Avanti Fields School careers plan supports the achievement of the eight Gatsby benchmarks:

Benchmark 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 Students, parents, teachers, governors and employers.

Benchmark 2: Learning from Career and Labour Market Information

  • Every Student 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 the best use of available information

Benchmark 3: Addressing the Needs of Each Student

  • Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each Student. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.

Benchmark 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 careers paths.

Benchmark 5: Encounters with Employers and Employees

  • Every Student 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.

Benchmark 6: Experiences of Workplaces

  • Every Student should have first-hand experience of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing, and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.

Benchmark 7: Encounters with Further and Higher Education

  • All Students 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.

Benchmark 8: Personal Guidance

  • Every Student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers 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 Students but should be timed to meet their individual needs.

The careers programme follows guidance from the CDI framework 2018

Developing yourself through careers, employability and enterprise education.

Self Awareness

Individuals who realistically appraise their qualities, skills, roles, responsibilities, values, attitudes, needs, and interests, aptitudes and achievements are better able to understand themselves, make informed choices and relate well to others. Self-awareness is essential for nurturing self-esteem, identity, and personal and mental wellbeing.

Self -determination

Self-determination or self-regulation promotes personal autonomy, self-efficacy and personal agency. It boosts hope, optimism, adaptability and resilience. Self-determination empowers individuals to aspire and achieve.

Self-improvement

Self-improvement sustains positive attitudes to learning throughout life. It fosters the skills of planning, review and reflection. Understanding what they have learned, what they need to learn next and how they learn best enables individuals to continue to improve.

Learning about careers and the world of work

Exploring careers and career development

Career exploration expands individuals’ horizons for action and awareness of opportunities. An understanding of career processes and structures enables individuals to make sense of their own careers, understand the career experiences of others and contribute in important ways to the career wellbeing of others.

Investigating work and working life

Investigating people’s changing experiences of work enables individuals to understand the meaning and purpose of work in people’s lives. They learn what constitutes good or decent work and how to find it for themselves.

Understanding business and industry

Understanding different sizes and types of business organisation, why they are organised as they are and how they view success enables individuals to prepare for employment and to appraise the contribution of business and industry to community, social and economic life.

Investigating jobs and labour market information (LMI)

Individuals need to know how to access, analyse and act on relevant, objective and up-to-date job and labour market information when thinking about careers, employability and enterprise. They also need to know how to protect themselves from subjective and biased information.

Valuing equality, diversity and inclusion

Individuals need to share in the commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion as a British and international value. By countering stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice, individuals can realise their own ambitions and help others to do the same.

Learning about safe working practices and environments

Learning about safe working practices and environments helps individuals to keep themselves and others healthy and safe at work.

Developing your career management and employability skills

Making the most of careers information, advice and guidance

Individuals need to learn how to recognise, access and make effective use of trustworthy sources of information, advice and guidance, which are offered on a one-to-one or small group basis, both online, and in person. This includes being actively involved in identifying individual needs and how they can they be met.

Preparing for employability

Preparing for employability is about enabling individuals to gain the skills and experience they need to get, maintain and make progress in employment or self-employment including networking, negotiation, self-advocacy and staying healthy.

Showing initiative and enterprise

Showing initiative and enterprise is about helping individuals to make the most of their opportunities, manage risk-taking and demonstrate drive and determination, especially in a business sense.

Developing personal financial capability

Being able to calculate and compare the costs and benefits of different living, education, training and employment options, considering any financial support that may be available, is an increasingly important skill for individuals to develop. They need to know how to make budgeting and financial planning decisions about spending, borrowing, saving and investing to safeguard their economic well-being now and in the future. Personal financial management is part of citizenship at KS3 & 4 and interpreting and solving problems in financial contexts is part of maths at KS3 & 4.

Identifying choices and opportunities

Individuals need to know how to identify and investigate possible choices, progression pathways and qualifications that are in their best interests to consider. This includes being able to respond effectively to unforeseen or unplanned choices and opportunities.

Planning and deciding

Individuals need to know how to make and carryout carefully considered decisions and plans. This also involves showing persistence and resilience to cope with chance events and any unintended consequences of their decisions.

Handling Applications and Interviews

Students are required to promote themselves in a way that attracts the attention of selectors and recruiters, as well as managing the applications process, requires that individuals develop a range of self-presentation and marketing skills including the use of digital and social media. This also requires that they develop strategies to cope with set-backs and disappointment.

Managing changes and transition

Transition confidence and preparedness help individuals to make successful moves such as changing schools, going to university or start in an apprenticeship or employment. Reviewing and reflecting on previous transitions can help individuals to develop the psychological resources to cope with future transitions.