Careers
Intent: Our careers provision aims to empower all Coundon Court students to make confident, impartial, and informed choices about their future career options. Regardless of background, our approach focuses on providing purpose, direction, and opportunities to all our students. Enabling them to flourish as individuals, become highly employable, and achieve personal and economic wellbeing throughout their lives in modern Britain.
Implementation: Students will follow a stable careers programme built into their tutor time. Each half term, students will participate in 5 30-minute sessions dedicated to careers and character education. These programmes will explore themes including:
- Character education – development of character traits (leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative, communication) and their place in the world of work
- Options and Transition – exploring GCSE options (Year 9), sixth form, college and apprentice applications (Year 11), UCAS and apprenticeship applications (Year 13)
- Pathways - understanding the range of pathways including further education (FE), higher education (HE) and apprenticeships
- Job sectors and LMI – identifying popular, growing and changing job sectors and how to use Labour Market Information (LMI)
- Types of employment – examining and reflecting on the pros and cons of part-time, full-time, flexi-hours, jobs for young adults and training in the workplace
- World of Work – understanding the difference between minimum wage and living wage, unions, and protected characteristics
- Careers and Professions – exploring a range of careers and apprenticeships across job sectors e.g., the services, forces etc.
- Volunteering – reflecting on the value of service for others, the opportunities available in school and beyond, and how this can be beneficial in applications
Super-learning days, trips and visiting speakers also form part of our wider provision to ensure students have encounters with a range of employers during their careers journey in Coundon.
Impact: Coundon Court measures and assesses the impact of its careers programme through student surveys, destination data, Unifrog Charts, and the COMPASS+ tool each term to reflect on progress towards the Gatsby benchmarks (see page 3). We provide parents the opportunity to feedback on the programme and obtain employer feedback after all employer engagement activities.
Gatsby Benchmark
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from careers and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each student
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Character Education
It is the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who said, “We are what we frequently do”.
At Coundon Court, we regularly encourage students to promote positive attributes we believe will support them throughout their Coundon journey and into the world of work. The five attributes include:
Leadership • Organisation • Resilience • Initiative • Communication
Students are taught each attribute through the Careers and Character Education programme delivered during tutor time. Through a spiral curriculum, students return to examine how these attributes can be demonstrated by successful individuals (Year 8 Extraordinary Women), how they are useful in our GSCEs (Year 9 LORIC: Skills in GCSE) and how they are utilized in wider society (Year 10 LORIC: Skills for Life).
Students are encouraged not only to learn about these attributes, but to practice and develop them in their day-to-day activities in school and in the wider community.
| How are these demonstrated? | |
|---|---|
| Leadership |
Being a good example and role model for others Monitoring and regulating emotions Encouraging others to try their best, and praising them when they have |
| Organisation |
Bringing the correct equipment to school, including full pencil case Wearing the correct uniform, including bringing the correct PE kit Being punctual to school, and to all lessons |
| Resilience |
Setting achievable goals, and pursuing them Learning from mistakes, including those in relationships such as friendships, peers etc. Recognizing errors, identifying how to improve and engaging in activities which will achieve it |
| Initiative |
Going ‘beyond the curriculum’ by researching and sharing an area of study they enjoy Participating in co-curricular clubs and pursuing new experiences Volunteering to support in charity events, and recognizing the value in service to others Being a form representative/ subject ambassador – sharing ideas to make improvements |
| Communication |
Using positive and respectful language towards peers, staff and visitors Challenging themselves to engage in dialogue, making contributions to class discussion and being coherent in debate Using body language and facial expressions to communicate positively with others |
Careers and Character Education
s Gatsby Benchmark 1 Stable Careers Programme s Gatsby Benchmark 2 Learning from Careers and LMI sBaker’s Clause
Contact
Are you an employer or an alumni of Coundon Court?
If you would like to visit our school and share your experiences of your company/careers, please get in touch via this link:
Careers Documents
