Gloucestershire Hospital Education Service

Careers Policy

Aims
GHES aims to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and encourage pupils to consider a wide range of careers. Through careers education and guidance it is hoped that pupils will be encouraged to make the most of their talents and to go on to jobs or courses which suit their needs, interests and abilities. In particular we intend our pupils to:

·  develop a broad understanding of the world of work and an ability to respond to changing opportunities

·  develop independent research skills so that they can make good use of information and guidance

·  develop and use their self-knowledge when thinking about and making choices

·  develop the skills they need to review achievements, plan future actions, make decisions, present themselves well and cope with change and transition.

We recognise that the process of making career decisions is a lengthy one and as a PRU we are unlikely to be with a pupil for their entire careers journey. Some pupils will only be with us for a very short time and some with us for much longer. As most pupils are dual-registered working in partnership with the pupils’ home-schools is critical. However, whilst pupils are with GHES we will take overall responsibility for ensuring that their careers journeys are individually tailored to their particular needs; whatever point or stage they are in that journey. Our aim is to provide at least the same opportunities that each pupil would have had in their own home-school. Due to additional medical needs, we will often go beyond what the home-school may have offered to ensure that no pupil is disadvantaged in any way due to medical needs which have arisen. There will always be an element of any careers input being bespoke and individualised at GHES due to the nature of our provision. We see this as strength.

Commitments
The Management Committee and staff are committed to:

·  the provision of resources and advice to enable students to understand and develop career choices and to ensure that careers education is seen as part of the overall curriculum and learning framework for all years

·  encouraging pupils to achieve and to be ambitious

·  involving pupils, parents and carers in the further development of careers work

·  working with Prospects and other external agencies, where appropriate, so that no pupil is disadvantaged in gaining access to education, training or work

·  to achieving the Prospects Quality Award in Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance.

Provision
Careers includes both education and guidance. Careers education helps our pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need to make successful choices, manage transitions in learning and move into work. Through guidance pupils are able to use their knowledge and skills to make the decisions about learning and work that are right for them. Progress in pupils’ self development and understanding of careers is regularly monitored.

Careers education forms an integral part of the curriculum in the GHES Wellbeing programme (PSHEE, SMSC, SRE and Careers combined – please read the GHES Wellbeing Curriculum Statement).

The three main areas of careers learning, identified in the National Framework, form themes throughout careers work from years 7-11.

Self Development / understand themselves and the influences on them
Career Management / make and adjust plans, to manage change and transition
Career Exploration / Investigate opportunities in learning and work

For primary pupils the aims are still the same at an age appropriate level. For primary pupils we have purchased careers planet as a resource which introduces pupils to the huge range of possible jobs and careers that are possible as a starting point. The GHES careers website also caters for primary pupils. Further details of the curriculum programme can be obtained from the Head of Service.

In addition we provide/organise:

·  Visitors speaking on specific career choices and opportunities (GRH classroom and Cheltenham Outpatient classroom). e.g. NHS careers day in the Gloucester Royal Hospital Schoolroom for primary and secondary pupils.

·  A comprehensive GHES careers website which provides access to a wealth of material which is critical for pupils who may be unable to attend careers conventions due to medical needs. (see Appendix 1)

·  Enterprise Opportunities e.g. The Annual Tenner Challenge where pupils are given £10 and had to set up a business enterprise to turn the £10 in to as much money as possible.

·  Work experience (if and when appropriate).

·  Transition workshops for pupils preparing to move on from GHES (particularly Year 11s) to improve resilience, organisation and confidence. A Gloucestershire county council youth ambassador and former pupil is involved in the delivery of this transition workshop.

·  Newsletters (and website information) informing pupils and parents about careers conventions and open evenings across the county.

·  Careers guidance which takes place on a one to one basis and is through Prospects Services who are an independent provider of CIEAG. We buy time from Prospects to enable our pupils to have 1:1 meetings with a qualified, experienced Careers advisor. GHES believes in the importance of contracting an independent careers advisor. Careers guidance interviews can be arranged in either of the GHES bases (GRH classroom or the Cheltenham outpatient classroom/offices) or in pupils’ homes. We encourage parents to be included in these 1:1 careers guidance sessions.

Equal Opportunities
GHES are keen to promote equal opportunities and try to use every opportunity to challenge stereotypes and to raise aspirations. We monitor careers resources regularly to ensure that they encourage both boys and girls and pupils from minority ethnic groups to enter different careers. We also organise specific events for girls and boys to focus on the careers where there are gender inequalities in the workforce. We aim to explore the reasons behind this and the opportunities (and potential barriers) for pupils in moving towards these careers choices.

Monitoring, evaluation and review
The careers programme is monitored regularly and amended after an annual review. Pupils’ opinions are actively sought and the student council or working party of pupils helps in evaluation and review.

Relationship to other parts of the curriculum and other policies
Careers education is conducted in accordance with the School’s Equality policy and other relevant policies. The whole school remit of careers is recognised and careers education is an integral part of the whole school curriculum.

Management
The overall management of Careers Education and Guidance is with the Head of Service. At present two other teachers have responsibilities to help with careers work. A member of the administrative staff manages logistics for arranging careers interviews with a careers advisor.

Resources

·  GHES careers website which is an extensive careers library including a huge library of videos and podcasts of real people talking about their careers and jobs (See Appendix 1).

·  ‘Careers Planet’ resource for primary pupils

·  Fast Tomato (online diagnostic careers tool and careers programme for pupils)

·  GHES careers website which is an extensive careers library including a huge library of videos and podcasts of real people talking about their careers and jobs.

·  Careers Advisor – 1:1 careers advice and guidance sessions which can be booked at any time of the year. Multiple sessions can be arranged if required.

·  Referrals to the YST (Youth Support Team) if intensive support and work is required in relation to CIEAG for a young person.

·  Cheltenham Festival links e.g. The Science Festival –STEM careers

·  Past students are a valuable resource with careers work. We are also for grateful for the support from local and national industries and organisations and higher education institutions as well as other schools.

Careers Quality Award

Having made a strong start to our careers provision we now aim to work towards achieving the Prospects Quality Award in Careers Education, Information and Guidance. We welcome input, feedback and suggestions from any stakeholders in relation to our careers education.

The execution of this policy is monitored by the senior management team and the Management Committee as part of the monitoring of progress of the School Development plan. This policy will be reviewed every two years by the Management Committee.

Please read this policy in conjunction with our Equality Policy and the GHES Wellbeing Curriculum Statement.

June 2015 Annalise Price-Thomas (Head of Service)

Reviewed June 2016 Wendy Rashwan (Team Manager)

Appendix 1

Dear parent and pupil,

We are delighted to introduce our GHES careers website to you. This site should be invaluable for parents and pupils and we hope you will take some time to have a look at it and use it. This website is hosted by a careers specialist and so all the links and the information are maintained and updated at all times. To access this resource please type the following in to your browser: www.resourcecompanion.co.uk

Then, when you get to the members login page, just type in password provided at induction as the username and as the password:

Username: Provided on induction (please ask a member of GHES staff)

Password: Provided on induction (please ask a member of GHES staff)

The website has two parts: Resource Companion and Careers Companion. The homepage is the resource companion homepage. The Resource companion is a careers resource specific for GHES Gloucestershire pupils. GHES have pulled together many useful websites, power-point presentations and other materials and have arranged them by year group (e.g. yr 11 icon or Year 7 icon there is also provision for primary pupils) and by topic area (e.g. apprenticeships and training). We will continue to develop this over time.

Careers Companion is like a reference library to help take you on a careers journey. There is up-to-date advice on 16+ options, STEM careers, apprenticeships, GAP years, job searches and many other resources. The careers companion includes links to resources such as careers box where you can watch videos and podcasts about almost any career you can imagine. There is also labour market information to support the information about careers. For example, being a marine biologist is not likely in Gloucestershire; but what about other careers? What does the labour market look like in Gloucestershire or other areas of the UK?

We hope that you and your family will make the most of this fantastic careers resource.

We hope that it will help you all make great choices about the future!

Annalise Price-Thomas (Head of GHES)

& all of the GHES staff.