Our school offers a dynamic and advanced Careers Programme which encompasses the whole school from Year 7 right up to Year 11. We don’t believe in leaving crucial careers decisions to the last minute. At QE we know that students who are interested in their futures and have early aspirations are well-motivated to reach their goals and generally perform better in class. It’s a win-win situation.

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The careers programme at Queen Elizabeth High School aims to deliver the eight Gatsby benchmarks which form the basis of the Government’s strategy to improve careers education nationally and now form part of OFSTED’s school inspection process.

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

  • Every Student and their 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 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 careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These 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.

Our careers team

Mrs L Stevens- Careers Advisor LStevens@tcat.school

Mrs M Watkiss- Assistant Headteacher mwatkiss@tcat.school

Contactable on telephone number 01885 482230

 

Year 7

  • Careers is discussed in PSHE with introductions to online resources such as “I Could”, including the Buzz Quiz.
  • Links throughout subjects with subject teachers highlighting specific links to careers in subjects.
  • Access to the Careers Library and online resources.

Year 8

  • Careers is discussed in PSHE including knowledge and skills introduced and the importance of career development. 
  • Links throughout subjects with subject teachers highlighting specific links to careers in subjects.
  • Access to the Careers Library and online resources.

Year 9

  • PSHE lessons to help pupils understand the importance of their career development and options.
  • Options evening – with information on options for KS4.
  • Access to the Careers Library and online resources including the National Careers Service, Career Pilot and icould.com
  • Subject teachers use real-life contexts and examples from the world of work to make their subject relatable and relevant to life. All teachers emphasise the importance of English and maths and science teachers highlight the relevance of STEM subjects.
  • A Careers Interview for each student with Mr Hughes the Careers Adviser.
  • Targeted interviews for PP and LAC students.
  • Inform and explore options post 16.
  • Develop career decision-making skills, including the need for accurate and relevant information and the need for contingency plans.
  • Careers evening – In February, the school holds a Careers Event, which brings employers, local and national, training providers and Colleges in to the school hall and allows students and parents/ guardians to discuss all the options directly with the experts. Not only is this a really useful opportunity for the student to check their plans, but it keeps parents involved and informed of the next steps.

Year 10

 

  • Options evening – with information on options for KS4.
  • Access to the Careers Library and online resources including the National Careers Service and Career Pilot.
  • Subject teachers use real-life contexts and examples from the world of work to make their subject relatable and relevant to life. All teachers emphasise the importance of English and maths and science teachers highlight the relevance of STEM subjects.
  • A Careers Interview for each student with Mr Hughes the Careers Adviser.
  • Targeted interviews for PP and LAC students.
  • Inform and explore options post 16.
  • Develop career decision-making skills, including the need for accurate and relevant information and the need for contingency plans.
  • Careers evening- In February, the school holds a Careers Event, which brings employers, local and national, training providers and Colleges in to the school hall and allows students and parents/ guardians to discuss all the options directly with the experts. Not only is this a really useful opportunity for the student to check their plans, but it keeps parents involved and informed of the next steps
  • Careers assemblies and PSHE lessons to help students with CV writing, letter writing and applying for work experience.
  • Work experience- All Year 10 students go on a week of Work Experience, this gives everyone the chance to explore the world of work at first hand and is a great help in finding out whether a particular career would suit or not
  • Mock job interviews- To prepare our students even further, we also run a series of mock job and college interviews with the help of local businesses, employers and colleges. This really helps to show our students what is expected of them in ‘real life’ interview situations, and shows then what employers and colleges are looking for in terms of social and presentation skills.
  • Access to the National Career Service, Labour Market with local information.
  • National Careers Intervention- NEC in March
  • Three Colleges Visit Day- Hereford Sixth Form College, Hereford and Ludlow College and Hereford College of Arts. Students can choose from a range of subject courses and assess which venue they would prefer.
  • Three Colleges Taster Day for Students on vocational courses such as Child care, Automotive studies and Construction with opportunities with local employers within the classroom and formal placements as part of their course.

Year 11

 

  • Options evening – with information on options for KS4.
  • Access to the Careers Library and online resources including the National Careers Service, Career Pilot.
  • Subject teachers use real-life contexts and examples from the world of work to make their subject relatable and relevant to life. All teachers emphasise the importance of English and maths and science teachers highlight the relevance of STEM subjects.
  • A Careers Interview for each student with Mr Hughes the Careers Adviser. In Year 11, every student will have at least one face to face interview with Mr Hughes in which they can explore their career options, hopes and aspirations. This will lead to a short-term and long-term plan. The short-term plan will include researching college and/or apprenticeship options, finding out about open days and , eventually completing applications. This will normally involve having more than one option – applications can be made to as many colleges as are relevant: students can then decide where to go when their results have arrived and they have had more time to finally decide.
  • Targeted interviews for PP and LAC students.
  • Inform and explore options post 16.
  • Develop career decision-making skills, including the need for accurate and relevant information and the need for contingency plans.
  • Careers evening- In February, the school holds a Careers Event, which brings employers, local and national, training providers and Colleges in to the school hall and allows students and parents/ guardians to discuss all the options directly with the experts. Not only is this a really useful opportunity for the student to check their plans, but it keeps parents involved and informed of the next steps.
  • Careers assemblies and PSHE lessons to help students with CV writing, letter writing and applying for college.
  • Mock job interviews.
  • Sixth form interviews.
  • Introduction to A Level choices including access to UCAS.com, ac.uk , and also apprenticeships via apprenticeships.gov.uk
  • Taster day at Hereford Sixth Form. In January, Year 11s also have a taster visit to Hereford Sixth Form College, which enables them to check on 3 subjects they are considering – they visit the relevant class rooms and are presented with outlines of the courses by the College Tutors. The long-term plan will include looking at University, Apprenticeship or Training programmes. Often, these will affect the short-term plan, but at this stage, it is important to keep these options open. Mr Hughes is available to consult Year 11 students throughout the whole application process.
  • Access to the National Career Service, Labour Market with local information.
  • Visit to the National Careers Intervention- NEC in March.
  • Access to Informed choices, I cloud and career pilot.

Getting Information and Inspiration From Real People

At QE we encourage outside speakers to come into school and tell our students about their own businesses and professional careers. This gives students the chance to meet employers and business from both the local area and further afield. Students get the chance to ask questions and find out what it’s really like to work as a dog groomer, run your own catering business, or be a financial advisor – just to name a few examples.

Where Next ?

The majority of students will be looking to progress from QE to one of the excellent local colleges.

Hereford Sixth Form College: www.hereford.ac.uk  e-mail: sixth-form@hereford.ac.uk

Worcester Sixth form College: www.wsfc.ac.uk  e-mail: enquiries@wsfc.ac.uk

Hereford College of Arts: http://www.hca.ac.uk/  e-mail: enquiries@hca.ac.uk

Hartpury College: www.hartpury.ac.uk  e-mail: enquire@hartpury.ac.uk

Hereford Cathedral School: http://www.herefordcs.com/  e-mail: schoolsec@herefordcs.com

Hereford and Ludlow College: www.hlcollege.ac.uk  e-mail: enquiries@hlcollege.ac.uk

Heart of Worcester College: http://www.howcollege.ac.uk/  e-mail: info@howcollege.ac.uk

Walford and North Shropshire College: www.ncs.ac.uk  e-mail: info@ncs.ac.uk

Hereford and Ludlow College, Heart of Worcester College, Hartpury College and Walford and North Shropshire College are also excellent at providing links and progressions on to Apprenticeship programmes. Mr. Hughes is happy to discuss these as well.

Apprenticeships

Those interested in the apprenticeship route are also encouraged to explore these options :

Hereford and Worcester Group Training Association: http://www.hwgta.org/  e-mail: info@hgta.org

Riverside Training: www.riverside-training.co.uk  e-mail: info@riverside-training.co.uk

Nova Training: www.novatraining.co.uk  e-mail: suehobson@novatraining.co.uk

There are also visits from various employment sectors, colleges, universities and services arranged each year – these will be added throughout the year.

At the start of each Academic Year, the Open days of all the relevant colleges and schools will be circulated by the Careers Department. Students and parents/ guardians are encouraged to attend these.

National careers service

The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential and impartial advice. This is supported by qualified careers advisers.

Click here to find out more about The National Careers Service

Excellent Careers Package

To sum up, at QE we truly believe we offer a bespoke, up to date and wide ranging careers package for our students – supporting them every step of the way to have aspirations and to be totally prepared for the world of work and study once they leave us.