The importance of careers education, information and guidance (CEIAG)
CEIAG is a priority at Trentham Academy. We believe all our students should be equipped with the information, knowledge and understanding needed to make informed decisions at key transition points in their school life and beyond. We take pride in our motto ‘Aspire Endeavour Achieve’ and the careers guidance received by students helps them to develop great aspirations for the future.
In 2017, the government launched its new careers strategy, placing the Gatsby Benchmarks at its heart. The Gatsby Foundation produced these new guidelines for careers provision following research by Sir John Holman to establish the best way to ensure young people in schools received the best careers education. The careers provision at Trentham Academy meets all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and the Academy was recently awarded the Quality in Careers Standard.
In line with the updated Government Provider Access Legislation (PAL), Trentham Academy aims to further help learners understand and subsequently take up not just apprenticeships, but wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.
At Trentham Academy this will mean that students will have two encounters with training providers in Key Stage 3 that are mandatory for all students to attend and then a further two encounters with training providers at Key Stage 4. Again, attendance at these encounters will be mandatory. All mandatory encounters will take place during the academic day.
Please use the links below to access information about our careers programme. If you would like to speak to the academy regarding careers provision, please contact Miss Ainsworth, Careers Leader, via the main office on 01782 883200 or by email [email protected]
Gatsby Benchmarks Summary
| Benchmark | Description |
| 1. A stable careers programme | Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers. |
| 2. Learning from career and labour market information | Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information. |
| 3. Addressing the needs of each pupil | Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. |
| 4. Linking curriculum learning to careers | All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths. |
| 5. Encounters with employers and employees | Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes. |
| 6. Experiences of workplaces | Every pupil should have first-hand experiences* of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks. |
| 7. Encounters with further and higher education | All pupils should understand 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. |
| 8. Personal guidance | Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs. |
External Links
https://www.ucas.com/careers-advice
This site has a quiz to help you to decide what might suit you. It also has detailed descriptions of hundreds of careers and the different routes you can follow to get there.
This site allows you to compare colleges, universities and other post 16 and post 18 providers.
On this site you can view videos about a range of different career areas.
Another excellent site with videos and real stories to inspire your career choice
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
This government website has salary, skills, routes and details for many careers.
Parents can log into Firefly and read the parents’ information page for careers here.
Destinations Data:
For students who complete KS4 in 2016, 99% were in sustained education, employment or apprenticeships. This was significantly higher than the national proportion of 94%.
Measuring Impact of the Academy Careers Programme
The Academy uses Compass+ in partnership with the Careers and Enterprise Company to monitor and evaluate provision regularly against the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks. We also gather feedback from students, teachers, parents, external careers advisors and other stakeholders on a regular basis. Together, these procedures allow the Academy to make continual improvements to the impact of the careers programme.
My Learning My Future
My Learning, My Future is a suite of Benchmark 4 resources to support subject teaching staff, from over 20 subjects at KS3 & 4, to engage students in curriculum learning by highlighting the relevance of their subjects to future careers and opportunities.
