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 Youth Directions, 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.
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Careers and Uniforg | Careers and Options Unifrog launch | Careers Marketplace Unifrog launch | Employer and employee talks Unifrog launch | College, University and Careers Marketplace |
| STEM Opportunities Fujifilm Johnson Matthey | Careers in the Curriculum STEM workshop | Academy Options Process - Opportunity for guidance | Individual Career Guidance The BIG project | Individual and group Career Guidance The BIG project |
| Employer and employee talks from a range of industries and sectors. | Labour Market Intelligence – NHS workshop | University Visits College inspire days | Discovery week -Business and College visits Army experience day | College Application Process |
| BBC Bitesize - Innovation and Story telling | Employer and employee talks from a range of industries and sectors | Leadership Academy | University visits | Careers fairs with colleges, universities, employer and employee |
| PSHE Future Careers | PSHE Financial Capabilities | PSHE Careers, options and the world of work | PSHE Developing career management and employability skills Preparing for work experience | Revision and study skills Applying to sixth forms/colleges CV writing |
All students will participate drop down activities during National Careers Week - Week commencing 6th March 2023.
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, Middlesbrough Football Club, BP, The Army and Royal Navy, Johnson and Matthey and Lucite International Ltd will be welcomed to the Academy to speak to students in all year groups students about the importance of employability skills.
Careers Event
Towards the end of Year 10 students get an opportunity to be involved in a discovery week where they spend time visiting local and regional businesses, colleges, and universities to find out more about the wide range of further education and careers available to them. In 2022/2023 the list of businesses, colleges and universities involved will include the following:
- Tesco
- Vertu Motors
- Fujifilm
- Johnson Matthey
- Trace Co
- The Arc
- 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
During Careers week, (week commencing 6th March 2023) St Michael’s Catholic Academy will host a careers convention demonstrating the links to the local business community, in which, Labour Market Information (LMI) can be shared with all students from Year 7 to Year 11.
Year 10/11 College Marketplace
All year 10/11 students are given time to collect information from regional and local colleges and universities. The armed forces, some local businesses and Apprenticeship providers are also in attendance.
Youth Directions (Opportunities) – 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 are developing a new 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
Miss J Anderson - judith.anderson@stmichaels.bhcet.org.uk