview preparation

 

The careers programme includes Career Education sessions, and Focused Individual Learning Activities, LMI and Work- Related Learning.

Career Education sessions include:

• The requirement to deliver impartial careers education to all students in Years 8 –12, this is met through the careers education elements of the Employability programme at Key Stage 3 that leads to the OCN Vocational Skills qualification awarded at Key Stage 4. These programmes deliver the taught elements of CEIAG and use a variety of teaching methods. These include role play, group discussions and interactive teaching. The introduction of CASCAIDS new Xello software suite allows for Career Action Planning from Year 8 – Year 14 and offers audio-visual aid tools.
• In years 10 – 12, during Vocational Skills class time there is an opportunity to complete 5 units of work:  Unit 1 Career Preparation and Planning; Unit 2 Desktop Publishing Skills; Unit 3 Health and Safety in a Working Environment; Unit 4 Applying for Employment; and Unit 5 Effective Interview Skills.  To support this there is a workshop on Success Skills from the Young Enterprise Programme and a Barclay Life Skills programme (subject to the allocation to schools across NI).
• During Year 10, to support their option choices, a taught programme for Careers is delivered through their Employability programme between January and February prior to their option choices information event.
• As part of the target setting programme, students learn to create career action plans and keep records of their achievements throughout their time at school. This process starts during the Employability programme in Year 8. Students are encouraged to record all achievements both inside and outside school. During Year 12, students produce a CV, mock up cover letter and application form in preparation for part-time employment and for the step in their journey beyond compulsory education and, in Years 13 and 14 a personal statement, for their UCAS application.
• Preparation for Work Experience includes a presentation to students in Year 11 and Year 13. This includes an explanation of the benefits of work placements as well as an awareness of Health and Safety in the work place, to complement this, students complete a Vocational Skills unit entitled Health and Safety in a Working Environment.
• Year 13 and 14 have designated careers provision delivered during PD with the focus in Year 14 being the completion of UCAS application forms. Each Year 14 student is given a one-to-one interview with the Head of Careers and assigned a personal statement mentor.  UCAS applications are completed on-line in Year 14, following visits to local universities, career conventions and a welcome visit from the University Road Show that showcases universities from across the water. Careers guidance is available to all Year 14 applicants at this stage.

 

Focused Events Include:

 

Year 12 Skills NI Careers Convention This is held in collaboration with local employers, employment agencies for guidance, universities, FE colleges and training agencies, before post 16 choices are made during Year 12. Prior to this event, students have an options assembly and small group interviews to help them with their option choices.
Interview Skills sessions All Year 12 students complete a Vocational Skills unit entitled Effective Interview Skills. This involves students conducting a mock interview. All Year 14 students interested in Nursing/Midwifery/Teaching attend mock interview sessions delivered by industry professionals.
Creative Industries Convention A number of Y13 MIA/Art students are invited to attend this interactive Arts convention to engage with industry professionals and open opportunities to work in in this growing sector.
Individual meetings with a Careers Service Advisor. Individual meetings are organised for each student in Year 12 to have a private and confidential meeting with a Career Adviser from DfE. This process releases each student from normal timetable for up to 30 minutes to have an individual career interview with the DfE Adviser. Parents also have the opportunity to meet with the DfE Adviser at Year 10 and Year 12 Parent Evenings. SEN students have individual interviews with the DfE adviser prior to their Transition meeting.
Year 12 Mock Results Event in collaboration with Parent Guidance Interviews All Year 12 students and parents are invited to this event, where they are addressed by the school and other agencies with regard to guidance for the next stage of their career pathway. Prior to this they attend a Career convention held in collaboration with Skills NI to help in making decisions on their future career routes.
Year 10 Multi Mini Interviews in collaboration with Parent Guidance Interviews All Year 10 students engage in multi mini interviews discussing subject choices with current Y12/13 students to assist them in making an informed decision with regards which subjects to marry together in preparation for making the right choice at post 16.
Work Experience Work experience for all students in Year 11 takes place in June.  One week placements are provided through contacts with local employers and parents. Students are encouraged to organise their own placements. Extended work experience is provided for Key Stage 5 students. The two year A Level Health and Social Care students attend a one-week work placement in October.  Year 14 students interested in nursing/midwifery secure a hospital work placement in September to assist with writing of the UCAS personal statement. This is to give them additional work experience, a requirement needed for university and employment.  All work experience placements are checked for health and safety. A number of staff will endeavour to visit students who take part in work experience.
SEN Transition Interviews To provide advice and support to students aged 14+ with a statement of special needs. The Transition Plan meeting aims to put in place all necessary measures to ensure a successful transition, identifying and overcoming barriers or difficulties in the process. The Transition Plan will be reviewed along with their statement at each annual review meeting within their last years of school.