Careers Overview

At Saint Cecilia’s we deliver an inclusive, dynamic and aspirational careers programme that aims to provide the best opportunities and chances for our pupils and students. It is delivered through five strands: the curriculum, the pastoral team, trips, encounters with employers and through pathways to GSCEs, post Year 11 and post Year 13 education and training. We monitor, assess and review our careers programme to ensure we are fulfilling Gatsby Benchmarks as well as the Providers Access Policy. Unifrog software, Enterprise Link Advisors and community partnerships all help to support a guided, yet exciting, programme for our pupils and students.

We support the programme from Year 8 to Year 13 with:

1. Unifrog: We are very excited to be using Unifrog for all year groups to support our careers programme.

2. Careers Co-ordinator: In order to monitor, evaluate, lead and develop exciting careers and work-related opportunities for our pupils and students, our Careers Co-ordinator supports whole school efforts to ensure our pupils leave with a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills whatever their work journey may be. This role enhances our Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) offering.  

Catherine Young is our Careers Co-ordinator
Contact: email: cyoung@saintcecilias.london or Tel: 020 8780 1244 ext 6715

3. Careers Advisor: Our advisor supports pupils in from Year 9 to 13, specifically our vulnerable or disadvantaged pupils. She has one-to-one interviews and coaching sessions to support pupils on their GCSE and Post-16 journey, gives interview practice, supports in writing application forms and aims to ensure all our pupils and students feel confident regardless of whether they continue at our school, move on, attend higher education or enter the world of work.

Our Link Governor for Careers is Ms Fiona Simpson.

Click on the thumbnails below to see our Careers Strategic Overview and Careers Programme in full size.

Our careers programme is delivered through five strands: Curriculum, Pastoral, Trips, Employers and Pathways.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is broad and diverse and within each subject specialism, careers opportunities abound within and outside the classroom. This can be observed through lesson starters, homework, and full lessons devoted to careers to trips, talks, workshops, events, competitions and more. Although it is a statutory requirement to begin Careers learning in Year 8, we begin from Year 7 where pupils are encouraged to think about skills, interests and hobbies in preparation for Careers learning throughout their time at Saint Cecilia’s.  

Pastoral

Supporting the wealth of opportunities across the curriculum areas, and through the embedded PSHE Careers curriculum, we have a strong pastoral team who:

  • Support the use of the online platform Unifrog

  • Write references for college and university applications

  • Mentor key skills particularly those linked to Executive Functions (a research based programme of study that helps pupils demonstrate skills in learning, work and life. These include punctuality, honesty, paying attention, focusing on one task for an extended length of time and much more)

  • One to one mentor conversations on progress and attainment

  • Interventions

  • The Sixth Form Academic Mentor who will teach small groups mastery skills on organisation, learning, memory retention and more to achieve Sixth Form success and beyond

Trips

Trips are a fantastic way of ensuring opportunity for all. For the majority of school day run trips, there is no cost meaning all pupils and students can take part and gain as much experience as possible. Extracurricular and optional trips that run in the evening, weekends or during the school holidays may have a cost. If any family would like their child to attend but has concerns, they can apply for Pupil Premium funding or the Compassionate Fund.

 Some recent trips undertaken or scheduled are:

  • Biannual trip to Washington DC

  • Biannual Operation Wallacea trip - South Africa 2023

  • Residential trip to University of Liverpool for Year 11 pupils in July 2023

  • Day trip to University of Surrey for Year 12 students for campus tours and talks

  • Annual University and Apprenticeship Fair at Tottenham Stadium for Year 12 students

  • Annual Year 11 and 12 joint Travel and Tourism and Business Studies trip to the All England Tennis Club (AELTC)

Employers

Based on the new Provider Access Policy which the Department for Education brought in for January 2023, schools must provide six meaningful encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education for all their students from Year 8 to Year 11. To date, pupils and students have met with, had Q&A sessions with, had workshops with or have visited the following careers, work related and training related sectors or providers:

  • September Careers Fair at Saint Cecilia’s

  • Year 8 Conservation Trip

  • Year 11 Q&A with an actor

  • Year 10 and Year 11 talk with South Thames College Group representative

  • Year 10 and Year 11 workshops and visits to a South Thames College Group college

  • Make Me a Medic Day for Year 12 and 13 students to receive guidance and information on medical school applications

  • Online webinar opportunities for all Year 10 to 13 pupils and students

  • Various trips across the year including workshops and talks with women in STEM industry and cybersecurity.

By 2024, all pupils and students will have met the statutory requirement and more, as we expand the Careers Programme to include opportunities at Year 8 and 9.

Click on the image below to read about our Careers Fair September 2023.

Pathways

There are three pathway points in the life of a pupil or student at Saint Cecilia’s: Year 9 preferences for GCSEs, Year 11 applications to the Sixth Form or other colleges and Year 12 applications to higher education, training or employment.

Mentors, year leaders and subject teachers work hard to ensure all pupils and students have as much information as possible before choosing the right next step. This is very important to us as we aim to reassure pupils, give them confidence and support their decisions based on aspirations, attainment and skills. Parents are invited to engagement evenings, options evenings, and Sixth Form application interviews, to ask questions and find out as much as possible.

Our aim is that on GCSE and Post-16 results day, pupils and students feel confident and happy about their future steps.