A Stable Careers Programme
Every school, special school, college or provider should have an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by learners, parents and carers, staff, governors, employers and other agencies.
What good looks like
- Every school, special school, college and provider should have a stable, structured careers programme that has the explicit backing of governors, the headteacher and the senior management team, and has an identified and appropriately trained Careers Leader responsible for it.
- The careers programme should be tailored to the needs of learners, sequenced appropriately, underpinned by learning outcomes and linked to the whole-school development plan. It should also set out how parents and carers will be engaged throughout.
- The careers programme should be published on the school, special school, college and provider's website and communicated in ways that enable learners, parents and carers, staff and employers to access and understand it.
- The programme should be regularly evaluated using feedback from learners, parents and carers, teachers and other staff who support learners, Careers Advisers and employers to increase its impact.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 1. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Funded Careers Leader training via The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) supports with accelerated and meaningful achievement of the Gatsby Benchmarks
Develop a Strategic Careers Plan to ensure that the careers programme has clear backing from the leadership team and integrate into the institutions broader development plan, aligning it with key goals and priorities to give it the necessary authority and resources. Access the Understanding how to create a Strategic Careers Plan resource to support with this.
Develop a careers programme that is responsive to learner needs, with provision sequenced progressively and underpinned by learning outcomes. Access the Understanding how to develop progressive and responsive careers provision (Careers Learning Journeys) resource to support with this.
Make sure everyone knows which way you’re heading – ensure all stakeholders understand your careers programme by using these careers learner journey roadmap templates to present it in a visual way
Gather input from learners, parents and carers, teachers, other staff, Careers Advisers and employers on how well the careers programme is working. Use the CEC guidance on survey creation and access the survey template resources to easily capture stakeholder feedback. Review the feedback and data to continuously improve the careers programme. Access the Understanding how to effectively evaluate your careers provision resource to support with this.
Support headteachers, senior leaders and governors to understand the strategic value of careers provision. Get started today with your Careers impact internal leadership review.
Use the handy Parental Engagement Checklist as a guide to establish and maintain effective parental engagement in your setting. You can effectively record parental engagement in Compass+. Read this Help Centre article to find out how.
Ensure that the Careers Leader and all other relevant staff, including SEND teams, access the free training offer from the CEC.
Education Leaders and Governors:
Education Leaders and Governors: For further information on each Benchmark, to support you in your role, please see the Education Leader, Secondary and College Governor Guides.
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Careers Leader training
Transform your careers programme and develop your skills as a Careers Leader to strategically embed careers in the curriculum.
Careers guidance and access for education and training providers
In this resource you can find the link to the Statutory Guidance and the CEC at a glance guides for schools and college leaders and training providers.
AET - Let’s Talk Futures
This resource was created by AET to equip parents to have informed career conversations with their child by providing ongoing access to resources, guidance and key sources of information that will support them.
Black Country Careers Hub SEND resources
The Black Country Careers Hub have developed a number of resources to support those working with young people with SEND in the different settings. Many of these resources are featured in the My Skills My Future programme.
Enterprise Advisers: Ideas for supporting schools
Developed by Somerset Careers Hub.
This resource details the ways in which Enterpriser Advisers could support schools to develop their careers programme. Ideas have been categorised under each specific benchmark.
Black Country Vocational Profile
A SEND pupil centred planning tool specifically geared to employment and to support quality transitions.
How to make my career activities inclusive
Developed by Black Country Careers Hub. This resource gives ideas of how you can be more inclusive during specific career activities including reasonable adjustments.
Skills Miner - Minecraft game
Skills Miner is a collection of four custom levels inside the Minecraft game. The players complete tasks, solve puzzles, and find logical solutions to problems.
MSMF Employer projects: BAM NUTTAL renewable energy
Developed by Bam Nuttal this is an employer project which features in the My Skills My Future programme and is around renewable energy. Targeted at Career SEND Group 2, this activity is suitable for those typically likely to take GCSE or Level 2 equivalent qualifications.
MSMF Employer projects: Catcote Academy
This page contains resources for the Employer project section of the My Skills My Future programme designed by the team at Catcote Academy a Special School in Tees Valley.
MSMF Employer projects: GM Monk Electricians
Developed by the team at GM Monk Electricians, this easy to use project is designed to support understanding of a task performed by an Electrician and is part of the My Skills My Future programme.
MSMF Employer projects: Marriott International
This project is part of the My Skills My Future programme and looks at Marriott International as a Company to raise awareness.