Two dedicated apprentices working in a local nursery are proving that it’s never too late to upskill, thanks to the Early Years Level 5 Apprenticeship offered at Bury College.
The Bury College Careers Programme is designed to provide learners with the best possible information, advice and guidance so they can make informed decisions about their next steps and help prepare for a successful career.
The Careers Programme is underpinned by a coherent delivery strategy, which is embedded across the college structure and provision. It aims to ensure high numbers of learners progress to positive destinations such as apprenticeships, technical routes, higher education or employment. The Careers Programme is delivered through strong college partnerships with employers, HE institutions and apprenticeship providers.
This high quality education, information, advice and guidance will help students to:
- understand their options and the different paths to work, to plan the steps they need to take, and to get from where they are to where they need to go;
- be inspired about new opportunities they might not have known about (or might not exist yet), or thought they could not achieve;
- understand their own knowledge and skills and how they can be used in the workplace;
- get, hold and progress in a job, whatever their age, ability or background;
- increase the amount they learn across their working lives;
- improve their well-being through doing a job they are good at and enjoy.
Bury College is using the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks to continuously improve careers provision, as set out in Department for Education statutory guidance:
A stable careers programme
Every college should have an embedded programme of careers 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, should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed advisor to make best use of available information.
Addressing the needs of each student
Students have different careers guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each student. A college’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.
Linking curriculum learning to careers
All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.
Encounters with employers and employees
Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.
Experiences of workplaces
Every student should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.
Encounters with further and higher education
All students should 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.
Personal guidance
Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers advisor, who could be internal (a member of college staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made.
The Gatsby Benchmarks are used to plan study programme provision across a student’s main qualification, work experience module, English and maths studies and the Positive Futures tutorial programme. Positive Futures is the college’s unique personal effectiveness programme designed to develop key study, employability and transferable skills to support progression onto a positive destination.
The Careers Programme has a particular focus on providing personalised careers guidance through face-to-face 1:1 tutorials with personal tutors and interviews with Level 6 qualified careers guidance officers. A key feature is to remove any mismatch between the careers young people want to pursue and the opportunities available; the college uses up-to-date understanding of labour market information to ensure learners make well-informed choices. Targeted support is provided for vulnerable and disadvantaged learners.
The overall aim of the Bury College Careers Programme is for every learner to be fully engaged with their next steps by setting aspirational career goals, which significantly increase their life chances, job satisfaction, and earning potential.
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