The eight Gatsby Benchmarks have been adopted by schools, including Ormiston Sudbury Academy, to ensure that good career guidance is provided to all students. Our most recent Compass+ score, which identifies how well we are doing at meeting the benchmarks, can be found here.
| 1. A stable careers programme | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Every school and college should have an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, teachers and parents. | The Careers Programme at Ormiston Sudbury Academy aims to deliver good quality careers education and guidance for years 7-11, so that students have a positive career journey and can make well informed decisions about their future when they leave the Academy. The programme is delivered through a range of interactive activities, talks, visits and curriculum learning, virtually and in person. Support from all staff at the academy is essential to the delivery of the programme and staff, students and parents/carers are made aware of learning and activities that take place. Feedback from employers, teachers, parents and students is used to help evaluate and improve the programme. We use the Unifrog careers platform to help support student with career learning online and encourage parents/carers to support their students to use this platform. |
| 2. Learning from career and labour market information | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Every pupil, 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 adviser to make best use of available information. | During a student’s time at the Academy, they will have a number of opportunities to find out about LMI through visits from employers, and educational establishments. Curriculum learning and PSHE lessons allow students to find out about local and national labour markets and ‘careers of the future’. Our Career’s Platform UNIFROG helps students explore independently careers of interest and the training requirements for these careers. Suffolk County Council produce information on the local labour market that is displayed on posters around the Academy and brochures on this subject can be found in Tutor Rooms and in the Careers Office. |
| 3. Addressing the needs of each pupil | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. | Each year group participates in different career activities tailored to their needs with career lessons delivered to all students through the PSHE curriculum. Throughout the academic year we invite guess speakers and employer to talk to our students about career related topics. For example, in line with Provider Access Legislation Year 8-11 students find out about apprenticeships and technical education. We organise a Speed Networking Event for Year 9 students to find out about different organisations and careers. Year 10 students have an Employability Day to help them prepare for work experience in July, and year 10/11 have the opportunity to meet with a qualified careers adviser. Career learning is logged on Unifrog and Compass Plus and students can access a report by contacting the Academy’s Careers Adviser. |
| 4. Linking Curriculum learning to Careers | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. Teachers should highlight the relevance of their subject with a wide range of future career paths. | We provide our students with a range of opportunities to find out about careers within different subject areas they are studying and how the skills they are developing in lessons are relevant to the working world and their future careers. Employers are encouraged to visit the Academy to talk to our student about careers that link to specific subjects, for example, an Architect speaking to our Design and Engineering Students, NHS Careers speaking to our Childcare students. We have also taken students on visits to employers and FE/HE institutions for Maths, STEM, Design and Engineering and BTEC Production/Acting. |
| 5. Encounters with employers and employees | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Every pupil 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. | In addition to the subject specific career activities we organise for each year group to engage with employers, we provide many chances for our students to meet with employers and find out about the working world. We host career and subject related employer talks and advice sessions and there are opportunities to meet with the Armed and Uniformed services and find out about training and skills required for specific job roles. We have previously participated in ‘enterprise challenge’ schemes through Babergh District Council and all Year 10 students visit the Suffolk Skills and Careers Festival where they can meet with employers and educational establishments. |
| 6. Experience of workplaces | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Every pupil 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 network. | All year 10 students are given the opportunity to participate in our work experience programme. This is for one week during the summer term and students are encouraged to source their own placement, which helps to develop valuable job-hunting skills. Previous students that have participating in work experience have been offered part time work and apprenticeships when they leave the Academy. Students have a work experience logbook that they need to complete that will help them to reflect on their learning in the workplace and the skills they have acquired and developed. Students are also encouraged to participate in virtual work experience and career workshops through organisations such as Next Generation Project, Springpod and Speakers for Schools, particularly during National Careers Week and National Apprenticeship Week. |
| 7. Encounters with Further and Higher Education | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| All pupils 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 | At the Academy we ensure that our pupils receive the support needed to ensure they can make well informed decisions about their future. Year 11 students have presentations during assembly time from local Post 16 education providers and hear from Apprenticeship providers at different key stages, in line with our Provider Access Policy. We host visits from employers and the uniformed services, in person and virtually so that students can hear about different educational routes and career pathways. We work with NEACO based at the University of Suffolk so that students are provided with information on Higher Education and the benefits. |
| 8. Personal Guidance | |
| What this means | How we meet this |
| Every pupil should have the opportunity for guidance interviews with a careers adviser who is trained to the appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. | All students will meet with a qualified Careers Adviser at the Academy to help support them with their careers journey. This usually takes place in the spring/summer term for Year 10 students, with additional support for those who need or request it. Personal guidance is tailored to the student needs and to support them to explore the range of opportunities available to them when thinking about their future and making decisions on Post 16 options. |