Delivering outstanding CEIAG in schools
Bishop Challoner Catholic College in Birmingham is a highly successful secondary school and sixth form centre that prides itself on its strong sense of community and student achievement.
In 2009, Bishop Challoner Catholic College was awarded 'Grade 1 - Outstanding' by Ofsted.
Bishop Challoner Catholic College uses CASCAiD programs with its pupils from Year 7 through to Year 13.
Emma Darby is a Student Services Officer at Bishop Challoner Catholic College. Emma said,
"We use Kudos in one-to-one Student Services and Connexions interviews for Year 10 and 11 students, as well as in structured PSHE lessons for younger students. As Kudos is available on the internet, students can access it at home to follow up on the work done in school."
"In June, we provide an Enrichment Week for our Year 12 students which aims to focus them on their direction beyond Year 13. An introduction to Careerscape forms part of this week. We also rely on Careerscape in one-to-one interviews with Year 12 and 13 students, whether they are applying to university or not, when helping to firm up career choices."
"Our newest CASCAiD program is Launchpad. Launchpad falls neatly into our Year 9 PSHE lessons which are scheduled in the lead up to Year 9 options. We will be using Launchpad in the next few months in lesson time. It is currently used in interviews with Year 9 pupils who are undecided about their option choices, either with Connexions or our Student Services staff."
Emma has found that each of the CASCAiD programs that are used at Bishop Challoner Catholic College has key features which benefit the pupils.
On Kudos, Emma said,
"In Kudos, the likes and dislikes questionnaire is always a very useful feature in terms of the matched suggestions at the end but also in terms of making careers fun. Evaluations from our pupils suggest that pupils who begin with the questionnaire enjoy using it and are engaged in the software and the process thereafter. The A-Z menu of careers is particularly useful for pupils who think they are sure of the career they wish to pursue. It gives them accurate information about the roles which they had not previously considered and allows them to match their own strengths and qualities against those that the role requires."
"Having completed the likes and dislikes questions, the suggested careers, as well as 'My Own Career Ideas', clearly highlight whether it is a suitable career for the pupil in the 'Suitable for You?' section of the career information. Older pupils find this facility extremely useful. It is also an excellent guidance tool for one-to-one work as advisers can talk through why it is or isn't a suitable career choice and how answers that they gave in the questionnaire might have influenced this."
"Your own career ideas is a very useful facility which is often a first port of call to obtain accurate, up-to-date and pupil-friendly information about a career idea. This can help them to understand their career idea in new ways, eg, the demand for that particular role, the training required and the progression in such a role. This can either confirm or reject the career as a serious idea."
Emma also finds Careerscape very useful, especially with sixth form students. Emma said,
"The Higher Education section is a very well used function of Careerscape for our Sixth Form students. Its up-to-date HE course information is linked directly to UCAS and is therefore naturally reliable as a research tool which enables students to explore and research course ideas. It helps our students explore the full range of courses available to them."
"The course filter function is of particular use to them as they have immediate access to the courses they are researching in the geographical areas of preference. We encourage all our Year 12 students to research HE courses using this facility because, even if they are not considering HE and feel sure they have made that decision, they can look at the courses without feeling the pressure of being on the UCAS website."
"The Career Families section also gives students alternative ideas to the ones they have already which raises awareness of other career choices which may also suit them."
"The Subject Link articles in Careerscape explain in detail what skills can be gained by studying the subjects they are either looking to do or have already chosen and outline the many different types of careers that they can go into as a result of studying a particular subject."
"We signpost students to the General Information section for initial information on a range of topics, for example, interviewing skills. Students can also take away printouts after one-to-one interviews to remind them of the main points that have been discussed about gap years or volunteering, etc."
"We also plan to utilise the career videos more during our Enrichment Week, assemblies and PSHE sessions."
Having recently subscribed to CASCAiD's Key Stage 3 program, Launchpad, Emma said,
"The subject information in Launchpad will be the key feature for our students in lessons as it is in the one-to-one interviews currently. They want to know what each subject offers them. Launchpad tells them the kind of things they will learn, how exactly they will learn and how they will be assessed, etc. To give them an idea as to where this could take them long term, it gives related career suggestions to the subject they are researching."
"Launchpad includes information on GCSE and Diploma subjects. To have a program which can give pupils clear information on what and how they will learn and what functional skills are, etc, is exceptionally useful and is one of the reasons that we bought this package and we are looking forward to introducing our Year 9s to it in PSHE shortly. We will use the program in conjunction with the supporting lesson plans, which are ideal."
"The Skills Profile is useful in helping pupils consider how suitable subjects are for them as individuals on the strength of the answers they gave in the quiz."
Emma also highlighted the key benefits of each program to students. Emma said,
"Kudos enhances awareness of careers and enables pupils to see what kind of careers may or may not be suitable for them based on their current likes and dislikes, areas of strength and intended level of academic achievement."
"Careerscape gives students ideas about alternative careers to the more mainstream careers that they are familiar with. It also brings together subject, career and HE course information so that students, in essence, have a one-stop research shop. Generally, students progress from the career information to the HE information and this leads on to further UCAS research and ultimately suitable applications."
"Launchpad generates discussions between pupils, and between pupils and teachers, as to what subjects offer and what are best suited to them as individuals based on their areas of strength and interest. Pupils start to see the relevance of subject choice in relation to their future career."
In conclusion, Emma said,
"All the CASCAiD programs greatly enhance the careers guidance provision that we offer at Bishop Challoner Catholic College from Years 7 to 13. The programs give our students access to up-to-date and accurate careers information, as well as the opportunity to consider their personal choices carefully and to reflect on their individual qualities in accordance with potential careers."
"As an adviser, I find the flexibility of the tools the most beneficial; they can be used independently, in school or at home, as well as with an adviser or teacher. As a result, pupils take ownership of their own careers research, which is crucial. It means that staff and parents can discuss ideas or results of questionnaires with pupils and so guidance also becomes possible. The fact that pupils are finding out information about themselves and about possible careers from accurate, safe and reliable sources is fantastic. They are a brilliant starting point when a student admits to you that they don't know what they want to do!"