Teacher info
Education empowers students with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to build a better future for themselves, their families, and their community. At our school, every student develops the confidence and courage to be themselves and has access to opportunities that unlock future success. A big part of this is our careers provision.
“All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. Subject teachers should highlight the relevance of subjects for a wide range of future career paths.”
Gatsby 4 – Linking curriculum learning to careers
What role do staff play in careers education?
You are key in nurturing students’ career ambitions as a staff member. If you are a subject specialist, you can provide unique perspectives on careers related to your fields. If you are a form tutor, you will often have more frequent interactions with students than the careers team, allowing you to form closer bonds and have essential conversations about future options.
What are the Gatsby principles?
Our Careers Leader, Rob Blyth, is working to ensure that all eight Gatsby benchmarks are embedded and achieved within our school or college. One crucial benchmark for teachers is Benchmark 4 – linking curriculum learning to careers.
Our careers overview
Our comprehensive careers advice and guidance program is designed to support students in their journey from education to employment.
We focus on three areas:
Individualisation
Ensuring that each student’s unique aspirations and skills are nurtured and developed. Our program aims to increase aspiration and provide essential skills development, including CV writing, interview techniques, and effective research methods for jobs, apprenticeships, colleges, and universities.
Knowledge development
Helping students understand their own interests and skills, and become aware of various career routes. Through discussions with external careers advisors, work shadowing in KS4, and work experience in KS5, we provide practical insights into the working world. The START platform aids students in exploring career ideas and creating personal skills profiles.
Decision refinement
Addresses gender stereotyping and broadens students’ awareness of options and choices. We help them hone their ideas, match them to appropriate qualifications, and refine their choices as they move from KS3 to KS4, KS4 to KS5, and beyond. We aim to ensure each student reaches their desired outcome and secures a destination appropriate for their ambitions and abilities.
Here’s how our programme develops throughout each year. We continuously use START web-based careers support and offer working lunches and visits with employers and providers.
- Awareness of career possibilities and exploring own skills
- Issues around gender stereotyping considered
- Year 7 Careers Morning using START
- Developing knowledge of possible careers
- Introduction to local labour market information
- Year 8 afternoon with Business – Use of START to explore career options and personal profiles
- Careers learning linked to qualification choices
- Year 9 Careers afternoon – Carousel of 12 businesses discussing entry routes and qualification requirements
- Careers learning linked to post-16 choices, including apprenticeships, colleges, and companies
- Afternoon session with choice of 3 careers more closely tied to career aspirations
- ‘Moving On into Year 11’ day at the end of Year 10
- Access to an external careers advisor
- UCAS talks and university talks, including Oxbridge visits
- Apprenticeship talks
- Support with UCAS personal statements and applications
- Support with apprenticeship choices and applications
What do we do in lessons?
In lessons, we help students develop essential skills such as planning and decision-making, selecting relevant evidence, and showing initiative. We also guide students on working effectively in groups, honing evaluative skills, writing effective reports, and taking effective notes. Additionally, we focus on enhancing students’ presentation skills, financial literacy, and IT capabilities, ensuring a well-rounded skill set for future success.
Here are the top ten skills employers seek. They can be divided into three categories: how students work, how they think, and how they work with others. Click on each skill below for more information and ways students can develop it.
- follow instructions, making sure you do not always have to be told what to do and when
- put forward your own ideas
- see something through to the end, and not be put off by setbacks
How students can develop these skills:
- finish work without being asked
- work without help – but know when to ask for it
- suggest new ideas
- plan your work to meet deadlines and targets
- organise your own time and coordinate with others
- monitor and adjust the progress of your work to stay on track
How students can develop these skills:
- help organise an event or project
- plan your revision timetable
- calmly change plans if you run out of time, or something unexpected happens
- meet deadlines and targets
- handle the pressure that comes with meeting deadlines and targets
- ensure that you are seen as a reliable person
How students can develop these skills:
- finish work before the deadline, using that time to check and improve it
- plan and make the most of available time
- prioritise your commitments inside and outside school or college
- learn new things
- learn from successes and failures
- adapt and do things better
How students can develop these skills:
- think how to make your work even better
- put yourself forward when there are chances to learn new skills
- share your ideas and use feedback to improve your work
- explain and present what you mean clearly, whether written or verbal
- do your best to understand others
How students can develop these skills:
- do a presentation or speak with an audience
- take part in debates
- give instructions to others
- understand how you and others work best together
- get things done when working with people with different skills, backgrounds and personalities
How students can develop these skills:
- plan ahead when working with others
- take account of how your team are feeling when you work together
- think about what you and others want and need
- ‘give and take’ fairly when working with others
How students can develop these skills:
- look for ideas that benefit others as well as yourself
- carry out a school/college enterprise or STEM project that involves agreeing prices
- ask a favour of someone, supported by offering something in return
- respect others
- value the skills and experience that different people have
- show consideration for the needs of different people
How students can develop these skills:
- work with people who have different skills
- make sure everyone is involved in conversations and activities
- identify key issues in a problem
- use your knowledge and experience when tackling problems
- develop and test possible solutions
How students can develop these skills:
- design objects and materials in design and technology or plan a STEM Club project
- analyse results in maths or science
- evaluate a topic in science or humanities
- use numbers and data to support your work and obtain meaningful information
- apply your valuable IT skills
How students can develop these skills:
- use numerical evidence in a science practical, STEM project or business idea
- help your family with budgeting or other money decisions
- learn new IT skills such as coding
5 top tips on integrating careers into teaching
- Know our careers programme
Look out for upcoming careers events. This will help you link your subject to those events or gather feedback from students who attended. - Bring in outside speakers
If you want to bring in an outside speaker, talk with our Careers Leader, who likely has contacts. - Include employability skills in lessons
Communication, teamwork, and public speaking can be included in your schemes of work. - Stay up to date with options
Keep informed about new options for young people, such as T-levels or changes in university finance. - Explore Career Pilot’s subjects and jobs links
Use the ‘Start with our subject’ section on Career Pilot to explore different jobs related to your subject area.
Make links to careers or work clear
Here are some sample phrases to help you signal to students that the learning you are about to share also relates to careers, career planning, and the workplace.
- ‘When you’re working …’
- ‘When you go to University …’
- ‘When you do an apprenticeship …’
- ‘No one in a meeting when you are at work will tell you …’
- ‘You may not realise it, but what we are doing today is the same skill you will use at work when …’
Our careers resources
You might find it helpful to bookmark three key sections of this website—the information and resources we share with parents, Sixth Form students, and pupils in KS3 and KS4.
Cumbria Careers Hub has also provided many resources to help you integrate careers into your teaching and achieve Gatsby Benchmark 4.
