Careers

At St Edmund Campion, our mission statement, ‘Achieving Together through Christ’ is lived out through our five core principles which permeate every aspect of life at Campion and are integral to our commitment to high-quality careers education.

These core principles are key to careers education.

Spirituality, Dignity and Moral Purpose
A Culture of Excellence and Professionalism
Breadth of Knowledge and Opportunity
Relentless Ambition and High Expectations
No Child Left Behind

Intent

We are passionate about supporting and preparing students for their next steps. Whether that be through offering high-quality guidance or career experiences, we want students to feel empowered and well-informed about the multitude of opportunities available to them.

We believe that a breadth of subject and careers knowledge gives our pupils a superb starting point in life, ensuring no child is left behind. We ensure pupils are provided with impartial guidance and advice on further education, training or employment across all key stages and work with an array of employers and education providers. We want our pupils to find their purpose in life and be happy and fulfilled in what they do, becoming good role models for future generations. We inspire pupils to create a better world which mirrors the values of Jesus Christ and want our pupils to go out into the world and act with moral purpose.

Our commitment to high-quality lessons in all lessons is also evident through our careers programme. We provide each pupil with the breadth of knowledge, range of skills, personal and spiritual development so that they can be successful in their next steps, whether that be at university or in the career of their choice.

Our PSHE programme supports our careers delivery and our commitment to our VESPAR programme (Vision, Effort, Systems, Practice, Attitude and Resilience) highlights the importance we give to skills, attitudes and metacognition.

Our Careers Coordinator is Mrs L. Jackson; if you have any queries about careers, higher education or virtual work experience please email: jacksonl@stedcamp.bham.sch.uk or telephone 0121 464 7700

The Senior Leader with the responsibilty for careers is Mrs J. Quoroll.

The Governor with responsibility for careers is Mrs J. Reynolds.

Implementation

Careers Education, Information and Guidance is delivered through our PSHE programme, Super Learner Days and subject specific opportunities. We invite a range of speakers and providers to meet with our pupils. Furthermore, we work closely with local companies and provide opportunities for different experiences of work throughout our careers learning journey. We strive to achieve the Gatsby Benchmarks and these shape our commitment to careers education.

1. A stable career programme

2. Learning from careers and labour market information

3. Addressing the needs of each student

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

5. Encounters with employers and employees

6. Experiences of workplaces

7. Encounters with further and higher education

8. Personal guidance

Gatsby Benchmarks

The table below summarises some of the ways our careers programme meets the Gatsby Benchmarks.

	Best practice evidence on how we are working towards the Gatsby Benchmarks:
1	Careers is built into our PSHE tutor time programme and is integral to our exciting and informative Super Learner Days. Our website has been created to ensure that users leave feeling informed and able to access helpful and up-to-date advice.
2	Careers and Labour Market Information is available via our school website and is shared with pupils via assemblies, and parents through our newsletter.
3	Pupils are supported by our Independent Careers Advisor and our Careers and SEND Team. All pupils have access to Unifrog and Years 9-13 have access Pathways CTM.
4	Our STEM Coordinator plans STEM events through our Super Learner Day Programme, and we run a wide variety of career visits for pupils to engage with. We work closely with Aim Higher and other subject organisations. Subject leaders plan key points in the year to promote careers via their subject and each week begins with a job of the week focus.
5	We invite a range of employers in to speak with our pupils and offer a range of visits so that pupils can interact with employers and employees. We encourage all school trips to have a planned encounter with an employer; this is a powerful opportunity for our pupils to engage with different employers. Year 11 and Year 12 also take part in our annual Mock Interview Day with employers and receive bespoke feedback on their performance.
6	We offer different experiences of the workplace through various trips, opportunities and virtual events. Our Year 9 pupils take part in a day with the Medical Mavericks team. Our Year 12 pupils also take part in Work Experience.
7	We work with a wide range of further and higher education providers and a wide range of universities always attend our Post 16 Open Evening. We have strong links with the Aimhigher and the Aimhigher Plus Team. We also work with National Collaboration Outreach Programme (NCOP) to promote access to university. Our Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 pupils visit higher and further education providers as part of our careers programme.
8	We employ an Independent Careers Advisor who supports our pupils and attends KS4 parents’ evenings and Post 16 Open Evening.

The information on our careers pages will be updated and reviewed in September 2024

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Student Area Parent Area Employer Area Teacher Area

Download our Careers Overview 2024-25 Provider Access Statement Website PAL 2024-25 Accessing Impact on Young People 2024 Chamber members lend support to next generation Careers Learning Journey

Labour Market Information

The world of work changes rapidly. New technology, global and industry changes create new jobs and make others obsolete. That is why exploring and taking account of the current Labour Market Information is helpful. It is important that you know how to access and use the information so that you can make informed decisions about future careers.

The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) has identified five key growth areas within our region:

Grouped1

How can LMI help you decide what to do next?

Having up-to-date and accurate information can help you plan for your future. You should consider:

Are there opportunities close to where I live in the sector I am interested in or will I need to relocate in the future?
How competitive is the industry I am interested in?
Are there enough jobs and do I need to have a back-up plan?
Does the pay for the job I want align with what I would like to earn?
What is the best route for me to take to get the job I would like?

Is the industry I would like to work in growing or shrinking? Grouped2 LMI Guide MY WAY Into The World Of Work

Labour Market Info Capture

Birmingham LMI Headlines

A useful LMI Overview

Careers Adviser

Georgie McMath is our Independent Careers Adviser. Her input into our careers programme is invaluable. Georgie has kindly shared some transition advice for each year group.

To make career choices at whatever stage is right for you, two main elements need to be in place:

Knowledge of yourself, your strengths and abilities, your preferences
Knowledge of the many diverse roles within the world of work

Grouped4

Year 7

Once you have settled into secondary school study, Year 7 is a good time to think about the subjects you most enjoy. What are your strengths and skills? Are there skills you would like to develop in the future?

Year 8

In Year 8 it is useful to look at the careers related to the subjects you might be thinking of choosing in Year 9. It is also important to be aware of Labour Market Information (LMI). This shows important trends in Birmingham and other areas. You can also find the latest LMI links on our careers page.

Year 9

If you have not already done the interests and personality profiles on Unifrog, this would be a good time to do them, or revisit them. They will help you think about yourself and what you do and don’t want from work. You can look up careers that might appeal to you in the Careers Library section of Unifrog or on the National Careers Service website. It is fine not to have a definite career in mind at this point as long as you are still exploring opportunities that might suit you. This is an exciting time to really engage with the different opportunities and sites that we have on offer at St Edmund Campion. I would really suggest Unifrog and Pathways CTM. The Duke of Edinburgh (D of E) is also an excellent award to take part in, see Ms Rochford if you would like to sign up.

Year 10

Year 10 is a good time to broaden your knowledge of different industries and roles within them; there are several things you could do, including:

Explore your career ideas in more depth. What do the jobs involve on a day-to-day basis? Which skills are required? What are the different routes into them?
Talk to a range of people about their jobs.
Organise some work experience (it could be virtual as this is now very popular) or try and get some work shadowing – even a day would help.
Start to prepare for the decision you will make next year about what to do after GCSEs. The three main destinations are Sixth Form, College or Apprenticeships. There are lots of Open Days so keeping an eye on those will help inform your decision.

Year 11

Year 11 is the year to finalise your plans about your next steps and put them into action: this can be both daunting and very motivating. The key thing to note is that you have lots of support available.

You will have an individual Careers Interview to talk through your choices and help you decide which direction to take. Your options fall under the following headings:

Sixth Form

Attend Post-16 Open Evenings to find out which BTECs and A levels are on offer. Remember to find out the entry requirements for the Level 3 courses you wish to study.

College

Attend Open Days to find out about the range of courses and entry requirements. Remember, that it is important to make applications in good time.

Apprenticeships

ApprenticeshipsFor this route, you need to be clear about what job you want as an apprenticeship is a job with specific training. There is a lot to do including identifying vacancies, making several applications and being preparing well-prepared for interviews.

Do not worry if you have not chosen your career by Year 11, you can keep studying the subjects you like while continuing to explore.

Traineeships

TraineeshipsTraineeships might be an option for you if you feel you need further support moving from school on to the next stage, and especially if you need to improve your Maths and English.

Offering you support

Individual Career Interviews – this is an opportunity to talk through your ideas and identify your next steps. To get the most from your interview it is helpful to do some research beforehand. Interviews are held in the meeting room opposite Attendance; Your careers appointments will be published each Monday via the morning PowerPoint. A copy of this weekly resource is sent out to Parents via ParentMail.

Personalised Career Plan - after your careers interview you’ll receive a Career Plan which is a summary of our discussion and your agreed next steps. A copy of this will then be uploaded to Unifrog.

Lunchtime Drop-In – you are welcome to drop in any Tuesday lunchtime to ask questions instead or to book an interview.

Email - You can contact me by email if you simply have a question that may not require an interview. I am also happy for parents to contact me with any questions/concerns.

My school email is: Mcmathg@stedcamp.bham.sch.uk

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Progress toward The Gatsby Benchmarks

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Our Careers Advisor, Georgie McMath is always available to support pupils and parents on A Level and GCSE Results day.

The visual has been designed to support you in understanding your child’s career education journey, the key decision points and how and when careers support in school will be offered.

Careers Learning Journey

If you would like to share any feedback on our school careers programme, book a careers appointment for your son/daughter, or feel you could contribute to our programme please email:jacksonl@stedcamp.bham.sch.uk