Careers

Hodge Hill Girls' School Careers Programme is an integrated part of the curriculum. All subject areas make reference to, and discuss career opportunities specific to individual areas. This includes exploring the transferable, enabling skills which help pupils to develop across all year groups. The PSHCE programme plays a key role in supporting the delivery of the Careers’ Strategy. Pupils with SEND are further supported by staff in Learning Support; our school SENCo liaises with our Careers’ Leader, Learn to Work staff, and additional external agencies for pupils as necessary.

Pupils will use the STEPS booklets, which are mapped against the CDI framework for Careers, Employability, and Enterprise education, also including the Gatsby benchmarks. Pupils will cover the following:

 

Year 7

Pupils develop an awareness and importance of employment opportunities being available in the local area as part of the PSHCE programme. The careers programme in PSHCE aims to:

• Develop yourself (through careers, employability and enterprise education).

• Learn about careers and the world of work.

• Plan for the future (using career management, employability and enterprise skills)

Pupils will cover the following in their STEPs booklets:

Changes. What have you achieved? Who can help? What influences me? Roles that I think are successful. What are you like? Skills for Life. How do you learn? This is me. What is work? Using the Careers Library / Learning Resource Centre. Changes in the World of Work. How creative are you? Setting targets.  Review my learning (Exercise O1) Task P: Look ahead (Exercise P1)

 

Year 8

Pupils continue develop an awareness and importance of employment opportunities being available in the local area as part of the PSHCE programme. The careers programme in PSHCE aims to:

 • Develop yourself (through careers, employability and enterprise education).

• Learn about careers and the world of work.

• Plan for the future (using career management, employability and enterprise skills)

Pupils will cover the following in their STEPs booklets:

Your beliefs. Are school and work so different? What do you want from work? Job Families. Can anyone predict the future? Being assertive. Who does the job? Are you sure that’s true? Budgeting, How do you make decisions? Writing an Action Plan. Review my learning. Look ahead.

 

Year 9

Pupils continue develop an awareness and importance of employment opportunities being available in the local area as part of the PSHCE programme. The careers programme in PSHCE aims to:

 • Develop yourself (through careers, employability and enterprise education).

• Learn about careers and the world of work.

• Plan for the future (using career management, employability and enterprise skills)

Pupils will cover the following in their STEPs booklets:

Plan your decision year. My Network. Personal Qualities. Personal Qualities & Jobs. Skills. Skills & Jobs. Skills for Life and Work. Tell us why it should be you! Learning Styles. Being Enterprising. Working Today. Eastern Delights! Using reliable information. Qualifications. Choosing Options.  Review my learning. Look ahead.

 

Year 10

Pupils continue develop an awareness and importance of employment opportunities being available in the local area as part of the PSHCE programme. The careers programme in PSHCE aims to:

 • Develop yourself (through careers, employability and enterprise education).

• Learn about careers and the world of work.

• Plan for the future (using career management, employability and enterprise skills)

Pupils will cover the following in their STEPs booklets:

Exploring Possibilities. World of Work - What Employers Want. World of Work - Work and Lifestyle. World of Work – Quiz. World of Work - Legal Limits. World of Work - Rights at Work. World of Work - Responsibilities at work. Application Skills. Work Experience. Moving on from Work Experience. Developing your Personal Sales Pitch. Managing your Money. Thinking ahead after you are 16 – Options. Different Qualifications and their equivalents. Review my learning. Look ahead.

 

Year 11

Pupils continue develop an awareness and importance of employment opportunities being available in the local area as part of the PSHCE programme. The careers programme in PSHCE aims to:

 • Develop yourself (through careers, employability and enterprise education).

• Learn about careers and the world of work.

• Plan for the future (using career management, employability and enterprise skills)

Pupils will cover the following in their STEPs booklets:

Year Planner. How are you doing? Your skills and interests. What are you like? Different qualifications and their equivalents. Which way do you go? The changing job market. Personal, Learning & Thinking Skills. Money matters. Choices now, choices later? Making applications. Writing a CV. Writing a Cover Letter. Preparing for Interviews. Where have you got so far? Review my learning. Look ahead.

 

 

 

Month	Activity	Information about the activity	Year groups involved
September	Post 16 Evening	We have a number of post 16 provider come into school and pupils are able to ask questions	11
October	Labour Market Information month   Black History Month	Pupils are sent information within form groups about how to access LMI and PowerPoint information   Pupils learn about different black Scientists	All       All
November	World Skills Show	Pupils attend the world skills show	Year 10
November	Aspirations Day	Pupils take part in a range of activities ranging from money sense workshops from Natwest,	7&8
		Barclays Life Skills	7&8
		Workshops from Aston and Birmingham university (this year virtual)	7&10
		Blesma inspirational talks	7
		Medical Mavericks (virtual)	8&9
		Websites iCould, Career pilot	All
		Options information (different subjects talk about careers paths they can take) (subject teachers)	9
		Personal statements for college	11
		Apprenticeship talk (virtual)	9
		University prospectuses	10
		Introduction to work experience from ”Learn to Work”	10
		Post 16 options information	11
November	Careers Convention	We have a number of post 16 colleges, sixth form, training, apprenticeship  providers, universities and employers come into school (this year it was all virtual)	9, 10 & 11
December	NHS careers competition	This is introduced in Science lessons. Pupils then research different careers in the NHS. They then produce a job advertisement and job profile for their chosen career.	8&9
January	STEM awareness	Targeted pupils doing STEM related activities. Information sent about STEM to all pupils	All & targeted pupils
February	National Apprenticeship week	Pupils in lockdown so were able to access various virtual workshops both aimed at pupils and parents	All
March	National Careers Week	National Careers Week Fair	All
		Barclays Life Skills	All
		Parents Guide to National Careers Week	All
		Applying to Oxford or Cambridge (virtual)	All
		STEM hub	All
		Family careers treasure hunt	All
		Career Pilot	All
		Employability Skills worksheet to complete	All
		Guess the Job activity	All
		Parents workshops by Investin Education	All
		Medical Mavericks	All
		Post 16 virtual workshops	All
		T Levels information evening for pupils and parents	All
		British Army workshop	All
		Lendlease pre recorded assembly on careers in the industry	All
March	Big Bang Fair	Pupils usually attend the NEC, this year it was virtual	9
March	STEAM week	Pupils are taken off timetable for a number of days during the week and take part in a range of activities and workshops including Maths Masterclass Team building in engineering Glassmaking workshop History of mental health Wind energy Escape room Mindset and mental health workshop And many more This year pupils were in lockdown but were set tasks on ClassCharts. Each subject had a different STEAM linked activity to complete including technology that changed the world (RS), calculating your ecological footprint(citizenship), how engineering can reduce the impact of earthquakes (Geography) history of vaccinations (History)Understanding Climate Change (PE) etc	All
April	Visitor Month	Talk about their career pathways	Targeted pupils
May Postponed to June this year)	Employer interviews	We have about 15 employers come into school and interview our students for about 20 mins. (virtual event)	Year 10
June	Work Experience (virtual this year)	In previous year pupils have gone out on placements. This year pupils stayed in school and we had a virtual work experience week. This included finance workshops, Virtual workshops from post 16 colleges, apprenticeship session, RAF, STEM session, TATA digital project.	10
July	Enterprise Challenge	Pupils given £5, they then go away and design a product/ service. The group which make the most profit wins, all profits go to charity.	All (selected pupils)
	World of Work Skills	This is a programme for year 11 pupils after completed all their assessments. Pupils had a virtual workshop with the company Lendlease looking at employability skills and the some virtual workshops with local post 16 providers.	11
Throughout the Year	Job of the week       Emailing         Library         Careers Adviser             Careers in the curriculum         Science workshops	New job of the week emailed to pupils every week     Pupils emailed information about virtual workshops, work experience, careers information etc     Pupils can access prospectuses etc from the library       Pupils in years 10 and 11 will receive a one to one careers interview with our careers adviser. There will also be a lunchtime drop in session if pupils need to ask any quick questions     Pupils learn about different careers within their subject area. We have a careers logo which teachers are asked to place onto work with is in anyway related to careers.   Pupils attend different university for their specialist science workshops	All       All         All         All             All           Targeted pupils

During your time as a pupil at Hodge Hill Girls’ School, you will have many opportunities to enhance your careers and work-related learning skills. There are several places where you can access information when needed, including:

• Email careers leader Ms Nazish: n.nazish@hodgehgs.bham.sch.uk

• Receive a careers interview with the career’s adviser (please email Ms Nazish).

• Access the careers section in the library.

 

Click here for useful careers information.

 

The following websites are excellent resources:

https://www.lmiforall.org.uk/careerometer  - Labour Market for All allows students to enter the career of interest into the search bar, this results in the website providing the latest labour market information for that specific job. The purpose of this resource is to help envision the demand of a particular role is, before going down a career path journey in that sector.

 

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk – The National Careers Service is the Government’s hub for careers advice for people of all ages. Here you can find; help with drafting letters, CVs, exploring your skills, or seeking general careers advice.

 

https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships– The National Apprenticeship Service resource provides general advice and information regarding apprenticeships for school leavers.  Furthermore, the site advertises current job vacancies for post-16 students.

 

https://icould.com– iCould aims to help young people to make the most of their potential by illustrating how others have used their potential to succeed. Take the ‘Buzz’ personality profile quiz to help discover unlocked potential!

 

www.startprofile.com – Start Profile helps young people to investigate careers of their interest, watch videos, and receive informative advice. Helps students to seek out different employer groups and discover the work experience opportunities in your area.

 

https://www.careersbox.co.uk– Careers Box is a video-based job profile information, and skills explorer tool.

 

https://successatschool.org – Success at School provides clear and comprehensive information about a range of Career Zones (sectors). This is illustrated in an easy to access format. Students can create a profile to help to collate useful information. A useful tool on the site includes ’60 second interviews’ which provides a profile of professionals in a specific sector, this gives a pupils a useful insight into specific careers paths.

 

https://www.how2become.com – How2Become offers detailed advice on how to access a range of sectors. This website offers the purchase of resources compiled in conjunction with professionals working in these fields. This is designed to enable students to achieve their dream career or course. A selection of these books, including online psychometric testing access, have been supplied to the school by How2Become.

 

https://www.fasttomato.com– Fast Tomato is an interactive careers website to engage young people with a ‘careers matching’ programme to help with career choice (log in for a free guest pass).

 

https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk – Not Going To Uni is a useful resource to seek opportunities that exist outside of higher education and university.

 

https://www.ucas.com– UCAS is the main website for students seeking information about university courses available to them, directly with the application process involved. A useful resource provided by UCAS is the Stamford test, this helps with ideas about specific subjects to study.

 

https://russellgroup.ac.uk – The Russell Group website gives comprehensive information representing 24 of the U.Ks leading universities. The site is a source of careers information & advice, including ‘Informed Choices’-  this is a downloadable guide to making post-16 education/employment choices.

 

https://www.prospects.ac.uk – Prospects provides extensive resources for individuals to find out which careers avenues they could access after undertaking a particular degree.

 

https://www.mycareerspringboard.org – My Career Springboard is a tool designed for students. The site is divided into two main sections: The Career Test, and the Career Exploration Tool. In tandem, these two interactive tools allow students to find some career inspiration and gain an insight into their different career options.

 

https://uk.job-applications.com– The UK Job Applications site provides useful videos, demonstrating how to complete online applications for many top companies in the UK, as well as providing detailed information on salaries and interviews. Applications forms can be printed off directly from the website.

 

https://jobs.telegraph.co.uk/careers– The Telegraph Careers tab provides various information about specific sectors, as well as advice on how to create a CV and prepare for interviews.

 

https://www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk/#root – All About School Leavers display current apprenticeship and school leaver programme opportunities, to the latest school leaver job news, and gives career journey advice.

 

https://allaboutapprenticeships.co.uk – All About Apprenticeships advertises live apprenticeship vacancies, organised by sector or area. The site offers plenty of advice on making applications.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-t-levels/introduction-of-t-levels - Government information regarding the new T-Levels qualifications.

The Gatsby Benchmarks 

 

Benchmark 1: A Stable Careers Programme

Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by Students, parents, teachers, governors and employers. 

 

Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information 

All students and parents should have access to good quality information about future study options, and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make the best use of available information.

 

Benchmark 3: Addressing the Needs of Each Student    

Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each student. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. 

 

Benchmark 4: Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of careers paths. 

 

Benchmark 5: Encounters with Employers and Employees 

Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment, and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring, and enterprise schemes. 

 

Benchmark 6: Experiences of Workplaces 

Every student should have first-hand experience of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing, and/or work experience. This should help to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand their networks. 

 

Benchmark 7: Encounters with Further and Higher Education 

All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes, and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace. 

 

Benchmark 8: Personal Guidance 

Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a career’s adviser. This can be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. This individual should be available whenever significant study, or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all students but should be timed to meet their individual needs. 

 

Education Options

There are various routes your child could take post 16, including:

•  Apprenticeships
•  A LEVELS
•  BTEC's
• T LEVELS

Please click on the website below for more details:

https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/parent-zone/all-questions/what-are-the-choices-for-my-child-at-16?/parent/info/what-are-the-choices-for-my-chil/

 

What Are T Levels?

T Levels are a new route to post-16 education which were introduced in September 2020. This course of education follows GCSE’s and is equivalent to the standard 3 A Levels. The 2-year programme has been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses, so that the content meets the needs of industry, additionally preparing students for world of work.

T Levels offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days). They provide the knowledge and experience needed to open the door into skilled employment, further study, or a higher apprenticeship.

For more information, please visit the website below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-t-levels/introduction-of-t-levels

 

Types of Jobs

Students who have an idea of what they would like to do as part of their future career aspirations, may find it useful to plan their next steps to explore all the possibilities available to them. To help both parents and students to understand how to reach these goals, the following websites may be of some use:

• Career Pilot https://www.careerpilot.org.uk
• National Careers Service https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk
• iCould https://icould.com

At Hodge Hill Girls' School, we are committed to ensuring that pupils have an excellent career and work-related education.

Thus, we as teachers must ensure:

• We have a careers board in each subject department, displaying the different skills gained, and which careers this could lead to.
• Develop links with various businesses/organisations.
• To invite visitors to come into school to talk to pupils about different career paths, helping to inspire students to the possibilities of their future career journeys (this can be arranged virtually).
• If possible, to arrange external visits to local businesses/organisations.
• Record careers learning opportunities for students (using compass plus).
• Take part in Careers week and share which career paths pupils could take based on their subject area.

 

Careers Ambassadors will be selected from each subject department, with regular meeting and inset sessions being delivered. This will help teachers to develop and implement the careers curriculum in their area.

Useful websites you could use with pupils include:

• Careers Box https://www.careersbox.co.uk 
• iCould https://icould.com
• Career Pilot https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/

Pupils at Hodge Hill Girls' School take part in Work Experience Week in the Summer Term in Year 10. Our partner company “Learn to Work” organise the work experience programme for Hodge Hill Girls' school pupils.

Pupils are prepared for work experience by learning about employability skills, body language, interview preparation (by having a 20 min interview with a real employer) etc. The school helps to aid this preparation by putting in place, workshops, assemblies, and face-to -face interviews.

Careers is an integrated part of the curriculum. All subject areas make reference to and discuss career opportunities specific to individual areas, as well as exploring the transferable enabling skills which each enables pupils to develop across all year groups. The PSHCE programme plays a key role in supporting the delivery of the Careers’ Strategy.

Pupils with SEND are further supported by staff in Learning Support; our school SENCo liaises with our Careers’ Leader, Careers adviser, Learn to Work staff and additional outside agencies for pupils as necessary.

Pupils are given a lengthy careers interview in which the careers adviser provides a career plan. Pupils can then use this in their next EHCP review. Pupils are kept an eye on and may be given another interview.

Pupils are given extra support when applying to post 16 places.

Pupils are given extra support when applying for work experience with the help of the Learn to Work team.

Please see the link below for some excellent resources to help support SEN pupils with Careers and Work related education.

https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/all-resources-all-one-place?filter=21&page=1

The Baker Clause mandates schools and colleges to give training providers the opportunity to talk to students of certain ages about technical qualifications and apprenticeships.

 

Hodge Hill Girls does a number of things in order to fulfil the agreement of the Baker Clause:

• Pupils learn about Apprenticeships and technical qualifications using the STEPs booklets in PSHCE lessons.
• Pupils learn about technical qualifications when they attend the world skills show at the NEC.
• Pupils have another opportunity during Aspirations Day, in which they may have events, talks, and workshops, regarding the above qualifications.
• During the Careers Convention, we typically invite a number of training providers offering qualifications, for pupils to discuss and learn about further.
• Pupils learn about the different careers in the NHS during the NHS careers competition, and pupils will learn about different careers and the pathways they can take to reach them.
• In February, pupils take part in National Apprenticeship week. This helps pupils be more aware of the Apprenticeships available out there and where to access them. Parent packs are sent to parents/carers informing providing more details of the opportunity available to their daughters.
• During National Careers week, pupils and parents will learn more about Apprenticeships and T levels. During COVID-19, we held a virtual evening dedicated to these qualifications to provide more details to parents.
• Pupils attend the Big Bang Fair and learn about the different pathways to enter different STEM related careers.
• More information about these qualifications during STEAM week