Students and Parents/Carers
- Careers @ Slough and Eton
- What are the trends in jobs locally? (Labour Market Information)
- How can I find out about possible future options?
- Destinations
- Career Events
Careers @ Slough and Eton
Careers Programme
We run a comprehensive programme of support from Y7 to Y13 for Careers. While it is not taught as a discrete subject, it is embedded across many aspects of school life. For example, the tutor programme includes Careers sessions which will include sessions following the STEP programme, time on Unifrog to research career options and track experiences, working towards developing careers skills through interacting with updated labour market information (LMI). Students study units of work related to careers in PSHE lessons as part of their ‘Living in the World’ topics, and there is a weekly ‘Job of the Week’ advertised, termly Careers Weeks which focus on linking curriculum areas to careers and hearing from Employers, local College providers and Universities, and a section within the weekly student bulletin called ‘Careers Corner’ advertising opportunities from employers, educational establishments and providers regarding talks, work experience opportunities or career-related events. We also run off-timetable Careers and Enterprise days.
Alongside the programme that is for all, we also ensure that students’ needs are addressed, and at key transition points such as Y9 Options, Y11 College applications and Y13 UCAS, apprenticeship and work applications we ensure that students have personalised guidance from their tutor and other members of staff.
We believe that it is important that students have the opportunity to have encounters with further and higher institutions which is why we offer University trips, welcome representatives from local Colleges and Sixth Forms to speak with students (from Y7-Y13) and enable Y12/13 students to visit universities they are applying to. We also ensure that all Y10 and Y12 students have the opportunity to have a week’s work experience which they organise themselves, and we oversee via Unifrog.
Please see the Careers Learning Journey Graphic for more detail on what is included for each year group.
Sample Careers Learning Journey
Independent Careers Advice
We are currently recruiting for a new Careers Advisor whose job is to act impartially, and offer advice to students on all available routes including apprenticeships and technical qualifications. In the interim, we have Adviza providing us with independent Careers Adviser time.
Each student in Y10 and Y11 has a personalised Careers Advisor session alongside extra sessions for identified students who are at risk of not being in education, employment or training, those in care, or those with EHCPs. Y12 and Y13 students are able to request an interview, and the Careers Advisor is available to all students during break and lunch when they are in. If students in Y7-10 wish to make a Careers Advisor appointment they are able to do so via their Form Tutor.
What are the trends in jobs locally? (Labour Market Information)
One of the things that you will find helpful is understanding the current trends in the local labour market. Labour Market Information (LMI) shows you the types of employment opportunities existing in our area and which sectors are growing. We will look at this each year as part of your Careers provision, but if you wish to find out more, please go to https://www.tvbintelligence.co.uk/people. Parents and carers are encouraged to access and use information about labour markets and future study options to help their children.
If you would like to discover the types of jobs you might like to do in the future, then please have a go at the Skillsometer below. You will need to select an emoji to show how you feel about each statement. It will then give you a list of job suggestions alongside headline UK LMI data.
If you would like to find out more about key information about different occupations regarding pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects then the Careerometer is for you. Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and it provides a series of options. You can compare two jobs, and also display the UK average.
Skillsometer
Careerometer
How can I find out about possible future options?
There is lots of information available which is shared with parents and students regarding possible future options. If you wish to do your own research, then there are various websites recommended below.
The first, and main point of call is Unifrog (https://www.unifrog.org/). Each student has a login. They can complete the quizzes around interests and skills, use the careers library to search for careers to find out what the possible routes into them are, and search for courses that may interest them for Sixth Form, university or for apprenticeships.
Secondly, we recommend the Berkshire Opportunities website (https://www.berkshireopportunities.co.uk/). This is a portal which provides both information on different career routes, and links to jobs and apprenticeships currently advertised.
The ADVIZA website (https://www.adviza.org.uk/careers-guidance-for-you) is another useful portal with links to leaflets and videos on different careers alongside webinars for parents/carers and students.
If you are looking at options for post-16, alongside Unifrog, we recommend the UCAS website (http://www.ucas.com) for those researching Higher Education opportunities at University. If you are considering not going to university, then Not Going to Uni (https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/) showcases apprenticeship opportunities alongside www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
Destinations
Career Events
1. Careers Fair
We have started a yearly Careers Fair with ~30 local colleges, universities and employers attending. Students from all year-groups have the opportunity to network to find out more about the opportunities available to them. Student feedback has been extremely positive for this.
2. Enterprise Days
Years 7 and 8 have Enterprise Days timetabled within Careers Weeks. These are hosted by Learning to Work, and develop employability skills through teamwork and job assignment where each team has to work together to meet a brief. Recently, themes have been based around ‘Creating an App’ or ‘Recycling Solutions’
3. Guess My Job
Here local employers speak to different groups of students in a rotation and students have the opportunity to guess what their job is. They then speak to the year-group as part of a ‘big reveal’ to share what their role is and how they got there.
