Careers Guidance / Work Experience
It is a statutory right of all students to be provided with clear, unbiased careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG).
Careers guidance begins in Year 7 through the PSHE, Enterprise programmes, and group work We aim to provide all students with the skills which will enable them to succeed at school and post De La Salle.
Every member of staff in the school has a valuable contribution to the careers guidance to their students. This is reflected in the diversity of the staff and the discussions that students have. CEIAG has a cross-curriculum approach within the school with particular emphasis in Business in KS4 but all curriculum areas are expected to promote how their subject area will be useful for students seeking employment in later years.
Students from all years participate in a range of extra-curricular events. These range from enterprise, citizenship, financial capability, and employability activities that allow students to develop their teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills. Local business guests take part in some of these days and provide commercial input that will stimulate our student’s enterprise skills. These range from mock job interviews, job scenario tasks, presentations and workshops.
All students in KS4 are closely monitored to ensure that they have their destinations mapped out and have the opportunity to engage in individual sessions with our external careers advisor Ami Sewell from Southend Connexions. Students start their IAG with class and small group sessions in KS3. Connexions provide students with the opportunity to research possible routes post De La Salle signposting them to literature and appropriate websites.
Students are continually signposted to opportunities that are held each year in the surrounding area and online which helps further their aspirations post-16. These include college and school presentations, open evenings, and motivational and skill webinars.
Students log their IAG participation and progress through the Unifrog platform. Through Unifrog students are able to research different areas of interest and future possible destinations. Unifrog enables us to evaluate students' experiences and subsequently to tailor the programme to the needs of students.
Students are encouraged to seek work experience placements during their holidays and the school seeks to support them with national providers such as ‘Investin’, ‘Speakers for Schools’ and NCS and making initial introductions where possible.
The school's careers leader is Mrs H Butler who can be contacted through the school office or by email: hbutler@dlsbasildon.org
Intent:
In the De La Salle careers programme, we intend that all students receive non-biased careers advice from our Connexions Advisor and experience a range of opportunities, through Make Happen & the University of Essex projects, these develop their knowledge and understanding of their future career paths.
Impact:
The impact of the Careers programme at De La Salle school is measured by the NEET figures (the latest figures have been impacted by the pandemic) and students' progression onto Higher Education. The monitoring of the careers programme is evaluated through student voice and measured by the Gatsby Benchmarks.