Careers

Careers Overview

At The Heights, Burnley, we offer a comprehensive careers programme from Year 7 to 11, to help our young people find clear pathways to success in whatever they choose to do. Learning about careers, even early on in school life, can help students make informed choices about their futures. At The Heights, Burnley, we are committed to providing a planned programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance.

This can look different for each student, and our careers programme reflects this. By working with a qualified Careers Advisor, we provide bespoke advice and guidance to each individual. All students, whatever the age, will have access to various career development opportunities which could include:

• Careers lessons in school
• Work experience (both short and long term placements)
• Business and apprenticeship visits
• Aspirational speakers
• Drop-in sessions, both 1:1 and group work
• Career workshops working on CV and interview skills
• Further Education visits and experiences
• Higher Education visits and experiences
• Careers Fair
• Enterprise opportunities

We follow the Gatsby Benchmarks to help us achieve this and more information on these can be found here Gatsby Good Career Guidance.

Our Trust careers policy can be seen here. For any further specific information, visit our students, parents, teachers or employers pages.

How we meet the Benchmarks

Benchmark 1 – A stable careers programme

• We have created a bespoke CEIAG curriculum to ensure all pupils have access to careers in every year group, each year builds on knowledge from the previous year to ensure comprehensive coverage.
• We work closely with outside agencies so that vulnerable pupils have opportunities to suit them.
• We complete termly evaluations of our CEIAG programme.

Benchmark 2 – Learning from labour market information

• Our curriculum is supported by Start Profile and other platforms that provide the most up to date information about the labour market in our local area.
• We cultivate links with local employers and colleges.
• Our website contains up to date links to online magazines and apps to help students understand LMI.

Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of each pupil

• Our careers curriculum is sensitive to the needs of our pupils whilst aiming to raise aspirations and provide education around issues such as equality and diversity.
• Every pupil has access to 1:1 careers provision that is suited to their needs.
• The CEIAG team are available at parent consultation days to provide support and feedback to parents.
• We make use of pupil, parent, staff and employer voice.
• We have tracking systems in place, which allow students to see their journey through CEIAG.

Benchmark 4 – Linking curriculum to careers

• We create a comprehensive audit of careers across all subjects and year groups.
• Regular support and CPD is provided to all staff on embedding careers in their curriculum.
• Every teacher supports the implementation of careers in their curriculum and uses their specialist subject knowledge to engage students and inspire their career choices.

Benchmark 5 – Encounters with employers and employees

• Students will have at least two meaningful encounters with employers and employees during their time at The Heights, Burnley.
• We hold careers fairs to provide students with the opportunity to encounter careers they may not have otherwise encountered.

Benchmark 6 – Experiences of workplaces

• Work experience is organised to suit each student.
• Visits and trips are planned within subjects to provide practical real world experience relating to their curriculum.

Benchmark 7 – Encounters with higher and further education

• We cultivate close links with local colleges and universities and invite them in to speak with our students.
• Where applicable, our students have the chance to attend courses in our local HE providers in addition to their usual curriculum.

Benchmark 8 – Personal Guidance

• Every student in KS4 to access 1:1 CEIAG appointments.
• Information surrounding careers is available to parents and students at their request.
• Every student at all levels to have access to the careers team to discuss their ideas and concerns.

Measuring the impact

We use the Compass+ tool to measure the impact of our work and keep a track of which students have accessed each opportunity. This tool also keeps all the data needed to track our students in their journey beyond school, as required by the Gatsby Benchmarks. This information is available for our students to access should they need it.

CEIAG is reviewed regularly. Our team is accountable to our Governors, Senior Leadership Team and we follow the CDI Code of Ethics to ensure our practice is diverse and inclusive.

 

Our Careers Team

Careers Lead: Miss N Lincoln. If you are looking to request access, please contact the school via email on nlincoln@theheightsburnley.com or at 01282 882150 Careers support: Mrs H Horner – hhorner@theheightsburnley.com

Visiting the school

For any visits to the school, please use the contact details above and take a look at our Provider Access Policy. Visits may be virtual or in person and arrangements will be made as appropriate to ensure that the correct facilities and support will be provided.

If you have a copy of a prospectus or any other literature, please forward this to Miss N Lincoln so that is may be used in school.

Skillsometer

Careerometer

Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.

It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.

Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.