Our vision for careers and employability
At Bluecoat Beechdale Academy our careers and employability vision is to ensure all students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes which enable them to make aspirational, realistic and informed choices about their futures and that prepare them fully for further study and the world of work.
The Objectives
The careers and employability strategy will:
- Aid social mobility by providing the careers and employability skills, knowledge, experience, advice and guidance that students require.
- Ensure that every child develops the knowledge and skills required to succeed in the most aspirational pathway for them.
- Inspire students in order to raise academic achievement.
- Provide students with knowledge of all futures pathways and apprenticeships.
- Equip students with, and provide evidence of, the skills needed to succeed in their future pathways and prepare students for jobs that may not yet exist.
- Provide all students with experiences of employers and workplaces.
- Allow students multiple opportunities to engage with further and higher education providers.
- Provide students with knowledge of the local labour market and opportunities within growth sectors.
- Deliver a curriculum that offers appropriate qualifications which prepare students for further study and employment.
- Embed work related learning within subject areas.
- Ensure students have quality advice and guidance at key points of transition.
Strategic Lead for Careers and Employability
Mr A Freestone (Assistant Principal)
Email: afreestone@bluecoatbeechdale.uk.com
Employability Skills
At Bluecoat Beechdale Academy we are committed to developing the top ten employability skills.
Careers Fair/ Careers Providers
Following on from our trust’s highly successful careers fair the link below will take you to a summary of all the providers who were present on the day and a description of the courses and careers on offer. There are also further links here that will take you to more specific information about each provider.
Labour Market Information
Where are most jobs in the EAST Midlands now?
Answer
Wholesale and Retail
Health and Social Care
Manufacturing
Education
Administration
Where will there be an increase in jobs in the East Midlands?
Answer
Construction
Wholesale and retail
Health and Social Care
Transport and Storage
Science and Technology
Manufacturing
Use the widget below to be used to explore and compare key information about occupations help of 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.
Into University
Into University Programme – This is designed to raise the aspirations students and includes visits to universities and career focused sessions. There are also visits to workplaces and in the past few years these have included – East Midlands Airport, Capital One, Inland Revenue and Siemens.
University residential’s – students in year 10 have the opportunity to spend a week at Exeter University to complete project work and experience the University environment.
Scholar’s scheme – The Brilliant Club gives high achieving students the opportunity to work with a top university lecturer to complete a module at university level – the launch event takes place at Cambridge University.
Mosaic Program – Organised and delivered by the Prince’s Trust students are mentored by business leaders and receive presentations from inspirational speakers to help raise their confidence, self-efficacy and future employability.
The Boots/Dove self-esteem program – Students identify an area where they believe that children struggle with self-esteem and then design a campaign to address this.
Nottingham City Homes – NCH provide opportunities for our students to use their training facilities as well as work experience placements.
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) – Students get the opportunity to work with the RSC to put on a production at our academy.
STEM festival – All students from across the trust and their families get the opportunity to attend our STEM festival.
National Apprenticeship Week – during this week all students have an assembly delivered by representatives from NCH to outline what an apprenticeship is and how they can access this. There are also opportunities for students to visit workplaces to gain a better understanding of apprenticeships and meet those already engaged in one.
National Careers Week – during this week all students receive careers based lessons delivered in PSHE and in all curriculum areas organised by our careers subject leaders.
All year 10 students attend our annual careers fair which has a range of stands from educators and employers. All year 10 students also participate in a week of work experience.
At the year 11 progress evening further education providers are present to give advice and outline the courses that they offer.
Further resources and advice
Below is a list of careers websites with descriptions of how you may find them useful.
National Careers & Apprenticeship Services
nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk – This is the Government’s hub for careers advice for people of all ages where you can find help with drafting letters, CVs, exploring your skills or seeking careers advice.
https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships
– The National Apprenticeship Service website provides general advice and information about apprenticeships. It also advertises current vacancies.
Other websites
– This website aims to help you to make the most of your potential by showing how others have used theirs, take the ‘Buzz’ personality profile quiz.
– Investigate careers, watch videos and get great advice, find out about employers and work experience opportunities in your area.
– This provides video based job profile information and a skills explorer tool.
– This website gives clear and comprehensive information about a range of Career Zones (sectors), in an easy to access format. You can create a profile to help to collate useful information. ’60 second interviews’ giving profiles of professionals, provide a useful insight into specific careers.
– This is an interactive careers website which provides a ‘careers matching’ programme to help with career choice (log in for a free guest pass).
– Look at this website for opportunities that exist outside of university.
– Explore this website to find out information about university courses on offer and also the Stamford test to help with ideas about subjects to study.
– This website represents 24 leading universities and is a source of careers information & advice including ‘informed choices’, a downloadable guide to making post 16 choices.
– Find out which areas you could access after a particular degree.
www.MyCareerSpringboard.org.uk
– Springboard is for students. It is divided into two main sections: the Career Test and the Career Exploration Tool. These two interactive tools allow students to find some career inspiration and gain an insight into their different career options.
– This site has useful videos, demonstrating how to complete the 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 this site.
www.jobs.telegraph.co.uk/careers
– Lots of information about specific sectors as well as advice on how to create a CV and prepare for interviews.
www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk
– This website displays current apprenticeship and school leaver programme opportunities, to the latest school leaver job news, and gives career journey advice.
www.allAboutApprenticeships.co.uk
– This website gives live apprenticeship vacancies, organised by sector or area. It also gives plenty of advice on making applications.
Unifrog
All students in Y7-Y11 use the online careers website Unifrog as part of their career and employability journey at Bluecoat Beechdale Academy. They can access this, including their own personal area, from in school or at home.
Unifrog is a careers website with a comprehensive range of resources for all ages. It is easy to use and students have their own login which means that they can upload and save resources on to the site which can be accessed from anywhere.
Use the link below to search for apprenticeships
https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch
What is an apprenticeship?
Get paid to discover your passion! You can become anything you want!
An Apprenticeship is a job which allows you to earn while you learn. You receive a wage and study alongside each other, which eventually leads to qualifications and progression within your chosen industry.
With an Apprenticeship you will:
– Work alongside experienced staff
– Gain job-specific skills
– Earn a wage and get holiday pay
– Be given time for study related to their role (the equivalent of one day a week)