Good careers guidance connects learning to the future. It motivates young people by giving them a clearer idea of the routes to jobs and careers that they will find engaging and rewarding. Good careers guidance widens students’ horizons, challenges stereotypes and raises aspirations. It provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make successful transitions to the next stage of their life.

At Unity College our Careers provision is highly effective. We measure ourselves using the Gatsby Charitable Foundations Benchmarks. The eight benchmarks provide us with a framework that helps us to identify our strengths and find areas that we can improve on, which we do constantly.

Careers Guidance and access for education and training providers is predominantly delivered through our iD programme (PSCHE) where all local post 16 providers have an active input. Career –Nav Guidance Services provide our impartial, individual career guidance.

Our careers leader, a link Governor and our Enterprise Coordinator at Inspira ensure that all students actively engage with employers within our classrooms. For external employer engagement, such as site visits, work experience, we work with our local Education Business Partnership (NW) Ltd company.

The ever growing list of employer engagement includes:

NatWest Bank; Myerscough College and Vets; Fullwood Barracks; HMRC; Giant Leap Child Care and Learning Centre; ESSA Barnoldswick; Burnley Magistarates Court; Burnley Football Club; 2BR Radio; Liberata LTD Nelson; Promethean World; Willow Bank Care Centre; UCLAN Preston; UK Fast Manchester; VEKA Capita; British Velvets; Royal Air force/BAE Systems; CHESS; AMS Neve; Paradigm; Scoped Solutions.

So that our students can start to understand their local labour market a bespoke exercise book, aimed at all year groups, is to be launched. The tasks are age appropriate and will be completed in Personal Development (PD) time. To keep abreast of what is offered in Lancashire you can follow the link below:

www.lancashireskillshub.co.uk

Each activity related to the world of work is tracked against every individual’s name. This ensures that all students are exposed to the maximum employer engagement or further education opportunities, enterprise and careers planning as possible.

Careers Interviews
Geoff Roberts is the School Careers Adviser. Careers guidance interviews offer support and advice about post 16 options they can also help students to recognise their skills qualities and interests so that they can make well informed and realistic decisions about their future career. During the interview a Careers Action Plan is completed which contains information from the discussion and any action points that might need to be completed. Students in years 10 and 11 have a one to one careers guidance interview. Students from other year groups can access Geoff through various events such as parents meetings or by request through Mrs Clark.

For Career and Course Ideas
www.plotr.co.uk – Whether you’ve got a career in mind or you haven’t got a clue, Plotr can help you discover your future and guide you to careers you could be great at.

www.icould.com – icould is a small, dynamic charity, providing career inspiration and information for young people. They show what is possible in work and offer different ways to think about careers through free access to over 1000 personal video stories, detailed job information, plus practical tips, insight and advice.

www.bestcourse4me.com – This site helps users to explore career and study options. It shows the link between what you study, what you earn and the jobs you can get.

www.ucasprogress.com/search – UCAS Progress allows young people between 13 and 17 years old to search for courses across England and Wales

Need help?
https://www.gov.uk/careers-helpline-for-teenagers A Government helpline where you can request a call back from an adviser

Parents wishing to help their teenagers:
http://www.careersadviceforparents.org and
http://www.netmums.com/teenagers/careers-advice-for-teenagers is another site you may prefer.

For Volunteering Opportunities
www.do-it.org.uk – The UK’s national volunteering database, do-it.org makes it easy for anyone to volunteer in their community. Explore volunteering opportunities here.

These sites provide further information on how to get involved as a volunteer within a hospital. This is important if you are looking to progress into a medical related career:
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/working-in-the-nhs/joining-the-nhs/volunteering-in-the-nhs/ www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/volunteers

More volunteering opportunities – St Johns Ambulance Volunteering – www.sja.org.uk/sja/young-people.aspx

Higher Education
www.ucas.com – This site provides useful information on options post 16 and post 18. You can research degree courses here and entry requirements.

What to do with degree subjects?
www.prospects.ac.uk – Provides information on where your degree might take you and the career opportunities.

Higher Education Information – information about university including options and finance along with lots more information – http://university.which.co.uk/

Other Useful Websites
National Careers Service – https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
The National Careers Service has lots of useful information for you to look at and research your career ideas further. There is a dedicated section for schools. The job profiles provide information on every known career available to date.
www.apprenticeships.gov.uk – The apprenticeship website provides the latest news and information on apprenticeships and schemes, including types of apprenticeships, apprentice employers and tips on how to apply for vacancies.
www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship – This site advertises all current apprenticeships; students can register and apply for actual apprenticeship vacancies in their area.
There are lots of websites advertising a wide range of apprenticeship opportunities – register with them all!
http://www.e4s.co.uk/search/entry-level-job-results
https://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk/
http://jobs.elht.nhs.uk/job_list/s10/Apprenticeships?_ts=1

Job Search
Lancashire County Council – Apprenticeship Opportunities
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/jobs-employment-and-volunteering/apprenticeships.aspx

For Unity College Careers Booklet- a guide for parents and students
A downloadable careers booklet in PDF format, containing lots of useful information for Year 11
students.

Key contact name, role & email
Mrs P Sutcliffe / Deputy Headteacher
p.sutcliffe@unity.lancs.sch.uk
01282 683010

Careers Booklet 2018