Headteacher: Mrs E Robinson

Careers Information & Guidance

Introduction

Biddulph High School and Sixth form is committed to raising aspirations, challenging stereotypes, and instilling ambition within our students. CEIAG at BHS and BH6 aims to encourage students to make the most of the opportunities available to them and to steer students towards making informed choices at key transition points.

The intent of our careers programme, across the whole school, is to provide a stable careers programme where each student is given the opportunity to be part of the inclusive community based on mutual respect that instills a world class ambition in all our students, no matter what their background, to develop the skills to enter the ever-changing world of work.

Our core values are key to both our careers curriculum and the wider school aims. We intend to continue to meet the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks to ensure that students aspirations are raised through a variety of methods, including an awareness of labour market information, encounters with employers and workplaces tailored to individual needs and interests, experiences of further and higher education, links to careers within the curriculum, and personal guidance. This will allow all of our students to develop personal effectiveness and career readiness, resulting in positive outcomes in education and employment.

BHS obtained the ‘Quality and Careers Standard’ award in October 2022 and will continue to improve upon the high-quality provision offered to all students through quality information, advice and guidance.

NB. The effects of Covid-19 on careers provision have been significant, but as a school we have continued to offer high quality provision via the careers section of the school website, Teams, virtual work experience opportunities and Unifrog.

Please view our CEIAG Policy here: CEIAG Policy – September 2021

Careers Team

Careers, Enterprise and Employability Co-ordinator

Mrs C Campbell

Strategic Lead for Careers

Mrs C Carroll–Wright (Assistant Headteacher)

Careers Governor

Miss K Goodwin

If you wish to discuss anything relating to your child’s career education, or work experience opportunities please contact the Careers Team using the following details:

careers@biddulphhigh.co.uk or 01782 523977

Laura Smith

Hey, I’m Laura, and I’m the owner of Red Cloud Business Services Ltd. We offer business support; everything from basic admin and diary management, to project management and running 600 people events.

I left education after A Levels, having started a degree that I ultimately decided wasn’t for me.

My mission is to support other business owners to achieve their goals, with a particular enthusiasm for supporting Women in Business. Because of this, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some hugely talented people and make a difference to them and their business.

I look forward to working with the staff and pupils at Biddulph High and hopefully helping inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Red Cloud Business Services Ltd

redcloud.ltd

Liz Finneron

I’m excited to commence my role as Employment Advisor to Biddulph High School.
Young students are our future and I’m keen to share my business network to enhance the opportunities and choice for the pupils.
Biddulph High is close to my heart as both my daughters attended the school and I have lived in the area for over 10 years.

My Business
Trained in California I provide High Performance Coaching, Consultancy and Change Management.
My offering is based on over 20 years’ experience in the corporate space, coupled with my coaching expertise and mindset methods. I have seen remarkable changes within teams just by concentrating on maximising their mindset, applying a tailored individual approach to help enhance emotional resilience, productivity, and fulfilment in their roles.

Recent clients include NHS, Potteries Education Trust and Talentum Trust.

I use a blend of highly effective techniques, the very same I have employed myself to facilitate huge changes in my life, to get you moving towards your goals immediately.

Please follow the link for more information about my business

lizmindsetcoach.co.uk

I look forward to the next 12 months in this voluntary role.

Beverley Ashley is the Enterprise Coordinator working for the Stoke and Staffordshire Careers Hub with The Careers and Enterprise Company.

The role of the Careers Hub is to link schools and colleges with local employers, who will advise and offer strategy around careers support for all young people by building networks, supporting Careers Leaders using the Gatsby Benchmarks as a best practice standard.

My role is to focus everyone’s efforts on programmes and activities that are most effective in motivating young people, supporting independent choice and positive outcomes for the young people of Biddulph High School. I work directly with Claire Carroll-Wright, the SLT Careers Leader and Kayleigh Goodwin, the Careers Lead & Enterprise Employability Coordinator in school.

Biddulph are grateful to work with Liz Finneron and Laura Smith who are both Enterprise Advisers and who offer their time and expertise free of charge for the benefit of the whole school, staff and pupils.

Beverley Ashley

Careers Programme

Please find the CEIAG Programme here: CEIAG Programme – February 2022

Please find the Careers Booklet here: Careers Booklet – January 2023

Raising Participation Age (RPA)

In 2013 it became a Government requirement that all young people are expected to continue in Education or training until their 18th Birthday. This is called Raising the Participation Age.

What does this mean?

Any young person who completes year 11 will be required to continue in education until at least their 18th birthday (year 12 and Year 13). This does not mean that they must stay at school and can choose from one of the following:

Full time education at sixth form or College
Apprenticeship
Foundation learning with local training providers
Part – time education or training if a young person is employed, self-employed or volunteering full-time (defined as 20 hours or more per week)

Further information can be found here: GOV UK – Department For Education

Labour Market Information

‘Labour Market Information (LMI) is a useful tool to help you to research future jobs in the local area, understand the skills needed for certain roles and the demand for future employment’

Please find some useful links below:

Labour Market Information

Nomis – Labour Market Profile – Stoke-On-Trent

Nomis – Labour Market Profile – Staffordshire

Skillsometer

Careerometer

Measuring Impact

Impact measurement, assessment and destination data. We continually measure and assess the impact of our programme in various ways such as student, parent and tutor surveys, as well as inviting feedback from employers who have been involved in activities. We also use destination data obtained from Post-16 colleges to monitor trends about where our students move onto.

Please view our destination data here:

Destination Data – 2021-2022

Destination Data – 2020-2021

Destination Data – 2019-2020

Destination Data – 2018-2019

Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby benchmarks were created by Sir John Holman in 2014 to highlight what good careers provision looks like. The eight benchmarks are based on best national and international research and define the elements of an excellent careers programme.

The Benchmarks are as follows and our current benchmark scores:

Gatsby Benchmark	Biddulph High Score	Nationally % Meeting Benchmark
1. A stable careers programme	100%	43%
2. Learning from career and labour market information	100%	66%
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil	100%	38%
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers	100%	60%
5. Encounters with employers and employees	100%	56%
6. Experiences of workplaces	100%	36%
7. Encounters with further and higher education	100%	33%
8. Personal guidance	100%	65%

Quality in Careers Standard

In October 2022 we were inspected against the Quality and Careers Standards and were awarded the full accreditation for our careers provision.

Provider Access – Baker Clause

Biddulph High School believes in giving further education and higher education training providers the opportunity to talk to students at the school. Please view our Provider Access Policy here: Provider Access Policy Including Baker Clause Statement – September 2023

Work Experience & Employability Encounters

Please view our Work Related Learning & Enterprise Curriculum Policy here: Work Related Learning & Enterprise Curriculum Policy – May 2023

If you would like to discuss anything to do with the Work Experience Programme or have any opportunities you would like promoting please contact:

careers@biddulphhigh.co.uk or 01782 523977

Useful Websites

Unifrog is a complete destinations platform that allows students to search for opportunities and make applications for their next steps: Unifrog

Please visit the National Careers Service Website here: GOV – National Careers Service

A comprehensive careers website with job profiles, outlining: the skills required, main tasks, pay levels and career prospects for hundreds of different jobs. In addition, valuable guidance on the different stages involved in getting a job

Get in Go Far: – a website for anyone wanting to know more about Apprenticeships. The website also has a search facility for job-specific Apprenticeships in a particular area: Apprenticeships

Find an Apprenticeship – a website to support searching for local apprenticeships across all levels: GOV – Apply for an Apprenticeship

UCAS – A very helpful website for students thinking of applying to higher education. Also contains valuable information on different options, including Apprenticeships: UCAS