Careers

Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)

At King Edward VI School, Lichfield we are committed to providing our students with careers education, information, advice and guidance at key stages of their school life. The careers information and support provided is designed to empower students to enable them to make realistic career choices and decisions that they feel confident about. We do this by raising their awareness of what is available, increasing their aspirations and by encouraging them to recognise their strengths and weaknesses.

We work closely with students at the key transition points of their school career. At Key Stage 3 (Years 7 to 9) the focus is on looking at the wider job market, employability skills and GCSE options. Whilst at Key Stage 4 (Years 10 to 11), the focus is on career profiles, understanding and identifying their own skills and planning for their immediate post-16 future. To enable this, students in Year 10 undertake a week of work experience, to help them understand the world of work and the skills that are required in the workplace. There is a more pragmatic focus in Year 11, with students experiencing mock interviews, preparing CVs and completing their Record of Achievement folders. There is also the opportunity for Year 11 to discover the academic and vocational post-16 options open to them. Finally, the focus in the Sixth Form is on university choices, job seeking, higher apprenticeships, gap year opportunities, etc. All students follow a careers programme from Years 7-13 within the fortnightly PSHE lessons.

All students will have a careers interview during Year 10 or Year 11, and they will receive an action plan after their appointment to help direct their next steps. Careers appointments can be useful for making choices whether that be options at 14, 16 or 18. Helping to work out a career path, discovering career routes, university choices, finding apprenticeships, job opportunities or work experience/voluntary work.

Apprenticeship opportunities/vacancies or open days are advertised in school, on the school website, or in the school newsletter.

As well as providing impartial advice and guidance in school we offer activities and workshops to supplement guidance in school, such as:

• Mentoring from the local business community
• Careers talks
• Apprenticeship talks
• National Citizen Service
• National Apprenticeship Service
• Workplace visits
• Careers fair
• UCAS HE exhibition
• University visits

Unifrog

Unifrog is our fantastic online careers platform currently being rolled out to students in Year 9 upwards.

Unifrog brings together a whole range of careers information in one place, helping students to not only research college courses, university courses and apprenticeships but also allowing them to easily explore career profiles, build employability skills and competencies and take part in enrichment opportunities.

We also use the Unifrog Placement Tool to help manage our work experience programme.

Sign in - Unifrog

Gatsby Benchmarks

King Edward VI School’s CEIAG programme is aligned closely to the Gatsby benchmarks, which is a framework of good practice in careers education and guidance. The benchmarks are as follows:

• A stable careers programme
• Learning from career and labour market information
• Addressing the needs of each pupil
• Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Encounters with employers and employees
• Experiences of workplaces
• Encounters with further and higher education
• Personal guidance

The school’s Careers Framework links closely to the Gatsby benchmarks and sets out our provision for students from Year 7 through to Year 13.

Careers Framework

Careers Staff 

Employer Links and Work Experience

We welcome employers and outside speakers to King Edward VI School, Lichfield and we recognise how this can help to inform and inspire our students. If you would like to introduce your company, organisation or service to our students, please get in contact. Through the year we have a careers fair, work experience, assembly or lunch time talks. We also welcome employers to help our students in preparation for working life with interview practice, CV skills, mentoring, enterprise activities or workplace visits. Work experience is also offered to Year 10 in July. Please get in touch if you are an employer or are self-employed and would like to be involved at the school by contacting Kelly Baker at careers@keslichfield.org.uk.

Our Provider Access Policy has the school’s arrangements for managing the access of providers to students 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.

Provider Access Policy

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub

We are proud to be part of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub. The Hub works closely with the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) to further expand and improve our careers programme within the school. Our careers provision is externally critiqued by the CEC, to assess how we perform against other schools in meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks.

Careers and Enterprise Company Enterprise Coordinator: Helen Brown (Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub - CEC)

Contact

If you have a query about careers, please get in touch with our Careers Advisor, Mrs K Baker at careers@keslichfield.org.uk. 

Useful Labour Market Information 

LMI For All 

A portal that provides high quality, reliable labour market information (LMI) to inform careers decisions.

National Careers websites

Local Further Education Websites

Higher Education Websites

Local Training and Apprenticeships websites