Careers

Every young person should leave school prepared for life following their studies. Careers guidance is crucial in helping students emerge from school ready to either continue their studies or ready for the world of work. We want to provide information, advice and opportunities to allow students to be well informed when making subject and career decisions.   All students will know what support is available in order to develop the skills and behaviours they need, not only to make informed choices but preparation for life. The provision of advice and guidance is intended through the PSHE programme and careers activities will aim to inform, inspire and motivate students, preparing them for work and helping them to understand where different education and training choices could take them in the future.

Walton High students are expected to:

• have high aspirations
• know from whom and where to seek information and guidance
• be able to make informed decisions
• develop a sense of self awareness,
• develop employability and enterprise skills
• challenge stereotypes
• understand career management
• undertake career exploration
• investigate Labour Market Information

At Walton High, Careers Education is not just a lesson, it is a whole school approach.  Students are able to access Careers Information through a cross curricular approach including:

• PSHE programme
• Tutorial programme
• Careers Masterclass talks
• Advanced Learning Day programme
• Curriculum Links
• Enrichment – Session 9
• Extra Curricular opportunities –Trips and Visits
• Employer and alumni engagement
• Careers appointments, activities and drop-in sessions

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The careers programme can be seen in the overview

Our Careers programme aims to support all our young people, especially as students follow a five or seven year programme.  Our programme is assessed against the Gatsby Benchmarks, which are:

Benchmark 1: A stable careers programme

Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information

Benchmark 3: Addressing the needs of each student

Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers and employees

Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces

Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education

Benchmark 8: Personal guidance

There are many pathways and enrichment opportunities to engage and allow for students’ individual needs to be met, whether attending  Career Drop In sessions or participating in enrichment opportunities such as Urban Scholars, Young Enterprise or Science Club.

The careers programme builds on previous learning and helps students make transitions between years.  These are supported through opportunities, enrichment activities and events such as the annual careers fair.

All students have the opportunity for a careers support through the school’s ICT support as well as requesting career appointments, tutor activities, assemblies, parent consultation meetings.  Students have additional support through Firefly and Unifrog.  Year 11 students all receive an IAG meeting with a Post 16 tutor or their Head of Year.

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Careers Guidance

Mrs Montague, Mr Tan and Ms Mahmood are Walton High’s Careers Advisors. The careers meeting room can be found in the library at the Walnut Tree Campus, and in Music Room 6 at the Brooklands campus. The Careers Team is available every lunch time and after school for drop in appointments. Careers appointments can also be requested by either talking to your tutor or requesting an appointment through the Firefly careers page.

Appointments can cover a range of topics including:

• Careers exploration
• Information about a particular career/industry
• Support with transitions
• Post-16 options
• Job application support
• Apprenticeships
• Alternative routes in to careers
• CV writing
• Mock interviews
• Planning next steps

Careers Guidance for Students

To help students, parents and tutors are key to accessing career information and support. Careers education is delivered as part of PSHE, across the curriculum and as part of the Advanced Learning Day Programme.

Every Year student has access to Unifrog and careers pages on Firefly which contain the following:

• Transition pages
• Support with applications, CVs, letters
• Booking career appointments
• Labour Market Information
• Apprenticeship Information and vacancies
• T level Information
• Further and Higher Education Information
• Virtual Work Experience Opportunities

Students can access a wealth of information on Firefly by clicking here

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Careers Guidance for Parents

Information is key to help and support student’s progression throughout the school.  We recognise support for parents is key to support students through key transition points.  To help parents we ensure appointments are available with the careers advisor at Parents Evenings.  The Careers Team is also available at Information Evenings to inform and support students at key transition points whilst at Walton High.

All students will have access to a range of support and advice in relation to their career progression when making important decisions about their pathway choices.

• Parents are welcome to attend any one-to-one guidance meetings.
• Parents can access to Unifrog to help support their child in making career and learning pathway decisions.
• Parents also have an allocated Careers pages on Firefly which can be accessed here
• Parent Careers magazine: https://careermap.co.uk/live-careermags/
• Termly Newsletters are shared with Parents from the Careers Team

Unifrog Access Guidance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7S3wWFKm-o

Unifrog Parents Introduction: https://www.loom.com/share/1d856c8220f444faa653fd7f719db5c8

Parent access code – HIWHparents

Sign in to Unifrog here to create a dummy account to explore this excellent resource available to all of our students in Yr7 to Yr13. https://www.unifrog.org/code.

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Careers Guidance for Teachers

The Careers Team is available to support teachers and staff at Walton High. Careers is a whole school approach with teaching staff ensuring careers is embedded into the curriculum.

Resources to support teachers and staff with careers can be found via the links below:

Subject presentations can be found here

Posters for classrooms can be found here

To explore the most up to date Labour Market Information or LMI click here

Unifrog -  There are some excellent resources to suppport Careers in the Curriculum, more information click here

For further information and resources please explore the careers section of Firefly here. If you would like any further support from the Careers Team please email careers@mket.org.uk.

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Employer, education and training providers – Support and Involvement

In order to help every student to reach their full potential, leave with a range of skills and information and progress onto a successful destination, engagement with the other organisations can be key.  Engagement with employers, education and training providers can be key to gaining information and experiences of the wider world.  We value the help and support organisations can offer our students in developing the skills needed for a successful future.

Walton High works in partnership with the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership and WorkTree.  We have a growing alumni who are key to sharing their experiences and journeys they have been on since leaving Walton High.  We also have a pool of existing businesses we work in partnership with including:

• John Lewis Partnership
• Santander
• Niffty Lift

You could become involved by offering:

• site visits - host small groups of students
• assisting with talks e.g assemblies and masterclass talks that we offer on different industries
• assisting with off timetable days – Advanced Learning Days
• provide a work experience placement for a student
• support students to produce a CV
• participate in mock interviews and provide feedback for success
• attending the annual Careers Fair