What is CEIAG?
A young person’s career is the progress they make through learning and work. All young people need access to good quality Careers Education and Information Advice & Guidance (CEIAG) to help them to choose 14-19 pathways that are right for them and to be able to manage their careers and sustain employability throughout their lives.
How is CEIAG delivered at Biddenham?
Careers Lessons
Students receive lessons on Key Stage 4 Option choices and preparing for and reviewing work experience. These are updated annually to reflect changes locally, regionally and nationally.
SCRIPT for Learning Days (Collapsed Timetable Day)
In 2010 we introduced SCRIPT days. These days have been designed to develop the personal, learning and thinking skills of our students. Currently all Year 10 students will experience a Careers themed day Towards Success. This aims to develop students' self awareness, knowledge of the world of work, and provides them with skills to plan their career journey. On this day, we often invite professionals from a range of sectors and industries to come into school to work with students for part of the day. In Year 11, students have a post 16 options day Life after Year 11: Planning your Future. As part of this day, representatives from each of the main option pathways (apprenticeships, college and sixth form) are invited into school to work with students.
Tutor time
Tutors play a critical role in students' career learning and planning in a number of ways:
- Meeting with their tutees regularly for one-to-one academic mentoring to discuss their tutees' progress on CEIAG issues that affect them.
- In Years 9 and 11 conducting in-depth guidance interviews with their tutees. This interview will focus specifically on Key Stage 4 option choices and Post 16 option choices respectively. Tutors are given guidance on this by the Careers Education manager and the Leadership team at the school.
- Distributing and collecting crucial CEIAG information to and from students when required. For example, information on college open evenings, delivering and discussing careers PowerPoints, collecting students' intended destination information, etc.
- Attending assemblies on CEIAG issues with their tutees and then reflecting and discussing with tutees how this impacts on them.
- Providing information about their tutees when required. For example, for work experience, future planning, etc.
Parents'/Options Evenings
We aim to work with parents to achieve our goals. To help strengthen this partnership there is representation at the majority of parents' evenings and SCRIPT Report Days by our Careers Education Manager. Where relevant, there is also representation from outside providers such as apprenticeships providers and local colleges.
Careers Related Trips and Events
As a school, we always welcome links with industry to give our students an opportunity to experience real work related learning and progress within their career. Students may therefore have the opportunity to participate in various careers related trips. Examples of such trips include visits to employer recruitment days, career specific master classes run by professionals, higher education events, etc.
Whole School Approach
We aim to raise awareness of key CEIAG issues throughout the year. For example, we highlight key events such as National Apprenticeship Week to students. We also aim to embed CEIAG within activities across the school. For example, we invite employers and education establishments to attend and get involved in events at school such as the annual Arts Festival. Staff are also asked to consider how they can embed information about learning and work into their subject teaching. Regular meetings are held with the Applied Learning Implementation Group (ALIG). Each department in school is represented and issues relating to this are discussed. The aim is to help students to understand how their learning at school fits into the wider context of work and learning.
