Careers
Careers Lead
John Ruskin School makes impartial careers advice available to all students. Advice is focused at key decision points; namely the choice of GCSEs on moving from Year 9 into Year 10 and the choice of KS5 pathways as students move beyond GCSEs. Students gain understanding of careers options and develop careers related skills, such as employability skills and CV writing, through PSHE lessons from Year 7 to 11. Support is also given for sixth form, college and apprenticeship applications. Further information is available via the Careers Library.
John Ruskin School offers regular assembly careers events with professionals and ex students who have moved into the world of work. The John Ruskin careers fair provides an invaluable source of information for post-16 options for all students.
Our Careers lead is Mrs S Tennant, who can be contacted on admin@jrs.org.uk or the school telephone number.
Local Open Evenings at schools and FE colleges
Any dates we are informed of will be displayed here, on the careers noticeboard in school and emailed to parents and students
Local FE Colleges and Sixth Forms website links:
https://www.uvhs.uk/
https://www.furness.ac.uk/
https://kendal.ac.uk/
https://www.lmc.ac.uk/
https://www.myerscough.ac.uk/
Writing a CV
The Interview
Plan B
Be the best you can
How to stay positive
| Year Group | |
|---|---|
| Year 7 | ● PSHE: How do I fit into the world? Exploring identity and consequences in behaviour and online use for the future. Dreams and Goals: identifying employability skills Financial decision making – Saving, borrowing, budgeting and making financial choices ● ACTIVITY DAY – Team building ● Labour Market Information Assembly / Workshop ● Introduction to the U-Explore platform |
| Year 8 | ● PSHE: Dreams and Goals: identifying careers of interest, and long and short-term goals ● The Talent Foundry – STEM workshop with DELL ● JRS CAREERS FAIR: An opportunity to begin to explore a range of career options through meaningful discussions with employers and to find out more about apprenticeships and further education. ● Labour Market Information Assembly / Workshop |
| Year 9 | ● Inspira personal interviews: Setting goals, discussing strengths, career options and goal setting as part of the GCSE options process ● Options Evening: Opportunity to discuss KS4 choices, in conjunction with parents and teachers and receive advice about future options ● JRS CAREERS FAIR: An opportunity to explore a range of career options through meaningful discussions with employers and to find out more about apprenticeships and further education ● Labour Market Information Assembly / Workshop |
| Year 10 | ● PSHE: Dreams and Goals: exploring resilience, perseverance and work/life balance ● Work Experience: All Year 10 spend a week on work experience ● College open evenings: Visits and virtual presentations from local colleges and sixth forms ● Taster days at local colleges: Students sign up to courses they are potentially interested in and try them out for the day ● JRS Careers Fair: An opportunity to narrow down choices to serious possibilities through meaningful discussions with employers and to find out more about apprenticeships and further education ● CV and application letter writing ● Labour Market Information Assembly / Workshop ● Mock interviews with external employers |
| Year 11 | ● PSHE: Financial goals and becoming more independent – understanding financial pressures and budgeting, how to manage financial goals in the short and long term Matching skills and attributes to future choices ● Talks to the year group by individual colleges and apprenticeship providers ● College open evenings: Visits and virtual presentations from local colleges and sixth forms ● JRS Careers Fair: An opportunity to narrow down choices to serious possibilities through meaningful discussions with employers and to find out more about apprenticeships and further education ● Inspira: Individual interviews with students still undecided ● Labour Market Information Assembly / Workshop ● Parent and student individual interviews with Leadership Staff to discuss preparing for exams and destination plans |
Apprenticeship website links:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
http://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/
https://www.gen2.ac.uk/
‘We inspire young people and adults to find their purpose and reach their potential.’
‘From National Careers Service to National Citizen Service, we are there every step of the way supporting individuals.’
Visit www.inspira.org.uk to find out more about Inspira.
At John Ruskin School, we understand that guiding your child through their education and into the jobs market can feel daunting. The world, education and the jobs market are ever changing, and it can be difficult to know what to advise them.
There are a number of things you can do to help and work alongside us to provide the best information and support for your child that we can together:
You can subscribe to Careermap for Parents. This is a termly magazine aimed at parents/carers to help them keep up to date with educational and industry/job market developments, which guides parents/carers and their children through the career journey. See the link below:
https://careermap.co.uk/careermag-parents-carers-guardians/
In addition, the U-Explore platform provides a useful tool for research, to save preferences and to map careers paths. We will be using this platform in school, but you can also create an account for free and encourage your child to use the site at home. See the link below:
Start – Careers Information for Cumbria (startprofile.com)
We will be providing your child with a range of careers opportunities and activities during their time at John Ruskin School, details of which can be found on the Careers Programme tab.
http://www.how2become.com/ is a helpful website for careers resources that you and your child might find useful in guiding them towards their career goals.
Other websites that parents/carers might find useful for futures/careers information to help guide their child are:
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/
Plan for the long term by making connections with us today.
Students at John Ruskin School will benefit from access to your knowledge, expertise, and support, and you will benefit by cultivating the attitudes and skills you need for the future workforce.
What is in it for you?
- You can inspire talented young people to work for you/your sector
- Make a positive impact whilst raising awareness of your company. You will be giving something back to your local area, while boosting your company’s profile
- It is great for staff development. Employees who do talks at schools or mentor work placements will grow in confidence and gain a sense of achievement in supporting young people, as well as developing their planning, communication and presentation skills
- You will get the chance to network and make contacts with other businesses
Ways to get involved:
- Prepare future employees for the world of work by taking on a leaving student as an apprentice; school outreach is a great way to spot future talent
- Pass on knowledge of your sector through lunchtime talks or workshops in school
- Offer a work experience placement
- Help students be “work ready” through activities like mentoring, mock interviews or
CV/application support
Many companies already support our Careers Programme. These include BAE Systems, Siemens, DWP, NHS, Coniston Stonecraft, St Mary’s Hospice and Gen2.
If you can help us in supporting the next generation in any way, please contact the Careers Lead at John Ruskin School – Sarah Tennant: 015394 41306 / s.tennant@jrs.org.uk
THE GATSBY BENCHMARKS
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a key component of the Government’s careers strategy, which aims to guide schools on the implication of pragmatic actions which could improve the careers guidance that they give to their young people.
The benchmarks were devised from Sir John Holman’s 2013 research and identified that high-quality career guidance can be a vehicle for social mobility and close the gap for those young people without social capital or home support.
The eight benchmarks are as follows:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each student
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
John Ruskin School is committed to fulfilling our statutory obligations concerning CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) which includes the Gatsby Benchmarks, to maximise the life chances of our students. The school is committed to providing a planned programme of careers education, information, and guidance for all students in Years 7 to 11 in partnership with Inspira, Cumbria Careers Hub and CLEP (Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership), as well as utilising our own network of contacts with employers and advisors.
We are committed to tailoring CEIAG activities and guidance to the needs and interests of each individual student including at age-appropriate milestones and Special Educational Needs (SEN).
A Careers shared area on the Google Drive has been created and this will contain a range of subject careers/futures resources and there will be a growing number of resources available in the Careers section of the school library.
Linking curriculum learning to careers training will be provided on an annual basis and teachers, who would like extra support in embedding careers education into their subjects or who would like to be connected to potential guest speakers for their subjects, can email Sarah Tennant in school who will be happy to give further advice.
Teachers might find the following websites useful for further careers/futures information and resources:
https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/