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Careers Programme

2 3532
Careers Lead

Mr Julien Lubo
Teacher of PE & Faculty Coordinator

Through a coherent and ambitious programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance, we support students to unlock their potential and achieve success both within the Academy and beyond. Our careers programme prepares students for the world of work by helping them understand a wide range of career pathways, labour market opportunities and the qualities valued by employers.

Our careers provision is designed to develop the whole student. We promote strong moral values, encourage genuine care for others in the community, and help students build the confidence to earn respect and establish trust. By working in partnership with external agencies, employers and members of our wider community, we tailor our careers programme to meet the needs of individual students and empower them to live out our motto: to learn, to think, to act.

Harris Academy Purley is currently working towards the Gatsby Benchmarks and World Class Schools Accreditation.

Through our careers education, we aim to instil the following qualities in all students: integrity, competence, teamwork, effectiveness, accountability and fairness.

Destinations

As one of the key indicators in the Ofsted Framework, the collation and effective evaluation of Destination data for all of our students is of paramount importance. Students are each given one-to-one interviews with our Careers Advisor to help ensure that they are fully equipped to make these important life choices and the data from these sessions is tracked, checked and support plans with added help are put in place to maintain high expectations for each individual’s future.

Higher Education opportunities sessions

Our Higher Education Opportunities sessions are designed to help students make their final decisions about which pathway they plan to follow and give them invaluable advice to successfully tackle what is largely considered to be one of the most difficult transitions in education.

These sessions are supported by our sixth form prefects who can answer questions and provide first-hand experience of this step of our GCSE students' education; what are they aiming for? We hope that they learnt a great deal from the sessions and now are able to intelligently reflect on their choices and if necessary make appropriate changes. 

Mock Interviews

Each year the Academy organises mock interview sessions for Year 11 and Sixth Form students. We invite representatives from external agencies and local business owners to come in and perform interviews with our students, giving them useful advice and feedback at the end of their interviews.

University STEM Career Days

1000045758Each year we take a group of students to UCL or Queen Mary's University London for their STEM Career Days. Our aim is to introduce students to new and exciting careers in STEM subjects, encompassing fields such as science, medicine, engineering and finance. The career days are a fantastic opportunity for our students to talk to representatives from each of those sectors, and to visit top universities before they begin their UCAS applications.

Working with visitors, external agencies and our community

As an academy at the heart of its community we endeavour to have everyone on board with this journey, from staff, students, parents/carers, local employers to further and higher education providers.

In line with the latest guidance in the Careers guidance and access for education and training providers published by the Department of Education and the Gatsby Benchmarks we welcome external organisations, employers, employees, Further Education providers, Higher Education providers and training providers to contribute towards our Careers Programme. 

Year 11 Harris Higher Education Programme Booklet.

This booklet, which is available from the Sixth Form, is part of a Year 11 to Year 13 programme of information about Higher Education. We hope that you will all find this information useful and that by reading the booklet, you and your family will find yourselves better prepared to make decisions about your future education and qualifications.  

For current employment and careers opportunities look on the Harris Careers Education website.

Our Career Curriculum

Year Group 

Career focus 

School character development 

Year 7 

Knowing yourself and understanding what a career is 

How ‘character’ develops 

Year 8 

The importance of career choices 

Key concepts of ‘character’ 

Year 9 

Choosing subject and researching careers 

Power of principles 

Year 10 

Exploring career options  

Core qualities of principle leaders 

Year 11 

Building skills 

Integrating vision and values 

Year 12 

Making plans 

Restoration after character failure 

Year 13 

Taking next steps 

Character development 

UCAS logo

 

 

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service is used by students looking to access higher education, such as universities or colleges. In Year 12 and Year 13, students will focus on their UCAS applications, which includes writing a personal statement.

The Harris Sixth Form have produced a presentation that helps students get the best out of the UCAS system.

The majority of our students decide to continue their educational journey at university. Every year several of our students attend some of the top universities in the country with many accepting offers at Russell Group universities as well as Oxford and Cambridge.

UniFrog

UnifrogLogoUnifrog helps students to compare university courses, apprenticeships, and further education courses - and then apply succesfully.

We provide access to the platform for all students from Years 7. Each pupil will be sent a welcome email, which allows them to create an account and begin using the platform straight away.

We strongly suggest students explore pathways through the personality quizzes, career and subject profiles, MOOCs (online courses) and webinars. Explore what subjects you would be interested in studying and how these choices can lead to different career paths and higher education.

Labour Market Information

When considering future career options it is important to have a good understanding of the employment prospects within that industry, for example, is it a growing or declining sector?

Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation. Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.

Monitoring, evaluation and review

Monitoring the development of CEAIG across the Academy is the responsibility of the Academy Leadership Team and will be co-ordinated by the Careers Lead. The Careers Education and Guidance Improvement Plan will be developed and updated on an annual basis and will drive the work of CEAIG in any one particular year. The current CEAIG Improvement Plan is available from the Careers Lead. The teacher in charge of careers will be accountable for the effective delivery and progress made in steering through the Improvement Plans and ensuring that the vision for CEAIG at the Academy is achieved. Feedback on the quality of CEAIG provision will be gathered from a variety of stakeholders including: students, employers and PSHE tutors. Under the terms of our Careers service Partnership Agreement we will also evaluate the success of the activities that were initiated through the Agreement and feed the evaluation into the next year’s Partnership Agreement.

Careers Event Feedback Survey

Give feedback as a student

Give feedback as a parent or carer

Careers Programme Feedback Survey

Give feedback as a student

Give feedback as a parent or carer
Sixth Form Careers Advice

Given that one of the aims of the Sixth Form provision is to prepare our students for what follows after their secondary educational experience, careers advice and guidance are an integral part of our offer.

In order to prepare students for professional life and the world of work, students will have access a wide range of opportunities.

  • Careers advice is high-quality, up-to-date and locally relevant. Subjects provide opportunities for good quality, meaningful encounters with the world of work.
  • Students are provided with regular and meaningful links with higher education and professions.
  • A complementary programme of masterclasses and lectures from the world of work and industry is delivered throughout the academic year.
  • The enrichment programme and co-curricular opportunities offer breadth and depth and allow students to engage with experiences beyond their usual interests.
  • Alongside the established careers programme, there are regular opportunities to meet the Federation Careers Advisor.
  • Financial health and financial planning sessions are delivered in order to prepare students for independent living.

Useful Websites

Careers Advice and Guidance
  • Croydon.gov.uk webpage for 16+ education, training and job support
  • Gatsby Good Career Guidance is a report on improving career guidance in secondary schools which includes the Gatsby Benchmarks. 
  • The Careers & Enterprise Company brokers links between employers, schools and colleges in order to ensure that young people aged 12-18 get the inspiration and guidance they need for success in working life. Careers & Enterprise Company: Schools and Colleges connects schools to businesses, volunteers and careers activity programmes.
  • The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to help people make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential and impartial advice. This is supported by qualified careers advisers. 
  • Baker Dearing Educational Trust gives information on University Technical Colleges. 
  • The Career Development Institute is the single UK-wide professional body for everyone working in the fields of careers education, career information, advice and guidance, career coaching, career consultancy and career management. It offers affiliate and individual membership to schools which includes free CPD webinars, regular digital newsletters, a quarterly magazine, online networking groups and training at a preferential rate. 
  • The Quality in Careers Standard is in the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance. 
  • Gov.UK's Find an Apprenticeship to search and apply for an apprenticeship in England. 
  • LMI for All is an online data portal, which connects and standardises existing sources of high quality, reliable labour market information (LMI) with the aim of informing careers decisions. This data is made freely available via an Application Programming Interface (API) for use in websites and applications. 
  • STEM Ambassadors is a nationwide network of over 30,000 volunteers from a wide range of employers, who engage with young people to provide stimulating and inspirational informal learning activities in both school and non-school settings 
  • The Sutton Trust run a range of programmes for students aged 11-16 through our university partners across the UK. Have a look at what we’ve got on offer today.
  • UniTasterDays provides a fantastic opportunity for students to regularly experience a wide variety of university courses and gain an insight into university life and career opportunities.
  • UniStats is the official website for comparing UK higher education undergraduate course data. Thewebsite includes information on university and college courses, Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) ratings, student satisfaction scores from the National Student Survey, employment outcomes and salaries after study and other key information for prospective students. 
  • Your Daughter's Future is a career toolkit for parents from gov.uk
Career Exploration
  • BBC Bitesize Careers lets you hear from people who found the right career path for them.
  • Career Pilot allows you to explore careers, complete quizzes, and make plans for your future
  • Career Map provides a free and very informative magazine called Careermag which is aimed at parents and provides a wealth of information about the labour market, prospective salaries and career pathways.
  • The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance on learning, training, career choice, career development, job search, and the labour market. It can be accessed online, by telephone, and face to face (for people aged 19 and over). 
  • Prospects looks at different job profiles. You can search by sector or by job title.
Pathways and Next Steps
Career Experiences
  • Do it is a website for volunteer positions in a range of industries.
  • Springpod offer free virtual work experience from top employers, as well as degree taster sessions.
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