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St Benedict's Catholic School

St Benedict's
Catholic School

Policy Statement on Provider Access

Introduction

This policy statement sets out St. Benedict's Catholic School arrangements for managing the access of providers to pupils at the school for the purpose 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.

Pupil entitlement

All pupils in years 8-13 are entitled:

  • to find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeship opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
  • to hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
  • to understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.

In line with our statutory requirements, the school will ensure a minimum of two discrete encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education for:

  • all pupils in years 8 or 9 - which are mandatory to attend
  • all pupils in years 10 or 11 - which are mandatory to attend
  • all pupils in years 12 or 13) - which are optional to attend. 

Management of provider access requests 

Procedure

A provider wishing to request access should contact either Sam Tatum, Deputy Headteacher, or
Angela Hahn, Head of Careers:

Opportunities for access

A number of events, integrated into the school careers programme, will offer providers an opportunity to come into school to speak to pupils and/or their parents/carers:

Please speak to our Deputy Headteacher or Head of Careers to identify the most suitable opportunity for you.
 

Premises and facilities

The school will make the main hall, classrooms or meeting rooms available for discussions between the provider and pupils, as appropriate to the activity. The school will also make available AV and other specialist equipment to support provider presentations. Venue and equipment requirements will be discussed and agreed in advance of the visit with the Careers Leader or a member of their team.

Providers are welcome to leave a copy of their prospectus or other literature relevant to apprenticeships and technical education with the Careers Resource Centre. The Careers Resource Centre is managed by the Head of Careers and is accessible to all students at break and lunch times.

Further information 

Useful resources and external organisations

Gatsby Good Career Guidance. A report on improving career guidance in secondary schools which includes the Gatsby Benchmarks.

Gatsby Good Practice. A website which shares good practice from the North East pilot of the Gatsby Benchmarks, and other information and support for schools.

Compass. A self-evaluation tool to help schools to evaluate their careers and enterprise provision and benchmark against the Gatsby Benchmarks and compare it with other schools.

State of the Nation 2017. A report on the careers and enterprise provision in secondary schools in England in 2016/17. It examines how schools are performing in relation to the Gatsby Benchmarks, based on data from responses to the Compass tool.

Careers & Enterprise Company. The Careers & Enterprise Company brokers links between employers, schools and colleges in order to ensure that young people aged 12-18 get the inspiration and guidance they need for success in working life.

Careers & Enterprise Company: Schools and Colleges. Connects schools to businesses volunteers and careers activity programmes.

National Careers Service. The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to help people make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential and impartial advice. This is supported by qualified careers advisers.

Amazing Apprenticeships. A website to make it easy for teachers and careers advisers to access the latest information about apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge for Schools (ASK). A network of teachers, careers advisers and ambassadors who will promote apprenticeships and traineeships in positive ways to year 10-13 pupils in the North, Midlands, London and the South.

Baker Dearing Educational Trust. Information on University Technical Colleges.

Career Development Institute. The Career Development Institute is the single UK- wide professional body for everyone working in the fields of careers education, career information, advice and guidance, career coaching, career consultancy and career management. It offers affiliate and individual membership to schools which includes free CPD webinars, regular digital newsletters, a quarterly magazine, online networking groups and training at a preferential rate.

Career Development Institute Framework for careers, employability and enterprise education. A framework of learning outcomes to support the planning, delivery and evaluation of careers, employability and enterprise education for children and young people.

UK Register of Career Development Professionals. The single national point of reference for ensuring and promoting the professional status of career practitioners.

Quality in Careers Standard. The Quality in Careers Standard in the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance.

Find an Apprenticeship. Search and apply for an apprenticeship in England.

LMI for All. An online data portal, which connects and standardises existing sources of high quality, reliable labour market information (LMI) with the aim of informing careers decisions. This data is made freely available via an Application Programming Interface (API) for use in websites and applications.

STEM Ambassadors. A nationwide network of over 30,000 volunteers from a wide range of employers, who engage with young people to provide stimulating and inspirational informal learning activities in both school and non-school settings

Studio Schools Trust. The organisation that unites all Studio Schools, acting as a linking point between Studio Schools, enabling the sharing of best practice as well as providing advice and curriculum support.

Unistats. The official website for comparing UK higher education undergraduate course data. The site includes information on university and college courses, Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) ratings, student satisfaction scores from the National Student Survey, employment outcomes and salaries after study and other key information for prospective students.

 Your Daughter’s Future. A careers toolkit for parents.

Your Life app. Informs and inspires young people by giving them the opportunity to discover hundreds of varied career options.

 

Other relevant departmental advice and statutory guidance

Governance handbook. Guidance outlining the roles and duties of school governors and academy trusts.

Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years  A statutory code which explains the duties of local authorities, health bodies, schools and colleges to provide for those with special educational needs under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

Participation of young people: education, employment or training. Statutory guidance for local authorities on their duties relating to the participation of young people in education, employment or training.

 

Other departmental resources

Careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents. Government’s plan for raising the quality of careers provision in England.

Post-16 technical education reforms: T level action plan. Government’s progress on the reforms to technical education set out in ‘Post-16 skills plan’, confirms next steps and opportunities for engagement by interested parties.