Careers Programme Information
Careers Leads – Mrs E McCarten and Mrs J Iley
At St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, we provide students with comprehensive careers information, advice and guidance to enable them to become effective decision makers and to plan for their future careers. We seek to raise their aspirations and make them aware of all the options and opportunities available to them.
All students have an entitlement to careers support and they will receive personal one to one sessions with our independant Careers advisor, where they will receive impartial and realistic information, advice and guidance. Students will all follow a career education programme throughout their time at St. Michael’s.
All students will participate drop down activities during National Careers Week - Week commencing 3rd March 2025.
STEM
At St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, the core STEM subjects work to enhance the awareness and importance of key STEM related skills, cross curricular links and future careers in STEM based subjects. This allows students to enrich their learning experience in core STEM subjects with a view to enhancing their grades and preparing for success at KS4.
Employability skills
We work closely with local employers to make sure that we develop necessary skills for the world of work.
Throughout the year, visiting speakers from businesses such as The BBC, The NHS, The Army and Royal Navy will be welcomed to the Academy to speak to students in all year groups students about the importance of employability skills.
Careers Event
During the Academic year, all students will have the opportunity to attend our annual Careers fair. Previous attendees include:
- Tesco
- Stockton Borough Council
- The Army
- Navy
- Stockton 6th Form, Bede 6th Form, Middlesbrough College and TTE, Hartlepool 6th form, Gateshead college and Stockton Riverside College and NETA
- Teesside, Newcastle, Cambridge, Oxford and Durham University
Individual Guidance
All Y11 students attend an individual careers guidance session to help prioritize needs and give students ideas on appropriate careers and further education pathways. Guidance is also available from year 9 to help students with the option choices.
Careers education for young people is vital for our students to be able to go and achieve their dreams and goals in life. We understand most students come to us with very little knowledge of the world of work, and they need to be supported to help them make informed choices. We have an established Careers Plan for all students at St. Michael’s Catholic Academy to ensure that all students develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the workplace by the time they leave us.
An Introduction to Higher Education
Higher education is the term given to qualifications you may choose to study at 18 after completing further education. Higher Education qualifications are level 4 and above. In the North East we are lucky to have so many great providers of higher education so there is a range of choice available about what you study and where you study. Some careers require applicants to hold a specific higher education qualification, e.g. Doctors, dentists and teachers, however many careers favour those with a higher education qualification.
Labour Market Information
To help you understand the local labour market and they types of jobs that are available in the Tees Valley area there are a selection of useful resources here to tell you about the current vacancies and growth sectors. There is also lots of useful information on the Tees Valley Careers Website at https://www.teesvalleycareers.com/education/resources/ or you can create your own free profile here and get lots of relevant careers information, using the Start Profile App. For more Labour Market Information: https://www.lmiforall.org.uk/
Feedback
If you are a student, teacher, employer or parent/carer and would like to provide some feedback about Careers in the academy, what we are doing well or how we could improve, please contact:
Careers Leads:
Mrs E McCarten - emccarten@stmichaels.bhcet.org.uk
Mrs J Iley - jiley@stmichaels.bhcet.org.uk
In this section you will you will be able to explore careers and think about which pathways would be suitable for you. During your time at St Michael’s Catholic Academy, it is important that you use your time wisely to make informed choices about your future career, regardless of which year group you are in. You should start by thinking about what career you might want to do, and do some research, often there is more to your chosen career than you think!
At St Michael’s Catholic Academy, we aim to support you to acquire educational and employability skills necessary for the world of work.
There are lots of websites which can help you, here are some to get you started:
- National Careers Service https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
- National Apprenticeship Service https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
- National Citizen Service https://wearencs.com/
- Voluntary Opportunities https://doit.life/
Careers Guidance
At St Michael’s Catholic Academy, Chris Rea is the Careers Advisor. He will meet with students on Thursday’s and Fridays to discuss careers and future steps.
We understand parents/carers can often find it daunting supporting their child with finding their future career and that parents/carers are one of the most influential factors in students decision making.
Here are some simple steps you can follow to help support your child.
- Talk to them about their current grades and their target grades – always encourage them to aim high!
- Discuss where they want to be and research how to get there.
- Use links on the careers website to obtain information.
- Encourage them to seek advice when needed.
- Encourage them to seek work experience.
- If you require any further information, contact a member of the careers team.
St Michael’s Catholic Academy, along with yourself and a range of career professionals, businesses and training providers will support your son’s/daughter’s career development in numerous ways including:
Information and discussion in PSHE lessons and assemblies to help them make decisions about their future
- Activities and events such as employability days during National Careers Week
- Careers Convention
- College and Sixth Form visits (Year 10)
- Access to careers advisers
We always welcome any support employers, businesses and training providers can offer with helping to deliver a rich career programme for our students.
We have numerous activities happening throughout the year which can be seen on our Careers Plan.
If you feel you could offer any support or would like to come into school, please get in touch with us.
If you would like to read our Provider’s Access Policy, please find it here:
A provider wishing to request access should contact Judith Iley or Emily McCarten.
Email: stm-careers@stmichaels.bhcet.org.uk
Application:
In this section you will find information on apprenticeships.
What is an apprenticeship? - https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/what-is-an-apprenticeship
Finding an apprenticeship - https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
Throughout the year, this section will be updated to show apprenticeships in the Northeast.
| Destinations | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Further Education | 71% | 75% | 72% |
| School Sixth Form | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Sixth Form College | 8% | 8% | 16% |
| Other Education | 1% | 0% | 1% |
| Employment | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 8% | 5% | 4% |
| Not Captured | 0% | 1% | 1% |
Please find below several useful websites that are linked to Careers.
STEM website – https://www.stem.org.uk/
Career Pilot Advisor zone – https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/adviser-zone
TES website – https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/EC_Resources?sortBy=lowestPrice
Into film resources and activities – https://www.intofilm.org/
Learn Live careers videos – https://learnliveuk.com/
BBC Bitesize resources – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/careers
Discover Creative careers website – https://discovercreative.careers/#/
Go Construct website – https://www.goconstruct.org/
PWC Employability Skills – https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/our-purpose/empowered-people-communities/social-mobility/employability-skills-toolkit.html
University virtual tours – https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-and-where-study/open-days-and-events/virtual-tours
Youth Employment careers activities – https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/free-skills-careers-activities-booklet-for-young-people/
Book resources – https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/downloads-shop/beating-the-virus?rq=beat
The SEN resources blog - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpkztoFHIgP4jpJDKWNWaHA
The Tees Valley Combined Authority have a dedicated careers team who work with St Michael’s Catholic Academy and employers in the local area to ensure students are aware of the opportunities in the Tees Valley area.
You can access their website using the following link:
In this section you will find information on Open Events for local Sixth Forms and Colleges along with websites links.
Links for local Sixth Forms and Colleges:
https://www.stockton.ac.uk/home
https://hartlepoolsixth.ac.uk/
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