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Careers

We have a dedicated team of staff at Little Heath School that work together to provide a varied, outstanding programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance activities for all year groups.

Eileen Wooller

 

Rebecca Whitford

 

Emma Dollymore

 

Stephen Young

 

Sara Parris

 

Our dedicated Careers Leader, Mrs Wooller, is based in the Careers Office (Business Studies block, daily between 8am-4pm). She can be contacted via email at ewooller@littleheath.org.uk or by phoning 0118 9427337.

She is available to help and support students and staff, to advise how and where to look for essential information and to provide prospectuses for local colleges, universities and apprenticeships. On Thursday she is based in the Sixth Form library. Careers information and opportunities are communicated weekly via the Careers Bulletin, and daily via targeted In Touch messaging directly to parents, internal digital signage, the school Facebook page, posters and tutors.  Designated areas are available in both the main school and Sixth Form libraries for a wide variety of Careers resources.

Our aim is to provide an outstanding programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance activities that satisfies national requirements and provides guidance which enables us to address the career development needs of all our students. We welcome the opportunity to audit our current delivery against the Gatsby Benchmarks in order to assess, review and improve our current Careers Education programme.

Gatsby Benchmarks

The Charitable foundation, Gatsby, commissioned Sir John Holman to examine what could be done to improve career guidance in England’s secondary schools. After international research judgements were made on what “good” careers guidance looked like.  These judgements are in the form of eight benchmarks, identifying different dimensions of good career guidance. The benchmarks are summarised in the table below. These benchmarks underpin and run through the careers programme at Little Heath School.

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 pupils, parents, teachers, governors and employers.
2 Learning from career and labour market information Every pupil, 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 best use of available information.
3 Addressing the needs of each pupil Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.
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 future career paths.
5 Encounters with employers and employees Every pupil 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.
6 Experiences of workplaces Every pupil should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.
7 Encounters with further and higher education All pupils 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
8 Personal guidance Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a career 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 pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs.

Source: Good Career Guidance (2014), Sir John Holman

www.gatsby.org.uk/GoodCareerGuidance

Careers support at LHS

 

Careers Education is delivered through exciting and varied events, tutor time activities and the mentor programme, as well as through timetabled PSHE lessons in Years 7 – 10. We run a number of activities with outside organisations and local companies, giving students a first-hand experience and often a hands on, interactive, fun careers sessions. Our Year 12 students are also given the opportunity to take part in a week of work experience.

We circulate a weekly careers bulletin which advertises local opportunities available to our students.

Here is an overview of careers activities and events by year group. For a more detailed summary of our careers programme, please click here. The programme is reviewed annually, and the next review date is July 2024.

Further information about upcoming careers activities are included in the weekly careers bulletin. If you require more details about any of the activities listed, please contact Mrs Wooller directly via email at ewooller@littleheath.org.uk or by phoning 0118 9427337. Students can visit Mrs Wooller in the Careers Office (Business block) or in the Sixth Form Library on a Thursday.

YEAR 7

Introduction to Careers Team and where to access resources

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

Recycling Technologies Assembly

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

Reading University presentation

Speaker programme

PSHE – tailored lessons introducing personal skills and matching them to skills required by employers

YEAR 8

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

What’s my line of work? – drop down day

Mini Medical Work shop

GCSE Options workshops

GCSE Options -Parents Information Evening supported by our Careers Coach, Emma Dollymore

AWE STEM Challenges

Girls in High Technology Industries Workshop

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

Reading University Presentation

Speaker programme

PSHE tailored lessons- supporting the options process

YEAR 9

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

STEM Workshop - drop down day

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

Reading University Presentation

Speaker programme

'All About Me' skills workshop drop down day

PSHE tailored lessons- guiding students to research different career and education pathways

YEAR 10

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

Post 16 Options Workshops

Apprenticeship Mini Fair

KAPE –Army workshop

CV Workshops

Speaker programme

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

Reading University Presentation

Financial awareness workshop

YEAR 11

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

Apprenticeship Mini Fair

KAPE –Army workshop

Mock Interviews

CV & Application lunchtime clinics

Post 16 options - speed date with Y12

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

Speaker programme

Healthy Relationships Fair

YEAR 12

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

Apprenticeship Mini Fair

KAPE –Army workshop

Mock Interviews on request

UCAS Presentation by the University of Surrey

Personal Statement clinics with various universities

Russell Group information evening

Finance Presentation

Degree & Higher Apprenticeships presentation

STEM Symposiums

Bank of England Workshop

Stock Market Challenge

STEM spotlight with AWE

CV & Application clinics

Financial awareness workshop

Healthy Relationships Fair

Speaker programme

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

YEAR 13

National Apprenticeship Week Assembly and tutor time activities

National Careers Week Assembly and tutor time activities

Apprenticeship Mini Fair

KAPE –Army workshop

Mock Interviews on request

Personal Statement clinics

Degree & Higher Apprenticeships presentation

STEM Symposiums

Bank of England Workshop

Stock Market Challenge

CV & Application clinics

Healthy Relationships Fair

Speaker programme

Biannual Careers & HE Fair

View our online gallery here for an insight into some of the exciting opportunities offered to our students over recent years.

Post 16 and Post 18 Options

The documents below can help you with the options that are available to students at Little Heath School Post 16 years old and Post 18 years old:

Where are they now?

Here are the destinations of our Year 13 students (2022-23):

Y13 Destination Data - 2023

Apprenticeships include:

  • Amazon – Logistics
  • James Cowper Kreston – Accounting
  • NG Bailey – Project Engineer
  • AWE/EMCOR – Facilities Management
  • Assistant Forensics Investigator – Police

Gap Year destinations include:

  • Global travel

Here are the destinations for our Year 11 (2022-23) students:

Year 11 Destination Data 2023

Where to get advice

Career Companion provides an enormous amount of independent information to help students and parents commence early careers research and  supports the decision making process in relation to transition from school into the workplace or Higher/Further Education.

Students and parents also have access to Unifrog, a platform where they can easily connect to university courses, apprenticeship opportunities, careers research and personality profiles.

Can you help?

We are always looking for support from employers, parents and ex-students in the following ways:

  • Mock Interview – From 1 hour up to 6 hours
  • Biannual Evening Fair – 3 hours
  • Talk – 20 minutes live to year group in assembly or to a class at tutor time 2.05pm 
  • CV lunch time clinic – 1 hour
  • CV clinic for Sixth Form students – 1 – 2 hours at your convenience
  • Subject specific talk to a class or  year group – 1 hour
  • Apprenticeship / Traineeship talk to a class or year group – 20 minutes 
  • Set a challenge
  • Work Experience
  • Volunteering Opportunities
  • Job Shadowing
  • Advertise your opportunities

Please contact Mrs Wooller, our Careers Leader if you can help or would like more information on any of the above. Email: ewooller@littleheath.org.uk or call 0118 9427337.

Labour Market Information

Labour Market Information (LMI) is provided by the Careers & Enterprise Company and Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.  This gives up-to-date statistics for current high employment sectors, predicted growth sectors, average salary and employment/unemployment rates across the Berkshire region. 

 

There is also some useful and more recent basic LMI overview for Berkshire here on the Adviza website.

Careers Policy

You can view our Careers Policy here.

Useful Websites

Apprenticeships:

www.apprenticeships.gov.uk

https://amazingapprenticeships.com/

www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk

Success at School Apprenticeships Guide 2024

Support for parents and guardians (apprenticeships.gov.uk)

Apprenticeships Parents/Carers Pack January 2024

Careers Information:

Information following Results Day

National Careers Service: 

The National Careers Service will be providing exam results careers advice in August. Support is available to both young people and their parents/ carers through exam specific content on the National Careers Service website, social media, web chat and by phone. 

You can contact the helpline on 0800 100 900 from Thursday 17 August until Friday 1 September 2023, from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am – 5pm Saturday. Professionally qualified careers advisers will be available to help both young people and those supporting them with advice on their next steps after receiving results – whether their results were what they expected or not. 

A Parents Tool Kit for Careers Conversations:

When it comes to education and careers, parents, carers, and guardians are the biggest influence in young people’s lives.  Talking futures is a resource created to help you have informed and constructive conversations with your child about the different training and education pathways available to them.  
https://www.talkingfutures.org.uk/pathways/

https://icould.com/

https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/

www.prospects.ac.uk

www.careermap.co.uk/careermag-parents-carers-guardians/

www.s1jobs.com/resources/remote-working-guide/

Careermag Careers magazine for students with SEND needs

Education and Training Courses:

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course

STEM:

STEM Careers Guide 2022/23

Finance:

https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

https://www.gov.uk/1619-bursary-fund (for 16-19 bursary)

The Student Money Manual 2023-24

Higher Education:

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/

https://www.opendays.com/

www.ucas.com

https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/

https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/start

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/career-planning-and-your-degree

https://www.unitasterdays.com/

Parents and Carers Guide - University Edition

Voluntary work and self-employment:

www.do-it.org

https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

www.vinspired.com

https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/employment-help-young-people/choices/starting-your-own-business/

You can also get help from the National Careers Service by telephoning 0800 100 900 or texting 07766 413219

or go to https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk and click contact an adviser.

Gap Year:

www.aventure.co.uk - Meaningful gap year and summer programmes in Africa & Asia

www.aventure.co.uk/gap-year-guide/

The Gap Year Hub www.thegapyearhub.com

https://thegapyearhub.com/the-gap-year-blog/