Careers Guidance
Careers, Education, Information, and Guidance (CEIAG)
At OASB, our vision is that every young person is supported to continue on their journey towards Model Citizenship, and to secure their Dream Job. We aim for equip every student with strong values and Powerful Voices so that they feel empowered to make positive choices for themselves and the people around them. Our careers curriculum underpins these dual aims by providing all students with tailored insights into their educational and professional next steps. For more information on post-16 education options and, things to consider when applying to college and/or sixth form from OASB, please click here
Through our whole school careers provision, students are exposed to a broad range of professional sectors and industries. From Years 7 to 13, our young people benefit from dedicated ‘Aspire’ curricula, created in partnership with organisations such as PwC, St, Thomas’ Hospital and Build Studios; as well as gaining valuable opportunities through the wider Oasis Waterloo Hub. These partner programmes give students the opportunity to engage with professionals, discover future careers paths and develop careers-related skills such as interview preparation and assessment techniques. An outline of our Aspire curriculum can be found here
A copy of our Letter of Commitment to High Quality Careers Education can be found here
Provider Access Statement
Introduction
The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 sets out specific requirements on the number and types of encounters schools are obliged to deliver for their pupils with providers of technical education or apprenticeships.
This statement sets out Oasis South Bank’s arrangements for managing the access of providers to students at our school for the purposes of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer. This complies with the school’s legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997.
Provider Obligations for Pupil Encounters
• The Skills Act specifies that schools provide at least six encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships: Two in Y8/9, two in Y10/11 (which are mandatory for all registered learners to attend) and two in Y12/13 (which must be offered by the school, but which are optional for learners to attend).
• The same exact provider cannot account for two separate encounters within the same phase.
• Schools should ask these providers to share information that includes the following— (i) information about the provider and the approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships that the provider offers, (ii) information about the careers to which those technical education qualifications or apprenticeships might lead, (iii) a description of what learning or training with the provider is like, and (iv) responses to questions from pupils about the provider or approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.
• These provisions are mandated for each registered pupil, not just select groups of students.
Management of Provider Access Requests
Opportunities for Access
Our provision includes various opportunities for students to access a range of events. These opportunities are primarily integrated into our careers curriculum and are, therefore, delivered internally, with contributions from external providers, where appropriate.
The school works with higher education providers including Newcastle University & King’s College London (KCL), as well as sector-leading professional bodies to deliver workshops and experiences under our Personal Development offer.
Procedure
A provider wishing to request access should contact the Associate Assistant Principal for Personal Development via our staff directory. Oasis Academy South Bank’s policy on safeguarding sets out our approach to allowing providers onto the school as visitors who interact with our students.
To request a visit, your school contact must complete a visitor request form and send it to the Designated Safeguarding lead. This will detail the person/company visiting, the purpose of the visit and ensure appropriate due diligence has been applied to establish that all protocols have been followed.
Once approved, the visitor or external speaker must sign a copy of the visiting agreement form and return it to the Oasis Academy South Bank staff member organising the visit or event.
CDI Career Framework
Gatsby Benchmarks
The Gatsby benchmarks ensure that every young person aged 13 and over will receive exposure to local employers in order to gain a greater understanding of the world of work.
The benchmarks also offer individualised information, advice and guidance around a range of post-16 education offers, from sixth form to technical college to university and apprenticeships, enabling young people to make informed choices about their future.
The eight benchmarks set out in the Good Career Guidance report serve as a framework for improvement in careers provision and have been adopted as part of the Government's Careers Strategy and statutory guidance for schools and colleges.
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 and employers.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
Named Careers Lead to be added to school website. |
Awareness of responsibility for careers promoted with parents, students and stakeholders. |
Careers Lead Admin Officer responsible for Website |
School careers section to have a complete review with proposed additions: labour market information and direct links to Unifrog. |
|
Set up an evaluation process for both staff and students. |
Identify gaps within in staff and students’ career related learning from years 7-13 |
Careers Lead Senior Leadership Team |
Routine use of Future Skills Questionnaires in Y7 to assess students’ baseline knowledge and development over time |
|
Set up a link careers representative for each department. |
Incorporation of careers within subjects. |
Careers Lead Heads of Department |
Nomination of department careers link representative to co-ordinate the delivery of careers within the department, distribute careers resources as directed by the Careers Lead. HoD to undergo Compass Plus training to add career-related activities for their department. |
|
Careers training for new teaching staff. |
Developing an understanding of embedding careers in the curriculum. |
Careers Lead Senior Leadership Team |
Careers session added to staff induction process to include training on Unifrog, the school’s careers platform. |
2. Learning from Careers 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 best use of available information.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
CPD sessions within subject departments. |
To incorporate Labour market information within lessons. |
Careers Lead Heads of Department and Subject Leaders |
Continued use of Unifrog careers resources in lessons and PSHCE. |
|
Embedding of labour market information and links on school website. |
To provide access to LMI for staff, parents and stakeholders. |
Careers Lead Admin Officer responsible for website
|
Routine updating of LMI resourcing to reflect the changing nature of careers in Lambeth. Consistent sharing of LMI with parents via school newsletter, Destinations Evening and Progress Afternoons |
To view the Labour Market Profile for Lambeth, please click here.
3. Addressing the Needs of Each Student
Students across Key Stages have distinct career guidance needs. As such, opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to fit the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
CPD sessions with staff to tackle stereotyping and to raise aspirations. |
To challenge stereotypical thinking. |
Careers Lead
EDI Lead
Head of Science |
Displays around to school to challenge stereotypical thinking, promote STEM Displays of alternate pathways into careers such as apprenticeships/degree apprenticeships. |
|
Consideration of a careers report to be attached to annual school report to demonstrate careers learning. |
To provide all students with a record of their career-related learning, to inform parents and carers. |
Careers Lead |
Data to be extracted from Compass+ and incorporated into annual school reports. |
4. Linking Curriculum to Careers
All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
Careers audit by subject careers link sent to Head of Department. |
To support careers provision within subjects and across the curriculum. |
Careers Lead Head of Department Subject Careers Link |
Updating of Compass+ with departmental careers information. |
|
Careers Lead to attend departmental careers CPD |
To quality assure the embedding of careers within the curriculum. |
Careers Lead |
Careers Lead to report to SLT following this process of QA. |
|
Displays within departments linking careers to curriculum. |
To enable students to link subjects to career intentions. |
Careers Lead Heads of Department Subject Careers Link |
External resources on alternative training routes to be provided to Subject Careers Links. |
|
Promotion of careers opportunities on Padlet. |
To keep staff and students informed of career related opportunities. |
Head of Sixth Form |
Development of a more standardised system of signposting and awareness of opportunities amongst teaching staff. |
5. Encounters with Employers and Employees
Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about the world of work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. These opportunities can be offered through a range of extra-curricular activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.
Our Strategy
|
ACTIVITY |
LEARNING AIMS & OBJECTIVES |
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITY |
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS |
|
Add employer focused events to the school calendar. |
To enable students to access face to face employer information. |
Careers Lead |
Standardise systems for centrally logging external interactions. |
|
Employer-led activities and workshops. |
Students to gain an understanding of the links between careers and learning. |
Careers Lead
Sixth Form Pastoral Team |
Increase frequency of Face-to-face sessions with employers, interview workshops, CV writing sessions, mentoring etc. |
6. Experience of Workplaces
Every student 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 to expand their networks.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
Visits to businesses. |
Linking of subject-related learning to workplaces to support students understanding of careers. |
Careers Lead Subject Careers Link |
Students to routinely complete pre- and post-reflections on external experiences. |
|
Virtual engagement with businesses. |
Enable students to observe a real-life workplace. |
Careers Lead Subject Careers Link |
Careers Lead and SCLs to develop longterm relationships with employers to create engagement opportunities. |
7. Encounters with FE and HE
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.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
Set up links to other organisations. |
Support the Baker Clause and promote a broad range of providers through our taught PSHCE/Aspire curricula |
Careers Lead PSHCE Lead
|
More frequent promotion of participation in programmes for further education, universities, apprenticeships, FE colleges via assemblies. |
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.
Our Strategy
|
Activity |
Learning Aims & Objectives |
Lead |
Next Steps |
|
One-to-one interview at appropriate timing, in particular during the students’ significant study and careers choices. |
To enable students to make informed decisions armed with appropriate information related to careers aspirations and pathways. |
Careers Lead Careers Adviser |
Develop an ironclad approach to securing one-to-one interview slots with all students across Y8-13 |
|
Support for SEND and vulnerable students. |
To manage career expectations, raise aspirations and meet individual needs. |
Careers Lead SENDCo Independent Careers Adviser |
Careers Adviser to attend meetings arranged with key workers and parents to maximise the impact of the students’ careers meeting. |
Parents and Carers
Access to Labour Market Information
All students are able to access up-to-date Labour Market Information via our Careers platform, Unifrog (https://www.unifrog.org/)
Parent and Carers can also access local borough’s labour market Information here: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/lad/1778385181/report.aspx
External Platforms and Resources
BBC Bitesize provides a range of information about future careers: BBC Bitesize: Find your Perfect Job
For information on the range of post 16 education and career choices, the following links may be helpful.