Careers Education and Guidance

Careers Lead - Mrs J Edwards, Assistant Headteacher

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

The Careers Curriculum intends to:

Develop aspirations of pupils for future educational opportunities post 16, including introducing and deepening knowledge of sixth form colleges, further education colleges , and apprenticeships;
Develop pupils’ aspirations for future careers including understanding the ever changing range of careers on offer;
Develop strategies for self-refection and employability skills of communication, interview skills, cv writing, personal organisation, creative thinking, time management and problem solving;
Empower pupils to challenge stereotyping and discrimination and other barriers to diversity and equality in further education and careers; guide pupils to use objective information about the local and national labour market to make decisions that improve their careers and transition into work;
Enable pupils to understand and use effectively the IT programmes on offer to support careers education, including START, Careers Companion and Kudos;
Develop an academic vocabulary to be able to communicate articulately their current skill set and aspirations for the future

Additionally, subject areas are encouraged to actively promote links in their subjects to the world of work; for example: in Art, teachers link the technique of printing to relevant career application.

Statutory Requirements

The careers provision at The Westgate School is in line with the statutory guidance developed by the Department of Education, which refers to Section 42A and 45A of the Education Act 1997: as a school we provide independent careers guidance from Year 7 to Year 11. This guidance is impartial and gives information on a range of pathways and post-16 education providers, including university options, apprenticeships and further education. it is adapted to meet the needs and interests of the individual pupils. This will be reviewed and revised September 2021.

The Westgate School Careers Programme 2020/21

Please click here to see the overview for Years 7 - 11.
here to view a more comprehensive view of the Careers Programme.
Click here to view the Careers Calendared Events 2020/21.

Careers Information for Pupils

We hope you like the look of our Careers programme for this year and value the range of experiences which have been planned to support you as you explore and discover a variety of careers. We will guide you as you make decisions about your next steps. There are also other ways you will be supported with careers guidance while at school.

If you would like a careers' guidance interview with our Career's Advisor, speak or email Ms Barnard in the Learning Resource Centre -
Use your Start Profile to keep a record of your careers experiences and other details which you could use to support an application for a college course or employment.
Use Start Profile and Careers Companion to explore the variety of careers opportunities on offer.

https://bespoke.careercompanion.co.uk/libraries/index

Post 16 Information Evening

Please click here to view the Post 16 Information Evening PPT.

Careers Information for Parents

Please follow the link to our School Careers Programme 2020/21 and you will see careers events that have been planned throughout the year, along with details of how the curriculum supports Careers Education.

Employers and Employees/Alumni

Please follow the link to our calendared events for this year. We welcome any offers of support for our careers programme. You may like to offer to talk to pupils about your career in a particular field or share your career journey. In our programme, we have built in opportunities for pupils to experience a wide range of careers from Science, Technology and the field of Mathematics, as well as creative careers in the Arts, Publishing, Journalism and Design and Business. In fact, the more diverse the better, as it enables pupils to widen their opportunities on offer. If you would like to get involved please contact: careers lead or school librarian

Westgate Careers Fair

This annual event is open for all pupils, parents and carers to attend. Exhibits from local colleges, businesses and training providers (including apprenticeships) provide an opportunity for pupils to discover a range of career opportunities and Post 16 education pathways.