Careers Education Information,
Advice and Guidance

Careers Programme

Denbigh High School strives to raise students’ aspirations through its comprehensive careers programme, so they may ignite passions, discover talents and feel empowered to explore infinite opportunities.

As a consequence, students’ confidence towards life beyond school increases and they feel equipped to pursue appropriate ambitions. Through careers learning and exposure to meaningful encounters with employers and training providers, students gain real-life experiences that enhance employability and increase awareness of life beyond the sphere of secondary education.

We have a dedicated Coordinator of CEIAG* and Student Employability who supports students throughout their school journey with tasks such as applications for college and apprenticeships, CV writing, interview skills, career planning and signposting where needed. Support is particularly important during key transition stages; in the course of selecting options in Year 8 where students may need help with decision making, and whilst in Year 11, the transition to further education or apprenticeships after leaving school.

A break down of the programme offered for each year group is as follows:

All year groups	Denbigh Website links and information on career exploration (including links to National Careers Service for more in-depth advice and guidance needs), further education, apprenticeships and employability skills. Open door policy, students are able to drop into careers office, before or after school, break, lunchtime, and with tutor approval: morning and afternoon registration for advice and guidance. Students signposted to National Careers Service for in-depth advice and guidance. Life skills for least able students. Careers guidance in Inclusive Learning. One-to-one guidance for students with EHCP provided by a personal adviser from Luton Borough Council. National Apprenticeship week Students become aware of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) careers by being involved in activity days delivered.
Year 7	National Careers Week Form-time activities and one hour per subject dedicated to careers learning. Visits to employers such as BBC and Microsoft. Trips to a local university EAL lecture. Apps for Good Programme with Mrs Darcy.
Year 8	Curriculum booklet provides information and guidance for students and their parents to help make informed decisions on option subject choices. National Careers Week Form-time activities and one hour per subject dedicated to careers learning. Options Evening Careers Coordinator present to further aid decision making for Key Stage 4 choices. Visits to employers including the BBC, Microsoft and engineering organisations. Employer assemblies. Trips to universities including a workshop held at Imperial College and a lecture at University of Bedfordshire. The Big Bang Fair (Science) - NEC, Birmingham. Mossiby careers tool. 6 week GCSE choice form activities.
Year 9	Trips to universities. National Careers Week Form-time activities and one hour per subject dedicated to careers learning. Trips to employers. Theatre visits for drama students. Live webinars during National Apprenticeship Week. The Big Bang Fair (Science) - NEC, Birmingham. Employer assemblies.
Year 10	National Careers Week Form-time activities and one hour per subject dedicated to careers learning. Most able university outreach project series of tutorials and visits to Oxford University. Get into University event at University of Bedfordshire Trip. Taster day at Sixth Form College. Young Enterprise Company Programme: Students start up a business, and compete with other teams on local, regional and potentially national levels. Mock interviews with real employers. Employability sessions CVs and job applications. Science week. Business Education Skills Partnership - networking event. Post-16 marketplace further education and apprenticeship providers invited in to talk to students. BESP. Berkhamsted applications. Work experience all students spend a week on work placement. Careers fair.
Year 11	Apprenticeship vacancies linked to CEIAG website. Independent school partnership facilitating sixth form scholarship applications - Berkhamsted Sixth Form. Drama: theatre trip. Post-16 marketplace further education and apprenticeship providers invited in to talk to students. Post 16 providers Open Evenings. Post 16 Assemblies. Luton Sixth Form AIMs 1-1 Careers Meeting & Advice with an external Careers Advisor. Careers, post 16 and further education workshops during form.

To maintain quality and ensure compliance with the latest statutory advice, the careers programme will be reviewed annually and impact will be measured by conducting termly student surveys.

Parents/Carers

We understand how difficult it can be to navigate through the large amount of information concerning careers.

Choices available to your child are likely to be very different from those you had at school. However, parental guidance significantly influences decisions made by our students, so it is imperative you have access to current information. Our programme sets out the kind of support we offer to help widen students’ horizons and assist them in making informed decisions.

For careers information and advice specifically for parents, you may also find these websites useful:

www.parentalguidance.org.uk

ukcareers.ey.com/schools/career-advice/parental-advice

If you have any careers-related concerns for your child, please contact Miss Rashid (Head of Aspiration and Student Development) on 01582 736611 or email arashid@denbighhigh.co.uk.

For employers and training providers

Here at Denbigh High School, we endeavour to give each of our student's numerous chances to engage with the world of work.

Organisations who are able to provide aspirational opportunities, in various guises, are welcome to make contact with the school and assist us in our efforts to strengthen students’ employability skills.

We would be grateful for involvement in activities such as:

Workplace visits
Career talks
Work experience placements
Mentoring
Enterprise competitions
CV writing advice
Interview preparation/mock interviews

If you are able to support the school with any of these activities or have ideas which will further promote employability, please contact Aqsa Rashid (Head of Aspiration and Student Development) on 01582 736611 or email arashid@denbighhigh.co.uk.

Provider Access Policy

Introduction

High quality careers education and guidance in school or college is critical to young people’s futures. It helps to prepare them for the workplace by providing a clear understanding of the world of work including the routes to jobs and careers that they might find engaging and rewarding. It supports them to acquire the self-development and career management skills they need to achieve positive employment destinations. This helps students to choose their pathways, improve their life opportunities and contribute to a productive and successful economy.

As the number of apprenticeships rises every year, it becomes increasingly important that all young people have a full understanding of all the options available to them post-16 and post-18 including wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.

Commitment

Denbigh High School is committed to ensuring there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access students, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. Denbigh High School is fully aware of the responsibility to set students on the path that will secure the best outcome which will enable them to progress in education and work and give employers the highly skilled people they need. That means acting impartially, in line with the statutory duty, and not showing bias towards any route, be that academic or technical.

Denbigh High School endeavours to ensure that all students are aware of all routes to higher skills and are able to access information on technical options and apprenticeships (The Department of Education, July 2021: “Baker Clause”: supporting students to understand the full range of education and training options, and the Provider Access Legislation, January 2023).

Aims

Denbigh High School’s policy for Access to other education and training providers has the following aims:

To develop the knowledge and awareness of our students of all career pathways available to them, including technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
To support young people to be able to learn more about opportunities for education and training outside of school before making crucial choices about their future options.
To reduce drop out from courses and avoid the risk of students becoming NEET (Young people not in education, employment or training).

Student Entitlement

Denbigh High School fully supports the statutory requirement for students to have direct access to other providers of further education training, technical training and apprenticeships. The school will comply with the new legal requirement to put on at least six encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. This will be done in assemblies in National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week, in addition to providers attending careers events at school or at each Trust school.

Development

This policy has been developed and is reviewed annually by the Careers Leader and Line Manager based on current good practice guidelines by the Department for Education.

Links with other policies

It supports and is underpinned by key school policies including those for Careers, Child Protection, Equality and Diversity, and SEND.

Equality and Diversity

Access to other providers is available and promoted to allow all students to access information about other providers of further education and apprenticeships. Denbigh High School is committed to encouraging all students to make decisions about their future based on impartial information.

Request for Access

Requests for access should be directed to Aqsa Rashid, Careers Leader.

Aqsa Rashid may be contacted by telephone or email, arashid@denbighhigh.co.uk , Tel 01582 736611.

Careers Education Information, Advice and Guidance