Careers

Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance makes a major contribution towards preparing young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. In order to help them make a successful transition into a well-matched place of work all young people need a planned programme of activities to help them make informed decisions.

Preston school are fully committed to providing a rigorous and stable CEIAG programme and as such utilise the statutory Careers Guidance and Access for Education and Training Providers (2018) framework as a minimum starting point for our careers-based provision rather than the limit of our potential. We work hard to ensure that we meet each element of the Gatsby Benchmarks and review the impact of our careers programme on an annual basis.

The Careers information on this page is next due for review on: 1st September 2024

Why do we provide careers advice?

Independent and impartial careers advice is vital in schools, as well as a legal requirement.  It helps students develop the skills and their ability to make appropriate career decisions, allowing them to progress beyond school and into education and the world of work.

How do we deliver careers at Preston School?

Our careers offer is delivered in a variety of ways, which we review and adapt each year. These events include:

• Specific activities and events e.g. Careers Fair
• 1:1 Interviews
• Group work
• Curriculum and PHSE Lessons

How do we know if it works?

As a successful provider of a stable careers programme, we regularly look to evaluate and review our offering, making improvements where necessary. This process of feedback and improvement is driven through the fortnightly meeting of our Careers team, who regularly look at recent events on the careers calendar to ensure their continued high quality. Students undertaking elements from our careers programme are asked to fill in evaluative surveys, either on paper or online, as well as their parents when possible. We also ask parents and teaching staff to complete an annual evaluation of the careers programme on offer, as well as asking employers when relevant. The data from these are reviewed and used to provide alternative provision if the offering was not felt to be up to standard. Students undertaking elements from our careers programme are asked to fill in evaluative surveys online including The Future Skills questionnaire. We also regularly request feedback from parents.

If you would like to provide feedback on any aspect of our careers programme, please contact Tim Kendall on tim.kendall@prestonschool.co.uk

Our Careers Advisors

We pride ourselves on offering all students specialist independent and impartial careers advice and guidance through our dedicated Careers Advisor, Nina Allen. Throughout Years 10 and 11 all students will meet with a careers advisor for a 1:1 interview and be provided with any guidance that they may need to help them make the best choices for their future.

Advice interviews are also available on request for students in the younger years.

Families are welcome to attend these interviews. To arrange this, please contact Nina Allen on nina.allen@prestonschool.co.uk

Our Careers Policy

Our most recent Careers Policy, updated bi-annually and overseen by our link Governor, outlines the backbone of our careers programme, student entitlement and our commitments. It is available to view here.

Our Careers Programme

At Preston, we are committed to providing a detailed, varied and employment focused careers programme, which fully meets each of the Gatsby Benchmarks. As part of this commitment, our Careers Programme, is available here.

Our Provider Access Statement (Baker Clause and PAL)

Introduced in 2017, the Baker Clause stipulates that schools must allow colleges and training providers access to every student in years 8- 13 to discuss non-academic routes that are available to them. Preston School are fully committed to meeting the Baker Clause for each our students, as outlined in our Provider Access Statement.

As outlined within our Careers Policy, Preston are committed to providing students with access to employers, training providers and further educational establishments. If you are looking to undertake an assembly, specific class event or to get involved in our enterprise days, please do not hesitate to get in touch. 

The updated Provider Access Legislation came into effect in January 2023.The updated legislation specifies schools must provide at least six encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education for all their students:  

• Two encounters for pupils during the ‘first key phase’ (Year 8 or 9) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend 
• Two encounters for pupils during the ‘second key phase’ (Year 10 or 11) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend 

We meet the Provider Access Legislation through our extensive Careers Programme. We provide our Provider Access Legislation as a separate document here. 

Careers Information for Students and Families 

Please log into the Student or Family Portal and visit the careers section for a full range of upcoming events, opportunities and a comprehensive suite of careers resources. These resources provide support with planning Post 16 destinations, helping with careers decisions, labour market information, sixth forms and how to choose your subjects, colleges, T Levels, university information, how to apply for apprenticeships and traineeships. 

A couple of the weblinks are also below:

 

The Parents Guide - What's Next 2023-2024

 

Routes after Year 11 - Guide for Parents

Careers Information for Employers and Training Providers

At Preston School we are busy growing your employees of the future. We welcome the help of local businesses to raise the career aspirations of our students, develop their employability skills and learn more about the exciting industries in Somerset. We welcome Training Providers and employers to come into school and talk to our students. Please see our Provider Access Policy / Baker Clause for events and contact details.

Employers and Training Providers can help our students by:

• Book to attend our Careers Fair which we run each summer
• Give a short careers talk about your company, apprenticeship scheme, your role and career path and answer students’ questions.
• Providing Work Experience to our students. Year 10s complete a five-day placement in July which they start arranging from October. We currently work with 215 businesses and always welcome more.
• We aim where possible to bring the careers and workplace application into curriculum lessons. We welcome links with employers who can contribute to a specific subject department by either allowing students to visit their company on a school trip, or come into school to deliver an aspect of subject curriculum to a class.
• If you have an apprenticeship you wish to fill please email details to our Careers Leader and this will be forwarded to the students who are planning the workplace and looking for that type of employment

If you are able to assist or would like to find out more information about the work of our Careers department, please email our Tim Kendall using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

Careers in the Curriculum

Our PSHE, Careers and dedicated Enterprise Curriculum ensures that the key skills and essential knowledge we have identified permeate our curriculum from Years 7 to 11, allowing our pupils to make links in their learning as well as develop the ability to think more deeply about what they are learning. In this respect, pupils’ learning is meaningful and purposeful, and designed in a range of contexts, which offer breadth and variety to their learning.

All teachers include careers into their lessons and develop student’s employability skills. Staff have access to a wide range of resources on the school Intranet to showcase careers in their subject lessons. Teachers are encouraged to implement the below into the curriculum:

• Have a prominent display that links subject learning and skill development to different careers
• Develop links with businesses and organisations
• To invite alumni and other external speakers to come into school (virtually where an actual visit is not feasible)
• Where appropriate to organise external visits for students to local businesses/organisations
• Record careers learning opportunities for students in schemes of learning
• Take part in whole school ‘Careers Days’ where all teachers start their lesson with a careers focus, such as talking about their career pathway or showing a short film where people in a range of job roles explain the relevance of skills developed in a particular subject area to their role. 
• Explore the possibility of developing real projects/challenges for students with a local business or organisation 
• Consider the needs and interests of all students and ensure that information challenges career stereotyping including gender, race and disability

Our Partners

We are committed to working with a wide range of organisations to support the delivery of our career’s provision in the most effective way possible. You can find below details of the key links that we utilise for students during each academic year:

Next Steps South West

Next Steps South West (NSSW) is a partnership of 14 local universities and colleges throughout Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, funded by the Office for Students (OfS) Uni Connect programme. We help young people navigate their way to higher education, including Higher and Degree apprenticeships.

We aim to inspire students aged 13-19 years old to fulfil their potential. We believe every student should have fair access to impartial information on study routes and career paths, in order to make an informed decision about their future.

For more information click here.

Careers and Enterprise Company

The Careers and Enterprise Company exists to facilitate a world-class careers education, inspiring and preparing young people for the world of work.

Every young person deserves the best possible start to their working life; to choose their path, fulfil their potential and contribute to a thriving economy. Over recent years, The Careers and Enterprise Company has established the foundations of a new approach to long-standing issues affecting the quality and availability of careers education for young people across England. Their work began with a transformative employer-led programme to connect business with education. Today, they support schools and colleges to deliver world-class careers education, responsive to individual pupil needs and underpinned by the internationally recognised Gatsby Career Benchmarks.

We have learnt that well-resourced, nationally coordinated, and locally tailored provision, with active employer involvement, unlocks opportunity for young people.

To find out more, please visit; https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk

Somerset Careers Hub

Somerset Careers Hub, was established in collaboration with The Careers and Enterprise Company to help transform careers education for young people across Somerset.  We support driving forward the connection between careers education and the business sector.  As well as working with employers, we link with training providers, FE colleges, universities and career professionals to help to deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks and to ensure young people are able to identify their best next step.

To find out more, please visit; Somerset Careers Hub

Enterprise Advisor Network

Preston School has the benefit of a business volunteer who works with us on a strategic level, encouraging the development of our careers programme providing support and insight into the business community. Our Enterprise Advisor is; Charles Summers – HR Consultant, previously Director of HR - NHS

To find out more about Enterprise Advisors, please visit; https://enterpriseadviser.careersandenterprise.co.uk/

Looking to become a partner?

Are you a local employer looking to engage with young people? A higher education provider looking to provide our students with information or an organisation looking to undertake outreach work? If so, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Tim Kendall by emailing: tim.kendall@prestonschool.co.uk 

Destinations Data - September 2022

We are exceptionally proud to have 97.10% (Verified by DoE ) of students from Preston moving into further education, apprenticeships or training in September 20212, the 3rd best performing school in the county for destination data  

Students have progressed on to a wide range of different full time education provision across the South West including; Yeovil College, Strode College Bridgwater College, Weymouth College, KIngston Maurward College, Exeter College, Exeter Mathematics School, Gryphon Sixth Form, Huish Sixth, Sexey's and The SPACE.

The number of students entering the world of work as Apprentices has nearly doubled from last year, with students securing opportunities at: Leonardo, Honeywell, SSE Electrical, Progress Gym, British Racing School, Thales, Westerley BMW and Yeovil District Hospital to name a few.

The breakdown of this is:

• Further Education (College) – 158
• Further Education (Sixth Form) – 21
• Specialist bespoke education provision - 2
• Apprenticeships – 18
• Employment with Training – 1
• NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) Due to illness - 2

Destinations Data – September 2021

We are exceptionally proud to have 99.5% of students from Preston moving into further education or training in September 2021, the highest mainstream value in Somerset. The breakdown of this is:

• Further Education (College) – 148
• Further Education (Sixth Form) – 30
• Apprenticeships – 10
• Traineeships – 2
• Employment with Training – 1

Destinations Data – September 2020

We are proud of our destinations data with no students listed as not in education or further training from our 2020 cohort of students.

In 2020, our students progressed onto the following destinations:

• Further Education (College) – 169
• Further Education (Sixth Form) – 15
• Apprenticeships – 7
• Traineeships – 2
• Employment with Training – 1

Leadership of Careers

As outlined by the Gatsby Benchmarks, Preston are committed to providing a stable career programmed with a named Senior Leadership Team link. At present, the Careers team are made up of:

Tim Kendall – Senior Leadership Team Careers Lead
Email: tim.kendall@prestonschool.co.uk
Telephone: 01935 471131

Nina Allen – Careers Advisor
Email: nina.allen@prestonschool.co.uk

Mandy Noone – PSFA & Pupil Premium Support Officer
Email: mandy.noone@prestonschool.co.uk