Careers Education and Guidance at Whitgift School

Whitgift is an academically selective school, admitting boys at 10, 11, and 13. There are also a few who join at 16. The great majority of our students stay with us until the end of the Sixth Form, after which they intend to go on to university. The students who leave us after GCSE’s go on to other schools and colleges to continue their education - they account for less than five per cent of the year group. Fewer than one per cent of the A level leavers go directly in to employment, the rest all apply for places in higher education. Our Careers Programme is therefore designed to focus on one particular part of the spectrum, whilst allowing the flexibility for students who wish to follow an alternative path to have the support which they need.

Aims & Entitlements

Our central aim, as published in our mission statement, is to encourage research and debate, and to provide the resources to enable each student to explore and develop his career aspirations and to fulfil his potential as a member of society. We want each boy to be able to reach an informed career decision, having considered a range of options.

The PSHE programme, which runs throughout the school, includes the essential career skills of working with others, decision making, and personal action planning .

Due to the nature of our options system, and the fact that we do not have students seeking employment at sixteen, the more formalised introduction to careers issues does not begin until the Lower Fifth (year 10), when all students complete careers aptitude and interest questionnaires, which lead on to individual careers interviews at the beginning of the Upper Fifth. Parents and students are made aware of the Careers programme and facilities through departmental entries in curriculum booklets, and the departmental pages on the School Portal.

The Careers Library is open throughout the school day, with the opening times being published in the School Calendar, which is distributed to all pupils and parents. Staff are on hand at all times to assist visitors with their enquiries. We are open to present and former students, and to their parents (and families).

The programme

When planning our programme, we are trying to ensure

• that we reach every student at each stage
• that the content of each activity is appropriate to the needs of that group of students
• that at each stage where a student makes a decision, he has had all the facts available, and reaches an appropriate decision for him
• that students applying to university make informed applications, with a good chance of success
• that every student feels that he can come to us for constructive and impartial advice
• that appropriate checking and monitoring systems are in place to check each boy’s progress
• that we monitor students’ and parents’ views to gauge the usefulness and effectiveness of each part of the programme
• that students are encouraged to research a full range of options and feel equipped to make up their own minds about their futures.
• that students are not limited by ethnic or gender stereotyping.

Each student should receive information about the full range of options available to him at 16 and at 18. Although our curriculum is based on GCSE and A level/IB courses, information supplied through Connexions Careers Services explaining the nature of alternative qualifications, and employment training is readily available in the Careers Library. Where a student has the potential to do very well on the A level / IB route, we are happy for him to take this course without question. Where the monitoring system, through the Heads of Year, has suggested some doubt about whether a boy would be comfortable with A levels / IB then he is actively encouraged to consider the alternatives. Boys in the 1 st and 3rd Forms work through a number of Careers related activities as part of their PSHE programme. Following completion of interest questionnaires and a careers aptitude profile, boys in the UV complete a personal action plan for careers investigation. Boys in the L6 form an action plan for their HE application through discussions with the Careers team, the Sixth Form team and the Lower Sixth “After Whitgift” Course.

At the end of the Fifth Form, each student completes a period of Work Experience to participate in a vocational area which interests him. By offering them Work Experience at this stage, the students have an opportunity to review their Sixth Form options in the light of the knowledge gained. Wherever possible, we try to place students alongside recent university graduates to give them a realistic understanding of what they could be doing in five or ten years time. By highlighting Key Skills in the Work Experience diary, students gain a better appreciation of the work related skills that they need to acquire.

In order to achieve wider awareness of the Careers and PSHE programmes amongst the boys and their parents, we have introduced a Careers page on the school portal, to advertise activities and highlight diary dates and deadlines.

Delivery

Throughout the school, all students follow a PSHE programme, which has some obvious overlap with the Careers Programme. Since 2002 these two programmes have been run by the Careers & Guidance Department. In this way the two strands can complement and re-reinforce one another by offering the students similar messages from what they may perceive to be two separate directions.

There are no taught Careers periods on the time-table. Instead, students receive targeted briefings at appropriate times, usually coming in to the Careers Library with their Form Tutor, who is then able to follow up the work in Form Tutor Periods. Forms come in during the Lower Fifth for a general introduction to the vocational information, and the associated computer software. The Lower Sixth Forms come in for a briefing about the university information, and we run a three day course for the Lower Sixth in June to help them with their post-18 options and UCAS preparation.

We run an annual Careers Convention, targeted at the Lower Sixth, but with other years being made to feel very welcome. The ‘After Whitgift’ evening in February of each year is intended to be the initial briefing for the Parents and the Sixth Form about the university application process. Careers staff attend parents’ evenings for the senior school, and contribute to the 3rd Form options evening, and the Upper Fifth Form briefing for parents at the beginning of the GCSE year. We are supported at Parents Evenings by staff from Connexions.

Staff Development and Training

Within the department, there are regular reviews of priorities and the need for training. We keep abreast of current issues and developments in CEG by

• reading the ACEG newsletter
• attendance at meetings of the Croydon Careers Association
• reading Connexions newsletters
• attending courses run by Connexions / attending briefings on the resources which we use, e.g. Real Game, KUDOS, Careerscape
• attending relevant courses run by outside agencies
• exchange of information with careers staff in other schools locally and in the Trinity Group
• contact with Croydon Education Business Partnership and Croydon Work Experience.

The school has a generous approach to INSET expenditure, and applications for courses with an obvious relevance are usually accepted.

We are keen for colleagues to value the links between careers and their areas of responsibility (both academic and pastoral). Relevant literature is passed on for their information. They are encouraged to participate in our activities as well as opportunities offered by outside agencies.

Facilities and staffing

The Careers suite comprises the library, and offices. The library is open to boys throughout the school day. We can book the use of an Interview Room if necessary.

The Head of Careers & Guidance (Mrs Hooker) has an allocation of approximately one third of a time-table for careers work, and is responsible for the overall running of Careers and PSHE. The Deputy Head of Careers (Mr Nick Morgan) has an allocation of approximately one sixth of a time-table for careers work, and takes a lead in all projects involving the Third Form and the Fifth Form; in particular, he is responsible for the Work Experience programme. The Careers Administrator (Mrs Bye) works during term-time, and is available to assist the boys with their research throughout the day. The Work Experience Assistant (Mr Grahame Webb) assists with visits to new and potential hosts. The department is answerable to the Headmaster for its activities. Any discussions about changes to the programme are initially channeled through the Deputy Headmaster (Mr Peter Yeo), who deals with curriculum issues.

The department receives an annual budget, to cover all books, software and special events. Bids for this and for an allocation from the equipment budget are submitted to the Headmaster on an annual basis.

We have a Service Level Agreement with Connexions Careers Services, and use them to support our activities. Where we do not feel that we have sufficient knowledge or expertise to advise a student on careers issues, he can be encouraged to consult them.

We do what we can to make use of the resource available to us through our Old Boys, Parents and friends of the school.

• We have a database, supplied through the Old Whitgiftian Association, which has classified members according to where they live, and uses the CLCI system to record their occupational areas.
• We canvass all new parents about their areas of expertise, and encourage them to join our Careers Advisory Panel. From this panel we have a committee who meet three or four times a year to discuss issues relating to the Careers programme and to assist us in implementing that programme .

SMH : Revised March 2006