Careers Guidance

At Beaconsfield High School we aim to prepare our students to go on to Higher Education, Apprenticeships or to skilled employment and to enable them to make a significant contribution to society. While qualifications continue to be very important we recognise the significance of the soft employability skills. Please see our Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Policy.

In January 2018 the Department of Education issued new Statutory Careers Guidance which outlined the eight Gatsby Benchmarks which schools should meet by 2020. The benchmarks are:

A stable career programme

Learning from career and labour market information

Addressing the needs of every student

Linking curriculum learning to careers

Encounters with employers and employees

Experience of workplaces

Encounters with Further and Higher Education

Personal guidance

The school is currently working towards meeting these requirements. For up to date careers information please go to the Bucks Skills Hub website.

Overview of our Careers Programme

We have a comprehensive programme of careers education, advice and guidance which is threaded throughout the life of the school. This programme is delivered in a wide variety of ways: in assemblies, in subject specific lessons, PSHCE dropdown days, visitors to the school sharing their career experiences as part of their talk eg author visits and special events like the Speed Networking Event for year 11 students.. Staff receive training on Careers in the Curriculum and are encouraged to share their world of work experiences with the students. Please see the School Careers Plan for this academic year . Alongside this, Our Getting Life Ready (GLR) strategy, recognises the importance of the key/soft skills for future advancement and employability. Please see the GLR and Careers document for further details. Our STEM activities/days take place throughout the year, challenging students to develop a set of key/soft skills, including collaboration and team building activities within the STEM context.

Students are regularly emailed with information on a range of careers, including factual information with weblinks, weekend and holiday courses and work experience opportunities. Each year there is a week of career assemblies to help students appreciate the wide range of job opportunities available to them. We also advertise local and national careers fairs. There are other opportunities available to students, for example Arkwright Engineering Scholarship Y10 & Y11 which is aimed at inspiring school-age students to be the country’s future leaders of the Engineering Profession.

Students in Year 12 and 13 are given extensive guidance about their possible next steps (including university applications and other post 18 options, such as apprenticeships and jobs), by our sixth form team. There is also a programme of career talks given by alumni, parents and other people involved in a variety of career paths. These are great opportunities for students to learn from professionals and ask questions in a wide range of fields and inspire them towards their future career goals. Each year a Futures Fair afternoon and evening is organised with university stalls, apprenticeship providers and helpful talks for both students and parents for Y11 students in the afternoon and Y12 students in the evening. Every week there is a sixth form bulletin which covers information on the variety of next steps possible and other opportunities available to that age group.

Our impartial ADVIZA (careers) adviser, regularly visits the school to conduct individual careers interviews with Y10-13 students and is available at the Y9 Parents Evening and the Y12 UCAS day. All Year 11 students have an individual interview with a member of the Leadership Team to discuss their post 16 choices. The school continues to measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on students through the Gatsby Benchmarks and Compass Tracker tool. It is also working towards developing a questionnaire/survey on student career experiences.

Supporting our Careers Programme

Emma Pritchard, Assistant Headteacher is the strategic lead for Careers. Steph Sullivan is the Careers Leader. You can contact them via email careersleader@beaconsfieldhigh.bucks.sch.uk or via the main school switchboard 01494 673043

Our two Enterprise Advisors are:

Lisa Gill

Lisa Gill

Lisa Gill became our Enterprise Advisor in September 2021. Â She has a strong business background with over 10 year's experience in sales management for the pharmaceutical industry. Â Lisa now owns her own wedding photography business and is also a co-founder of Â It's All Savvy, a tech start-up Company that has moved into global markets. Â Lisa has a special interest in helping girls to access careers in previously male-dominated sectors.
Gareth Thomas

Gareth Thomas

Gareth Thomas became our Enterprise Advisor in September 2021. Â After reading Chemistry at Oxford University, Â Gareth began working for PwC and became a Taxation specialist. Â He then moved to Deloitte and now is a Director at Teneo.

We welcome parental involvement in our careers programme at Beaconsfield High School. During the year we have many careers events which include; assemblies, enrichment programme and sixth form mock interviews etc. We welcome volunteer parental support with such events. We also showcase different careers via short films or in written format e.g. Career Spotlights half termly Careers Newsletter. If you are happy to write or record something please do get in touch with Mrs Sullivan, Careers Leader via careersleader@beaconsfieldhigh.bucks.sch.uk

Responding to Parental Survey Feedback

Labour Market Information

Labour Market Information (LMI) tells you about labour market opportunities. This includes skills, career pathways and progression routes in the local labour market; educational institutions, courses, qualifications, entry requirements and costs; employment sectors, employers, jobs, salaries and employment trends. At BHS we provide comprehensive guidance and information for students and parents about future study; Year 9 Options events, Year 11 Networking Event, Year 11 Advice and Guidance meetings, Year 12 UCAS preparation, Year 12 Enrichment talks, PSHCE drop-down days to name but a few. You may however also be interested in local LMI and how sectors in Buckinghamshire are developing. Please find below a presentation from the Bucks Skills Hub on ‘Understanding the local job market for parents’. There is some great information on local employers - always good to know when students are thinking about finding work experience/ work shadowing experience. Please click here for a PowerPoint sent to all parents as part of our April 2021 careers update. Please do go through this with your child.

For further information please use these links:-

Labour Market Information Buckinghamshire 2020

Labour Market Information Jan - Mar 2020

An Overview of Skills in Buckinghamshire - Bucks Head Teachers Conference July 2020

This shorter 30-minute student version has been shared with students during lesson time.

Watch this four-minute video for information about companies and careers based in Buckinghamshire:

Download a copy of Careers in Buckinghamshire here.

Labour Market Information Creative Industries LMI

LMI Infographics

Why not try out Careerometer (below), it's simple way to get access to labour market information and allows you to compare one job with another, to compare the average earnings, working hours and predicted job openings.

Explore a Career in...

Degree Level Apprenticeships

For further information on apprenticeships and independent providers, click here and for further information click here.

Apprenticeships Feb 2020

gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeship-vacancies

Watch a 15 minute film about apprenticeships!

Beginners Guide to Apprenticeships

Work Insight Day (4 February 2022)

Y11 Careers Networking Event 2021 (07 December 2021)

Chiltern Rangers Work Insight Day (12 June 2021)

National Film School Remote Work Insight Day (09 November 2020)

Chiltern Rangers Work Insight Day (02 November 2020)

Work Insight Day (28 September 2020)

Careers Assemblies HU (2nd March 2020)

Work Insight Day

The next Year 10 Work Insight Day is planned for 17th January 2023

On this day (during the Inset day) we are asking parents/guardians of Year 10 students to support their child in a Work Insight Day: a parent, a family member, or a trusted family friend can facilitate a workplace experience. This should be between half a day and a full day of work shadowing (it can also be virtual, if working from home). It does not need to be linked to the child’s current career interests or aspirations; it is about getting an insight into the world of work.

The Work Insight Day is an opportunity for students:

1) To be set a workplace task (see Handbook emailed to students, or this Q&A document for ideas);

2) To speak to at least two work colleagues or clients, and fill in this Handbook to record their experiences. This Handbook should be saved in the appropriate OneDrive folder once completed.

3) Parents should ensure that the feedback given to the student on the task they completed is recorded on the final page.

If employers would like more information about Work Insight Day, please share this document with them. Thank you so very much to parents/guardians for thinking creatively and supporting this important careers initiative.

Provider Access

Beaconsfield High School is open for other providers to speak to students. Please see our Provider Access Policy. Further details of our Visitor Code of Conduct and Protocol can be found here.

Online careers support

To support students along the way we subscribe to a useful website which students would find helpful to explore: eclips-online.co.uk

There are many useful websites on careers, which allow access to search for opportunities, explore careers and apprenticeship opportunities and gain experience within local businesses. Some examples are given below:

nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk (also provides online access to a careers advisor).

wannabebucks.org

Warwick University Labour Market Information - Future Trends

uk.jobted.com

milkround.com/school-leavers

targetcareers.co.uk

10 Steps to Exploring Careers

HSBC Early Careers Programme

HSBC Early Careers Programme - Presentation

Careers Podcasts

Developing Soft Skills

The National Careers Service