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Student Careers at Excelsior Academy
Introduction
Careers Leader: Ms Kerry Swindon
Email: kerry.swindon@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Telephone Number: 01912288400
At Excelsior Academy we provide all of our students with an excellent package of careers education that prepares them to achieve success in the next stage of their lives beyond our school. Beginning in our Primary School and going right through to the end of Year 13, our students access a wide range of guidance and support that ensures they are ready for the challenges of further study or the world of work. Our careers education takes many guises such as independent careers interviews, different year group whole careers days where students get to have meaningful encounters with employers, careers modules through PSHE lessons and PBL (Project Based Learning) lessons, assemblies, work experience, bespoke IAG for every pupil at curriculum transition points, visits to other post-16 education and training providers and events that take place both outside and inside school, and continue to work towards developing strong partnerships with a number of local employers.
To ensure we address all of the benchmarks, Careers Education here is holistic, balanced and personalised. Our aim is to enthuse students and support them to make informed decisions about their future career pathway. Careers Education is delivered in a variety of ways across year groups and is embedded into our activities calendar so that all students have numerous opportunities to experience high quality career information, advice and guidance.
For more details of the Careers Journey that our students follow, please view or download the document below.
Exploring Careers at Home
Employers have stated that the following eight universal and transferable skills are vital for young people joining their workforce:
Skills Builder Homezone https://www.skillsbuilder.org/homezone provides a variety of skills challenges, which students can explore independently. Activities are updated regularly and they are supported with a range of reflection questions from the ‘getting started’ level through to mastery. We feel that this framework of essential skills will help to prepare our students for the wider world.
Other useful resources
The following resources can also be used to help learners broaden their understanding of work in the future and learning more about themselves and their work-related and learning interests:
National careers Service https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/
Career-o-meter https://www.icanbea.org.uk/career-o-meter/
Skills-o-meter https://www.icanbea.org.uk/skills-o-meter/
Talking Futures https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/talking-futures
BBC Bitesize Careers https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/careers
iCould https://icould.com/
National Citizen Service https://wearencs.com/what-is-ncs
The Student Room https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/
Youth Employment UK https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/careers-advice-for-parents/
School Leaver Jobs https://www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk/
Apprenticeships
National Apprenticeship Week 2022 runs from the 5th-11th February 2024
There is a lot of information on the internet to support young people, should they be exploring the possibility of an apprenticeship. Whether a student is in Excelsior College or Year 11, and considering their next steps, or even in year 9 or 10 and starting to consider alternative pathways in training and education, the following links could prove useful and informative:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
Employer Links and Engagement
We recognise the importance of establishing strong links with the world of work. This helps students to develop their understanding of what employment actually involves and supports them in building up skills that will be valued in the workplace.
We are developing strong links with a wide range of employers and are keen to continue creating new opportunities for our students to engage with as many employers as possible, both within school and also at the workplace.
If you are a local employer who would be interested in supporting our programme of careers education, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact Ms Swindon, the school’s Careers Leader, on kerry.swindon@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Enterprise Advisor Profile
Philip Ross is our Enterprise Advisor, and is originally from Sheffield, moving to The North East in 1985 to take up a technical role with RTR GmbH & Co.KG, a wholly owned branch of a German international steel and metals trading company. Philip’s main qualification is in Metallurgical Science. However, a Post Graduate Qualification in Management and language proficiencies in German and Italian, demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning, a philosophy which he shares with all his staff.
Promotion led to Philip becoming the UK General Manager, which shortly thereafter resulted in a management buyout of the whole German entity for which Philip, albeit a UK resident, is now a 50% owner, along with a German partner.
A successful expansion of the Company’s interests into the Australasian market resulted in achieving the Queens Award for Export in 2019. In acknowledgment of the award, and a personal highlight of Philip’s, was an invitation to Buckingham Palace, accompanied by his wife Madelaine.
Philip continues to be active in all areas of his business, however he is very much looking forward to acting as an Enterprise Advisor for our school, and sharing some of his experiences and knowledge with both staff and students.
Reviewing Our Careers Programme
We use a variety of methods to review our Careers Programme, including:
Regularly seeking the views of students, staff, parents and external agencies
Analysing destination data for students who leave the school at the end of Year 11, Year 12 and Y13.
Regularly reflecting on the careers lessons and careers events that take place in school
Our careers programme is reviewed annually and the next scheduled review will take place in July 2024.
Who To Talk To If You Have A Question
Ms Swindon (Assistant Principal and Careers Leader) is responsible for overseeing the whole school strategy for careers education at EA with the following members of the careers team leading on key aspects of our day-to-day programme. All will happily speak with any student or parent who would like further advice relating to future careers intentions and how best our students can work towards achieving these.
Ms Swindon- kerry.swindon@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mr Stead- peter.stead@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mrs Krishnan- claire.krishnan@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mrs Dalgleish- amanda.dalgleish@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mrs Noble- lyndsay.noble@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mrs Ellwood- margery.ellwood@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
Mrs Khan- roheen.khan@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk
The careers team can be contacted at their emails above or by phoning or writing to the school.
Tutors and Heads of Year play a vital role in supporting our students and they will also be able to support many of the queries that our students may have and will be able to direct queries to the correct member of staff if this is necessary.