Careers and Work Experience
Careers at DRHS
Aim
At Denmark Road High School, we aim to support students, so that they can make informed decisions about their future, by raising aspirations, offering and promoting varied opportunities and providing impartial and independent information and guidance.
DRHS is committed to providing all students in Years 7-13 with a Careers Programme that has been developed in line with the eight Gatsby benchmarks for ensuring best practice and to meet the requirements of the Department for Education’s statutory guidance 2018.
Jane Steele, Deputy Headteacher, is the Careers Lead for Denmark Road High School. 01452 543335, steelej@denmarkroad.org. Jane Steele is currently working towards the Level 6 Diploma in Careers Education and Guidance.
Careers Programme
The Careers programme at DRHS has been planned across Years 7 – 13 to support students in gaining the skills and knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their future.
The core programme is delivered through the Careers in Tutorial Programme. This programme has been specifically arranged to enable progression and development, through the use of Unifrog, from Years 7 and 13 and to meet the Gatsby benchmarks. Each student has their own account.
Unifrog
Unifrog is a fully comprehensive, impartial careers platform that allows students to become further immersed in learning about their future options. It is used as a key tool in the delivery of Careers within the Learning for Life programme throughout the whole school.
Every student has their own account which they can access at any time from any device. The tools, activities and opportunities presented by Unifrog are supported by Form Tutors. Every term, students are asked to reflect on their key competencies and activities within Unifrog. This helps students to chart skill development and allows them to reflect on the opportunities they have both at home and at school to personally develop. If any parent/carer would like a trial account then please contact Jane Steele.
In addition, there are other events and activities that are planned alongside the Tutorial programme to support Careers at DRHS. For example:
- STEM INVEST days, competitions and activities
- Arts INVEST days, workshops and visiting artists
- Year 9 Options Evening – for students to discuss GCSE options with subject staff
- 1:1 KS 4 pathway meetings with SLT for all Year 9 students to discuss their options
- 1:1 Post-16 pathway meetings with SLT for all Year 11 students to talk through their post-16 plans
- Maths Inspiration
- GCSE and A Level Science Live
- Girls Get Set – national project with GE
- STEP Up Programme in Year 11 and 12 to support students aiming for Oxbridge
- Year 11 and Year 13 practice interviews carried out by professionals from a range of career areas
- Sixth Form Open Evening – for students to find out more about each course, life in the sixth form and the support available (e.g. with UCAS)
- UCAS and Apprenticeship open days
- Support with UCAS and Apprenticeship applications and personal statements
- Access to employers, business and work environments through trips and events
- Future Proof – access to support and guidance from professional mentors
- FE, HE and Employers Careers Fair [from 2020/2021] for students to find out more about further and higher education, apprenticeships, employment and training
7 – 13 Careers in Tutorial Programme (Unifrog)
Independent Advice and Guidance
At DRHS we work with two independent and highly qualified Careers Advisors who carry out at least one 1:1 30 to 40-minute career interview with all students in both KS4 and KS5.
Additionally, students can choose to purchase life-long access to Morrisby, an online careers platform and this is funded by the school for students eligible for support through Pupil Premium or Forces Premium. Our Careers Advisors are fully trained Morrisby Advisors.
Careers and Labour Market Information
We think it is very important that students (and parents) have access to a wide range of information about different careers and also the labour market.
Careers related information and guidance specifically relates to careers, jobs and training. At DRHS this includes advice and guidance on choices and options at KS4, Post-16 and Post- 18 – for example applying for an apprenticeship, taking a gap year or going to university in the UK or abroad.
Labour market information is about current work and job/apprenticeship opportunities in specific locations. This includes information about companies and organisations, industries, occupations and professions. It also includes information on the labour market in terms of past and present trends as well as future demands which can be useful for students thinking about post-university opportunities.
There are a wide range of sources for this information and it is an area that changes regularly.
Some sources of information are included in our careers programme, such as Unifrog and UCAS.
There are also some examples of additional online and published resources can be found in the table at the bottom of this page.
Experience of the Workplace
All students in Year 10 (2020/2021 Activities Week) and Year 12 (June 2021) take part in a week’s work experience. In addition, Year 12 students can have a weekly work placement on Thursdays as part of our INVEST curriculum.
Signposting Opportunities
Throughout the year, the school is made aware of new and current opportunities that relate to careers that are not part of the planned programme.
Many of these are sent to the school by email and so we are not always able to verify the quality of the offer. However, we do our best to find out if other schools are aware of them or if they are from known providers. In most cases, we then pass the details on to parents and students.
For example, in September 2020 Mrs Dunnett, Progress and Wellbeing Coordinator for Year 12 sent out information from Trinity College, Cambridge about studying Maths/STEM or Languages.
Online Resources for Students, Parents and Carers
Paper Resources [Available from DRHS Careers Library]
|
Resource |
Overview |
Additional information |
|
Careers 2020
Published annually by Optimus Education Resources
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Up to date information on careers and labour market. |
Detailed job/career profiles:
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Mandor Portman Woodward Getting into Law
Emily Lucas Published by Trotman
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Other titles include:
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Comprehensive careers information. For Law:
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The Times/The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020
John O’Leary Published annually by Collins
|
A comprehensive guide to the process of choosing a course, university (UK/abroad) and the application process.
Compare universities. |
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University Prospectuses 2020 |
Having looked at The Times University Guide – a good follow up is to read the individual prospectus universities on your long/short list.
Arranged A – Z in DRHS Careers Library.
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Glossy guide to:
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Royal Air Force Sponsored in partnership with the National Apprenticeship Service.
The Apprenticeship Guide 2020 Published annually by Optimus Education Resources
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A comprehensive and up to date guide to a huge range of local and national apprenticeships |
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University Interviews – Top answers and insider tips
Ian Stannard and Godrey Cooper Published by Trotman
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A practical guide to preparing for interviews for university and apprenticeships – with details of recommended further reading |
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Impact and Review
Throughout the year, students are asked to reflect on their progress within careers through Unifrog. This helps students to chart skill development and allows them to reflect on the opportunities they have had to personally develop.
At the end of the academic year we will measure the impact of our careers programme:
We will review Unifrog, as our main careers tool in the school, to see the progress our students have made in terms of skills and experiences.
We also look at how our students and tutors have made use of Unifrog resources during the year and review this by key stage in order to refine our plans for the following year.
Additionally, we consider student engagement – for example we review the proportion of:
- Students in each key stage who encounter the workplace or higher education during the academic year
- KS4 and KS5 who have a 1:1 career meeting with a qualified Careers Advisor
- Year 10 (from 2020/2021) and Year 12 students who take part in work experience
- Year 11 and 13 students who take part in practice interviews
- KS5 students completing MOOCs
- Year 11 students going on to post-16 courses
- Year 13 students going on to post-18 courses
Our Careers programme is reviewed annually using the Compass Tool to ensure that our provision meets the Gatsby benchmarks.
In 2020/2021, Jane Steele, Careers Lead started working with the Gloucestershire Learning and Enterprise Partnership, LEP who have access to the Compass Tool results and are able to support schools in moving forward with careers.
Please see the latest Career Provider Access Statement.