Hurstmere School recognises the importance of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) and ensure that throughout the year, students have opportunities to engage positively with their futures, both in terms of increasing expectations and exploring the best routes into the careers that interest them. In line with the Department for Education guidance, we have a coordinated programme of careers support designed around the Gatsby Benchmarks and CDI Framework to offer a coherent programme embedded within school structures. Our Careers Policy, Student Entitlements and access policy can be viewed using the relevant links on this page.
Evaluation of our programme is demonstrated through the school commitment to achieving The Quality in Careers Standard. The Government (through the Department for Education) has issued statutory guidance which strongly recommends all Schools to achieve the Quality in Careers Standard as the national CEIAG quality award.
The programme is reviewed internally by the Careers Leader annually, after gaining feedback from students, staff, parents, external providers and governors and is reviewed by an independent external careers provider once every three years.
Hurstmere seeks to establish a good quality careers guidance and education programme which will raise the aspirations of all young people. It will increase motivation by linking activities in school with preparation for life post 16 and as such the school endeavours to provides both curricular educational opportunities about careers as well as opportunities for external providers to meet with students to provide careers and labour market information.
Careers guidance will contribute to raising pupil achievement, help students focus on their longer-term career ambitions and ensure an equality of opportunity for all.
At Hurstmere School we provide a comprehensive programme to students in Years 7-11 of all abilities, and this includes aspects of work-related learning, enterprise education, subject option choices and information surrounding RPA (raising of the participation age). Students in our Year 11 are supported in their applications to Sixth Forms at schools and colleges, as are our SEND students, working closely with our internal additional needs team and external providers.
It is important to equip our students with the necessary skills for them to career plan and know how and where to access impartial and unbiased information. Developing key enterprise and employability skills are important part of the Hurstmere school experience. This includes access to our Careers Newsletter which can be found below.
Our NEET (not in employment, education or training) figures remain very low. Our 2018 Year 11 leavers progressed successfully onto the pathways of their choice with 97% of the cohort meeting the RPA (raising of the participation age) Compliance, compared with a 94% England statistic.
The Careers programme is developed in consideration of the CDI (Career Development Institute) framework and the Gatsby Report's eight benchmarks. Three key areas are:
- Self-Development - through careers, employability, and enterprise education
- Careers Exploration - learning about careers and the world of work
- Career Management - learning how to develop career management and employability skills (to include managing changes and transitions)
The guidance from the DfE places a duty on schools to secure access to unbiased and impartial careers guidance for their students.
In conjunction with our existing provision, Hurstmere School has secured the services of an external specialist guidance adviser to work with students during the academic year. Each student in Key Stage 4 will be given an interview to discuss next steps. Our independent adviser is from the ‘Prospects' part of Shaw Trust service, Mr David Hancock and can be contacted via info@hurstmere.org.uk.
The school shares student data with the external careers guidance practitioner so that impartial and individual advice can be offered, in an effort to meet the needs of each pupil, during the interview process the student is asked to provide consent to opt into the sharing of their data to key members of staff and parents/carers. In addition, intended destination and confirmed GCSE attainment data is provided to Bexley Council, as per the DfE requirement, so they can also provide additional support to students, where necessary once they leave school.
Parents/carers have an important role to play in supporting their child with their careers planning and we have provided some useful documents linked to this page and a dedicated parents/carers page.
We are pleased to advise that all our Year 10 students undertake a two-week period of work experience in the final two weeks of the summer term. This is an invaluable opportunity, providing the chance to develop employability skills and sample the world of work. Potential careers and pathways are featured within school publications and at progress and options evenings. All students enjoy the opportunity to attend a careers fair at Blackfen School, a partner school in the Penhill Trust. Year 9 students, in particular, are targeted to this end.
Careers guidance is on-going throughout the academic year and is delivered through two modules of Learning for Life lessons in lower school, occasional collapsed timetable events and external visits and is enhanced by the school’s relationships with local businesses, colleges and Universities.
What we offer
Please see information here for our ‘Careers Programme’
We value input from parent/carers, businesses, or former students so if you are able to contribute to our careers programme please email the school at; info@hurstmere.org.uk
If any student requires additional careers support at any stage including post-16 options please contact Mrs S Bayar on the above email.
Careers Newsletter
Our Careers Newsletter is a regular collation of all the opportunities that we have heard about from employers and universities.