Careers
Careers at Northallerton School & Sixth Form College
We believe that excellent careers advice is essential for raising aspirations, enabling our students to ‘be the best we can be’.
The Careers Team is made up of:
Miss Jamie Pemberton Arete Learning Trust Careers Lead
Mr Nick Stafford Governor with responsibility for Careers
Miss Anna Cox Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Careers
Miss Brigette Martin Careers Advisor
Our specialist LIFE Careers Team is made up of:
Mrs Helena Barclay
Miss Becky Daniel
Miss Anna Harvey
Mrs Jen Howard
Mr Martin Lang
Mr Brian McHugh
Mr Graham Pawlett
The programme at Northallerton School & Sixth Form College is built upon the National Statutory Guidelines and the eight Gatsby Benchmarks. The Gatsby Benchmarks are based on international best practice. They are a robust and realistic framework for developing world class careers advice. They are as follows:
- A stable careers programme, which is reviewed annually.
- Labour Market Information is provided and accessible for students to use. Labour Market Information - Shape Your Future
- The needs of every student are addressed.
- Careers education is linked to curriculum learning.
- Students have opportunities to have encounters with employers and employees.
- Students have opportunities to experience the workplace.
- Students have encounters with further and higher education establishments.
- Students are able to access impartial and personal careers guidance.
A new resource for 2022: 'Get the Jump'
The ‘Get the Jump’ Skills for Life campaign brings together, for the first time, all education and training choices for young people in one place.
It includes all the choices that are available to young people at post-16 and post-18 to help them make an informed decision about their next step and choose the path that is right for them. It covers all education and training options and spotlights technical education routes:
- T Levels
- Traineeships
- Apprenticeships
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-your-education-and-training-choices
This table shows how we implement each of the Gatsby Benchmarks and the further actions for 2022/23
| Gatsby Benchmark | How we implement this at NSSFC | Further actions for 2022/23 |
| 1 | Our Careers Programme is part of our LIFE Curriculum. In each year, starting from Year 7, our students cover each of the LIFE strands - Healthy Lives, Relationships, Essential Skills, Living In The Wider World and Careers. All students have a LIFE lesson once a fortnight, this year this is Week 1, Wednesday P4. Each of the five LIFE strands are delivered by specialist LIFE teams. The LIFE Careers Programme is here. In addition, we will be celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 6th to 10th February 2023 and National Careers Week 6th to 10th March 2023. | Gain feedback from parents and employers to complement the feedback that we already receive from students and teachers and further strengthen the evaluation process. |
| 2 | Good quality information about future study opportunities and labour market opportunities are included in our LIFE Careers Programme. In addition, students can access information and carry out research on Morrisby.com and Unifrog.org. | |
| 3 | Our LIFE Careers Programme and our specialist Careers LIFE Team actively seek to challenge stereotypes and raise the aspirations of all of our students, both within the taught curriculum and by offering extra-curricular opportunities such as the Step Into The NHS Competition, designed to raise ambition and challenge stereotypes. All students in Years 10 and 11 have at least one Personal Careers Session (PCS) of up to an hour with our Careers Advisor. This ensures that all students have plans for Post-16 in education, employment or training. The information from the PCS is shared with both the student and parents or carers. We collect data on the education, employment or training destination of all of our students at the end of Years 11 and 13. | Produce case studies to illustrate this. |
| 4 | We encourage all teachers to make links between curriculum learning and careers so that students can explore their subjects in more depth. | Follow on from the training that all teachers received last year with further training. Begin an audit to show the links between curriculum learning and careers, to be repeated each year. |
| 5 | In National Apprenticeship Week and Careers Week, we welcome speakers into school. In addition, our Governor with responsibility for careers, Nick Stafford, is CEO of Hambleton Brewery and a regular presence in school. There are also various other opportunities for students to encounter employers and employees, for example the Year 12 Enterprise Competition. | |
| 6 | Post-COVID, we have not yet been able to put in place a week of work experience for all of our Year 10 students due to the shortage of placements available. Until we are able to make this happen again, we run a two-day Careers Event in July. Building on the success of our Year 12 Work Experience in 2022, this year it will be launched as part of our 6th Form Enrichment Programme in October. Year 12 Work Experience Week is 10th to 14th July 2023. | Reinstate Year 10 Work Experience Week for 2023/24? Case studies for Year 12 Work Experience. |
| 7 | All Year 10 students will have the opportunity to visit further and higher education establishments as part of the Careers Event in July. All Year 12 students will have opportunities to visit local education establishments. In addition, we run the Arete Oxbridge Trip in July. | |
| 8 | All students in Years 10 and 11 have at least one Personal Careers Session (PCS). In Years 12 and 13, all students have access to a PCS with Ms Mannion or another, appropriate specialist. |
Information for Parents and Carers
Supporting your child in School: Careers Information for Parents and Carers
Careers education and guidance in school or college, (CEIAG) helps to prepare your child for the workplace by actively providing them with a clear understanding of the world of work. In order to achieve this objective, Northallerton School and Sixth Form within the Arete Learning Trust provides your child with specific careers lessons within the LIFE programme, information on apprenticeships, the work place and independent further training and education information to ensure that your child is fully equipped with the knowledge they require in order to make informed decisions suitable for their personal interests, pathways and skills set.
Each child is given a personalised careers meeting starting at Year 10 and through to Year 11 with follow ups upon where required upon teacher and careers advisor recommendation. Parents are also welcome to come into Northallerton School to attend a Careers Meeting with their child if they would like to make an appointment with the Careers Advisor.
The wealth of information out there relating to the world of careers can be a daunting and onerous task to say the least but you can actively support your child on this journey through accessing some useful websites via the links listed below which have been selected to help navigate the journey so that you can find up to date knowledge, ideas, advice and information which is at once, useful, engaging and helpful in supporting your child’s career progression alongside the Career support and guidance we provide your child with here at Northallerton School and Sixth Form.
Useful links:
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/
https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/
https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/support-for-parents-and-guardians
https://www.theparentsguideto.co.uk/
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-your-education-and-training-choices
https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/#
https://amazingapprenticeships.com/
Unifrog: Tracking and Recording your Child’s Career Pathway
As part of your child’s career progression pathway, Northallerton School uses Unifrog, an online careers platform which brings together careers information in one single, impartial, user-friendly website. It helps students to research universities, degree courses, and apprenticeships.
All of our students have access to Unifrog and have their own accounts linked to their school email address. Students can create shortlists and develop their personal statements or job applications online.
Unifrog provides tutorials for writing CVs, covering letters as well as information linked to courses, apprenticeships, skills and quality quizzes and various related activities and you are welcome to visit the platform with your child to explore the careers interactions that Northallerton School has provided from assemblies, workshops, meetings and visits.
Find out more at: