Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Ethos.
Aspire Academy is committed to ensuring our students have the best possible chances of success when they leave the Academy, either at the end of Year 11 or when reintegrated back to a mainstream school.
As part of this commitment, we have, and encourage, high aspirations for all of our students, particularly around the futures, and their opportunities post-16. We believe all of our students can succeed after Aspire, either in further education, volunteering, apprenticeships / traineeships or work with accredited training. We pride ourselves on offering 1-2-1 support to all of our students to ensure they are able to flourish when they leave us.
This support extends beyond advice and guidance and includes a range of direct work such as travel training, supported interviews, help with applications for finance and coordinating ‘handover’ meetings with new providers. This support continues when students leave us, both from Aspire staff, and from Connexions. We recognise that many of our young people need additional support and encouragement to transition to new providers; we will work with them, and their parents / carers, to provide this.
Our current rate of NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) is 2.7% (2023-24) and our participation rate is 78.4%.
Gatsby Benchmarks
At Aspire we aim to meet all of the Gatsby benchmarks set out as part of the national careers agenda:
- A stable careers programme which embeds a programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by students, parents, teachers, governors and employers.
- Learning from career and labour market information. Every student, and their parents have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. Students have the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information
- Addressing the needs of each student. We recognise that students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support are tailored to the needs of each academy with equality and diversity considerations throughout.
- Linking curriculum learning to careers. All teachers link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.
- Aspire encourages encounters with employers and employees. Students have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be seen through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.
- Experiences of workplaces. Students experience the workplace through the use of vocational subjects, work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience which will help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.
- All students will plan for further and higher education. All students will understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.
- Every student will have opportunities for guidance interviews with a trained career adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external. These will be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made.
Our Approach to CEIAG
We have an overriding strategy for careers provision, which is outlined here.
Our provision in school includes a number of different aspects including:
- Taught sessions delivered during the year around key, age-appropriate, topics linked to Benchmark 2 and 4. This is delivered as discrete sessions within PSHE, across the wider curriculum and in standalone drop-down sessions.
- Integrated coverage of CEIAG within our Vocational Programme, which includes opportunities for ‘real-life’ career simulations within some areas.
- Subject focus across the curriculum during key events such as National Careers Week and National Apprenticeship Week.
- Tasters of vocational programmes in Year 9 to support the Options process.
- Regular involvement of our Enterprise Advisor and local businesses, brokered through the Humber LEP.
- Opportunities to visit employers, and be visited by them.
- A work experience programme, blending some in-house provision and external work placements.
- Careers Fairs within the Academy, involving a range of post-16 options and training providers.
- Independent 1-2-1 guidance from Connexions in Year 11 (and earlier for those with an IAG)
- Regular 1-2-1 support from our Transition Mentor – Ms Williams – who supports students in visiting post-16 provisions, helping plan travel, apply for finance and liaising with specific departments within these provisions to aid transition.
The programme is regularly evaluated as a whole, with feedback from students, parents / carers and providers and data analysis around destinations.
"Pupils’ wider development is well thought out. Leaders ensure that pupils experience a range of opportunities that prepare them for adulthood and their next steps. This includes external careers guidance." Ofsted 2022
Information for Students
Good quality careers education and guidance will help you develop the knowledge, confidence and skills you need to make well-informed career choices.
Deciding what to do in the future can be difficult. With many different options, qualifications and courses to choose from it can be hard to decide. Some people have a clear idea of what they want to do and how to achieve it but not everyone is like this. It is okay to be unsure!
Everyone is different but it is important to start thinking about the future. Think about what your skills are and what you are good at. You will do this during PSHE lessons delivered throughout the year and within the wider curriculum, like within your vocational lessons.
Your Study
At Key Stage 3, you will study PSHE which includes a focus on thinking about your future and careers. You will look at a range of post-16 options available to you, consider the Local Labour Market, and think about your skills and qualities, and what these might link to in terms of career opportunities. These lessons and experiences will help you build life skills essential for preparing for working life. You will complete various units in your Preparation for Adulthood lessons. This will include lessons around finance, budgeting, resilience and communication. These skills will help prepare you for key transition points. You will also experience vocational subjects to see what you enjoy doing and help you make decisions about what you want to study in Year 10. You will work with the external providers on skills building days and activities and have an opportunity to meet people from different companies and workplaces. You will also be able to attend careers fairs and find out more about what providers are out there that you can attend.
At Key Stage 4, you will continue to have access to our PSHE programme which will look at working life and careers. You will have opportunities to write CVs, complete Mock Interviews and complete career research in specific sessions delivered to you during the year. You will also have one or two practical vocations to study and will look at career options and progression within these subjects. Vocations - and other curriculum areas - will provide opportunities to visit, or be visited by, employers and workers from that area. All year 10 students have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement or gain some work based experience in-house. Some of these work placements might take place in, or extend into, Year 11.
In Year 11, you will have access to 1:1 careers advice with Connexions and our onsite Transition Mentor. You will be supported in making applications to College / apprenticeships and the interview and acceptance process. As an academy we will continue to track, support and find solutions where required right the way through your first year away from Aspire. For those students with EHCPs, you will receive support in planning for your future as part of your Annual Reviews, starting in Year 9.
By law, all students at the Academy are entitled to impartial information, advice and guidance. If you would like an appointment, please see Mrs Boyton or Miss Williams, or speak to your tutor who can contact Mrs Charles or Mrs Taylor for a Connexions appointment.
You can also call the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900 or web-chat here. This service is open 7 days a week, 8am to 10pm. There is also a Hull base for the National Careers Service within Hull Central Library.
Hull students can call Connexions, or see them independently. Details can be found here.
East Riding students, please click here for additional support, help and advice.
Aspire offers a range of support and opportunities for students, which both advises and prepares them for post-16. In addition, we offer on-going support after our students leave in year 11. This support can include helping students attend their first few days to overcome any anxiety or concerns about a new setting. It can also be used to help broker a different course or pathway if a student is not enjoying their current course. Aspire recognises that things do not always work out as expected but we are committed to ensuring that all students are settled in an appropriate post-16 provision, of choice, by the November following their departure in Year 11.
At Key Stage 3, PSHE and our Preparation for Adulthood programmes both ensure your child accesses information about careers, aspirations and the local labour market. All subjects cover careers, or skills for careers, within their curriculum plans. You can expect your child to learn the relevance of maths to the world of work, for example, or how to write for different audiences in English, preparing them for writing application letters or CVs. Your child will also take part in skills building sessions and have the opportunity to meet some providers for post-16. We know, and recognise, that your child may not be sure what they want to do with their future at this stage in their school career. Having early conversations with them is designed to raise awareness of what is out there for them to do, and what pathways are out there when they do decide. Some of these conversations may take place in Parent Review Days with your child’s tutor or their subject teachers.Your child, with you, will also be invited to an options event to choose vocations in Year 10. This is a chance for you, alongside your child, to get an insight into different vocational pathways, and meet staff who will be working with your child.
At Key Stage 4, Careers is covered within our PSHE programme and across the wider curriculum. This includes information around different qualifications and pathways, as well as a revisit to Local Labour Market information. All vocational programmes aim to embed regular work based experiences, or visits in / out of the Academy with / to companies and speakers from that subject. For example, Construction have visited Bishop Burton on their Foundations Live Event, MVE have taken students to Motor Vehicle shows and operating race tracks (as viewers) and Animal Care have taken students to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which incorporated talks from the staff on careers.
We aim to ensure all year 10 students have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement, either within school, or externally. Some of these placements continue into Year 11. You will have the opportunity to speak to Careers staff, and Connexions, on Parent Review Days and Warm Space events. Regular communications will also be sent home (text, phone and letter) in Year 11 about opportunities for your child to visit providers and methods of contact should you have any queries.
When in Year 11, your child will have access to 1:1 careers advice with Connexions and our onsite Careers Officer. They will be supported in applications and the interview and acceptance process. Aspire continues to track, support and find solutions where required right the way through their first year away from Aspire. For those students with EHCPs, this process starts in Year 9 as part of the section 4 Annual Review transition planning. As a parent, you can contact the Academy at any point during your child’s time here to discuss their post-16 options - and this support can continue as long as you need it when they leave.
As a parent / carer, having regular conversations with your child about their aspirations or goals is really helpful in guiding them in a particular career direction. You know your child best, and also know some of the wider factors such as transport, finances and friendship groups that may impact on their choices. There is lots of support available within the Academy and you are welcome to contact Mrs Boyton, Miss Williams or your child’s tutor if you require any further information or wish to discuss options further. We will run at least two opportunities to come into the Academy during the year to meet with providers and Connexions so that you can ask questions, or get further information, around your child’s choices. You can also speak to the team at any of our Parent Review Days.
- For information on traineeships click here
- For information on apprenticeships click here
- For information on T Levels click here
- For information on Log on Move On college applications click here
- Connexions Careers Service – your child can also arrange a one to one meeting with a Careers Adviser. It is suggested that an appropriate adult attends with them
- For information on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) click here
- For information on student finance click here
- Career Map has prepared a special edition of Careermag for parents which contains a wealth of information. You can download and subscribe to this at no cost, simply go to careermap.co.uk to register
- The national careers service also offers career advice and guidance on the various options available. Click here to visit the website
- The Youth Employment Service has some helpful information, click here to visit their website
- Click here for information for students who are not considering going to University
Aspire Academy works closely with employers in the local area to support our students. This includes facilitating visits to workplaces and inviting employers in, in person or virtually, to speak, and work with, to student groups. We firmly believe that working with the local community helps raise aspirations and develops mutually beneficial links.
If you would like to work with Aspire, or visit our students, please contact Mrs C Boyton / Ms S Williams at the Academy (c.boyton@asp.hlt.academy / s.williams2@asp.hlt.academy)
We welcome opportunities for our students to meet with all providers in the local area, including FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and Training Providers. We are happy for any organisation to visit our students and hold a number of small careers fairs during the year. Equally, we are also happy to bring individuals or groups to look around provisions on offer. Our Transition Mentor works closely with providers to ensure that students make a successful move into post-16. This support continues into the term after our Year 11 students leave us. Please note our Provider Access Statement is within our CEIAG Policy linked above.
If you would like to visit Aspire, or have our students access your provision, please contact Mrs C Boyton / Ms S Williams at the Academy (c.boyton@asp.hlt.academy / s.williams2@asp.hlt.academy)
Aspire Academy believes that all teachers and support staff underpin good Careers Education. Our tutors provide pastoral support that helps shape young people’s aspirations and desires. Our administration teams help build the wider skills needed to enable our young people to access post-16 provision, such as travel training and budgeting. Some of our teachers deliver specific lessons in the curriculum targeted at CEIAG, including KS3 and through our extensive vocational programme. All our teaching staff deliver elements of Careers within their subjects such as diversity, self-reflection and personal presentation.
Labour Market Information (LMI) is information about what is happening nationally, regionally and locally in the job market. It will tell you about trends for different types of jobs, the skills employers are looking for, progression routes and career paths and job and apprenticeship vacancies. To find out up to date, accurate and unbiased information to help you make choices please look at the websites below:
- LMI Humber – Information about the local labour market.
- Shape your future – Look at the different sectors in Yorkshire and The Humber.
- Careerometer – The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.
- Skillsometer – The Skillsometer can help you discover what jobs you might like to do in the future.
Want to speak to a Careers Adviser?
Should you wish to contact the lead for Careers Information, Education, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) within Aspire, please contact:
- Mrs C Boyton – Careers Leader: c.boyton@asp.hlt.academy
- Ms S Williams – Transition Mentor: s.williams2@asp.hlt.academy
- Mrs L Charles – Connexions: louise.charles@hullcc.gov.uk
- Mrs T Taylor – Connexions: terri.taylor@hullcc.gov.uk
- Aspire Academy Main Telephone 01482 318789
Arrange an appointment in school with Ms Charles (Connexions) or Mrs Baker.
You can call 0800 100 900 or webchat with someone from the national careers service, 7 days a week, 8am to 10pm.
There is a Hull base for the National Careers Service within Hull Central Library.
Hull students can also call Connexions, or see them independently. Details can be found here:
East Riding students, please click here for additional support, help and advice.
Browse Careers Information
The best way to start is by talking about it to teachers, tutors, advisers and family! What ideas do you have? What ideas do they have? What are your interests? Then try following these links to allow you to search and browse for careers and further education opportunities:
Online information