Wolgarston High School Careers Provision

Careers Leadership

Mr S McCosh (Deputy Head) s-mccosh@wolgarston.staffs.sch.uk

Mr McCosh comes from an Engineering background working for British Coal in the Welsh Valleys as an engineer before moving as a Quality Assurance Manager at National Headquarters. This was followed by a period working on the Privatisation Team with the Department for Energy, Merchant Bankers and Solicitors, preparing the sale documents for the corporation. He has been teaching since 1995. He has responsibility in the Senior Leadership Team for the delivery of careers education.

Mr H Phillips (Careers Lead) h-phillips@wolgarston.staffs.sch.uk

Mr Phillips is the school’s careers lead and teaches 6^th Form Business studies.

Mr Phillips graduated in Sports Business from Liverpool John Moores University and has been a Business Teacher here at Wolgarston High since 2016. His career role within the school is to build links with local employers who deliver career encounters for our students and enhance the profile of careers within the school. I have previous careers experience in retail, marketing and events. Note If you are able to offer the school an employer encounter please contact Mr Phillips on the email above.

Mrs D Tuck (Trustee)

Careers Partners

We are delighted to work with Stoke and Staffordshire Careers Hub

Mr Steve Rogers  – Enterprise Coordinator for the Stoke and Staffordshire Careers Hub (funded by the Careers and Enterprise Company).  The purpose of the Careers Hub and the Careers and Enterprise Company is to reform careers education across England. The coordinators aim is to ensure the children at Wolgarston are prepared for the next stage of their life whether that is apprenticeship, workplace or further study.  Steve’s role is to support Careers Leaders with the planning, delivery and evaluation of the school’s Careers Education Programme and offer information, advice & guidance on how to best meet the Government’s Framework for the Gatsby Benchmarks.

We receive great local support from PSR Solutions!

Mr Abdul Mozzamdar – Enterprise Advisor to Wolgarston and Group Development Manager for PSR Solutions.

Abdul plays a key role in the development of Careers in Wolgarston using his extensive knowledge of local business and contacts to advise the school team. His expertise in both the construction industry and apprenticeships has benefited Wolgarston students. Abdul has worked in the apprenticeships and training arena for over 18 years in varying industry sectors. Prior to joining PSR Solutions, Abdul spent two years advising clients on how best to utilise the apprenticeship levy, design and implement an effective bespoke apprenticeship programme, Executive Coaching service and CSR. Abdul became the youngest and most successful account manager at Key Training. He won Account Manager of the year 3 years running. Apprenticeships starts increased by 48% in his first year at the firm. Retention of candidates and successful apprenticeship completions also increased year on year. Abdul dealt with a variety of clients from different sectors such as Automotive, Accounting, Banking, Logistics, Manufacturing, Law, Public Services, Local Authorities.

PSR Solutions is a leading provider of permanent and freelance personnel in the construction industry and built environment, with strong relationships with market-leading contractors as well as regional, national, and multinational blue-chip clients. They are based just outside Penkridge. They have supported events in school through their Training Manager, Tracey Androlia and their Marketing Manager, Luke Hough. Shown right presenting to Year 10 in Summer 2021

Mrs Jackie Flint – Independent Careers Advisor Wolgarston (JF Career Services). Qualified to Level 6 in Careers Guidance, Jackie has been our independent careers advisor for many years and has a wealth of experience in the local labour market. Jackie also has great experience of the local education providers and can give our students clear guidance on College places and apprenticeships. Jackie will see mainly Year 11 students, starting with those we identify as needing more guidance, but then any student that seeks her support. She conducts one to one interviews and some group sessions as appropriate. In addition, small targeted groups of Year 10 will be given earlier interviews. Jackie will support GCSE and A Level results days along with Options Evenings.

Any employer who can offer a careers encounter through workshops, presentations or arranged
visits please contact the school at office@wolgarston.staffs.sch.uk with Careers in the subject line.

Information For Parents

Wolgarston Careers Programme:

Intent

Careers education is a key preparation for students moving on from Wolgarston. We want to create a culture of high aspiration, self-belief and ambition free of stereotypes or limitations based on expectations. We look to develop learners view of themselves and how they might fit into the world of work or the next level of education removing barriers to achieving their goals. We want to provide opportunities to explore ideas and in some cases eliminate them from their thinking through experience or reflection.

To bring this about we aim to provide:

• direct experience of the workplace,
• exposure to a variety of employers,
• information about the labour market,
• timely information at key points in the decision making process in Year 9, Year 11 and in 6^thForm as students prepare for key transitions.

We look to prepare students for the following transition stages

In Year 8

• Transition to High School

In Year 9

• Choosing Options for GCSE Study

In Year 11

• Wolgarston 6^th Form,
• Post 16 Apprenticeship
• College
• Other Post 16 Providers
• Other local 6^th Forms

In Year 13

• University Application through UCAS
• Post 18 Apprenticeship Application
• The Workplace – Seeking Employment

Context

Normally at the end of Year 11 the majority of our student community, choose to stay on to our 6^th Form with about half the remainder going to college and half to post 16 apprenticeships. It is important that we cater for all of these choices in the information we provide and open these opportunities to as many students as possible through academic success.

Following 6^th Form the majority of students choose to attend University but again this is an area of change with more Post 18 Apprenticeship opportunities becoming available and the cost of attending University increasing.

All of these transitions where students leave the school result ultimately in a career and therefore we aim to support students in making the correct choices for their future in the workplace.

An ex-student Georgina Felton working in Law presents to students across year groups who have an interest in this as a career (November 2021). Her company DAC Beachcroft are so impressed with her skills as an apprentice solicitor that they released her to come to Wolgarston with a view to future recruitment from the school.

Careers Benchmarks

As a school, Wolgarston measures itself against the Gatsby Benchmarks using the “Compass Plus” benchmark tool from the Careers Enterprise Company. The Benchmarks are below.

Curriculum Impliementation

The implementation of a stable Careers Programme is evolving all the time. The outline of delivery is below: –

In 2021 the school piloted an enterprise day with a large Midlands based building company G F Tomlinson Building Ltd. Following a virtual tour of a building site with a young apprentice explaining his job and his career path into the building industry. Students then spent a day designing a dining area for a large Catholic School in 2D. They then budgeted materials and built their designs as 3D models for presentation. There were some interactive online meetings between students and managers of G F Tomlinson. The day concluded with presentations of the best designs to a board of senior designers, engineers, and managers.

Feedback to our students from Tomlinson was

1. All models showed fantastic innovation and design flair
2. Great consideration of how to make the buildings more sustainable and carbon neutral in response to the climate emergency – green roofs, solar panels and wind turbines were fantastic additions to see
3. Each of the models met the brief and had a unique design, whilst providing added value.
4. Many of the models had factored in elements over and above the brief – things like how the external areas can supplement the building, the internal layouts of the building etc.
5. DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliance was factored into the models to ensure accessibility and inclusivity
6. All teams delivered within budget
7. A number of presentations included reference to project delivery showing thought had been given to the logistics and stakeholder engagement, a crucial part of construction
8. All the teams gave excellent presentations and gave considered responses to the panel’s questions, demonstrating great professionalism and interpersonal skills.

The winning group and their design with solar panels, a mezzanine area, covered outside seating, and furniture.  June 2021

The winning group of 2022 with G F Tomlinson Staff

Students from Computer Science and others interested in a career related to technology, computing and media listen to a virtual presentation by Mark Flanagan from EPIC Games. EPIC are makers of games including Fortnite, and Mark was online to talk about his journey and careers in animation and gaming. Students were shown the very cutting edge of computing. October 2021. This is an example of our targeted careers support.

Work Experience

Once Covid-19 Restrictions had been lifted the decision was made to go ahead with work experience despite the shorter timeframe for doing so. During the Summer of 2022 about 95% of students in Year 12 and Year 10 went on Work Experience placements. It is intended that this will return to being a normal annual event going forward with Year 12 from 26^th to 30^th June 2023 and Year 10 from 3^rd to 7^th July 2023.

We are using the DfE supported Grofar work placement software to administer student’s applications, health and safety, support communication for any business offering a placement and feedback. This is also used with Y12.

Careers Weeks Planning

To meet the requirement for delivery of careers guidance in the curriculum (Gatsby Benchmark 4) each subject is committed to the provision of careers in specific weeks of the year.

Employer/Provider

Encounters with Employers and Education Providers

Throughout the year guest speakers are invited in to provide opportunities for encounters with employers (Gatsby Benchmark 5) and Education Providers. These cannot be scheduled because we take opportunities as they come, however, we do actively seek visits in each employment area. For example, we use Speakers For Schools Virtual programme to seek out online careers presentations linked to specific employment, careers or subjects. We use the alumni of the school to seek encounters. We have developed relationships with some local employers and employees to deliver talks targeted at particular areas we know are either growing in terms of labour market information or which careers surveys tell us students are interested in. We give opportunities for presentations for Education Providers.

MP for Blackpool Paul Maynard on a Speakers For Schools Virtual Talk.

Mark Roden Operations Director, Toyota GB talks to students interested in careers in business.

Examples of past presentations delivered (*Virtual)

Any employer who can offer a careers encounter through workshops, presentations or arranged visits

please contact the school at office@wolgarston.staffs.sch.uk with Careers in the subject line.

We have good links with Stafford College who have supported us with presentations on apprenticeships, college courses and regular bulletins on apprenticeship opportunities.