Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Carers lead: Mrs Siobhain Walter Phone: 01946 820356
Email: walters@changinglives.education
West Lakes Academy Careers
Employers
Why volunteer your time?
As an employer, you should never underestimate the positive influence you can have on young people. Sharing your experience and workplace with young people allows them to meet role models and see examples of jobs they might like to do in the future. However much time you can offer, you can make a real difference.
Sharing your career journey can be powerful. Your insights, unique industry knowledge and experience can make a difference to the options a young person considers for their future career.
You could be the role model who changes a young person’s life, just by showing them what is possible.
Benefits to your business
It helps give young people the skills and knowledge that they need while also potentially finding new recruits for your business.
You can make a difference to the future career choices that a young person makes.
When deciding whether to provide young people with work experience/employer engagement activities you should consider all the benefits they not only bring to the student, but also to your business.
- Employee engagement and development: employees can build on their supervisory and leadership skills whilst sharing their knowledge and expertise with young people.
- Insights into your business: understand how young people view your business.
- Access to skills: tap into the minds of digital natives.
- Build business-relevant skills in young people to support your recruitment strategy and develop your future workforce.
- Give back to your community and build relationships with schools and colleges.
- Raise a positive profile and bust myths about your business and industry.
- Embrace online delivery to enable more young people to gain valuable insights into careers and industry opportunities.
Your unique industry knowledge and experience can bring the world of work to life and make a difference to the options a young person considers for their careers.
Opportunities available to support
| Activity | Description |
| Employer Talk | Share your career journey. Whether in an assembly, classroom setting or hosted virtually, sharing your career story is a great way to help students understand the realities of the world of work and inspire them about a career path they may never have considered. |
| World of work/work ready skills | World of Work Days focus on being work ready. The workshops vary each year but could include – · CV Preparation · Interview Skills · Job Research and Application Processes · Personal Finance/Budgeting · Local Labour Market Information · Employability Skills Career speed networking Knowledge around different careers available
|
| Mock Interviews | Each year we provide opportunities for our year 10 and 12 students to practice their interview skills and we are always looking for employers to support them. A mock interview is a shorter version of an actual job interview. It gives young people an opportunity to practice what to say and do during an interview and get feedback. Whether it’s face-to-face or virtual, a mock interview is useful in helping students review their answers to common interview questions and assessing other factors such as mannerisms and body language. |
| Work experience | Work experience for young people comes in many different forms from one day to a full week spent working in an organisation. Work experience is time spent in a workplace learning about a job role, a company or a career sector. Most work experience is unpaid.
|
| Company visits | Company visits offer an inspiring and informative opportunity for a group of students to visit your workplace, learn more about your business and experience aspects of the different future career opportunities available to them. Visits could include tours, workshops or events and usually last a half or full day. If you offer educational visits already, consider building in career talks from younger employees, trainees or interns as part of that visit. |
| Mentoring | Employers could provide 1-1 mentoring for particular students within a school or college to help them gain a better understanding of certain professions or employment areas whilst discussing their individual careers aspirations. This support can really help to boost a student’s confidence, self-esteem and develop their employability skills. The amount of time required will vary from school to school but on average it would be 1 hour per month per student. |
| Curriculum Offer | Do you recall sitting in some lessons at school and wondering what the point of that particular subject was and whether you were ever going to need that knowledge again? A few years later and many of us are now using what we learned at school in our jobs. You can bring subjects to life by assisting departments in school to link subject matter to your business sector, and build meaningful career links and employability skills into their curriculum. |
| Apprenticeship talks | It’s vitally important all young people are aware of all the options available to them post 16. A great way of them understanding more about their options when it comes to apprenticeships is to hear from current or recently graduated apprentices. Directly hearing about the experiences of apprentices will help to ensure equal careers guidance for both academic and vocational pathways, and challenge views about the suitably of different apprenticeships across genders. |
| Enterprise projects and competitions | Developing enterprising skills and behaviours in our young people is really important for Cumbria’s future economy. We need more people to start and grow their own businesses to respond to new market opportunities and create future jobs. Running enterprise projects and competitions encourages our young people to build their careers in Cumbria. Many of the Cumbria Careers Hub partners offer opportunities for employers to work with them to deliver enterprise projects and competitions in school. |
Provider Access Policy September 2024
Useful links
Employers & Volunteers – Cumbria Careers Hub (careershubcumbria.co.uk)
Parents
CEIAG Parents and Carers Entitlement Statement
All parents and carers can expect to:
- Discuss their children’s progress and future prospects
- Have access to tutors, subject teachers and careers specialists at parents’ evenings in Years 7-11 and Options evenings in Year 9
- Offer feedback and ideas on how to improve the careers program
Year 10 Work Experience
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ASK Apprenticeships Parent and Career Zone – https://amazingapprenticeships.com/parent-zone/
https://amazingapprenticeships.com/app/uploads/2024/10/October-2024-Choices-Magazine-1.pdf
Local upcoming events-
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Students
CEIAG Students Entitlement Statement
All students at West Lakes Academy will:
Take part in a careers education programme in Year 7-13 that helps them to:
- Understand their education, training, employment and other progression
- Develop the skills they need to plan and manage their own personal development and career progression
- Access relevant information and learning from taster activities and experience of work
- Offer feedback and ideas on how to improve the careers programme
Have access to, and support with using, careers information that is:
- Easy to find and available at convenient times and in convenient locations, including online signposting
- Clearly labelled and comprehensive, giving details of all progression opportunities and associated support
- Unbiased and up to date
Obtain careers guidance that is:
- Impartial
- Confidential
- Focused on individual needs and fit for purpose
- Supportive of equal opportunities
- Provided by people with relevant training and expertise
Academy upcoming events
Year 9
World of Work Day – TBC
Year 10
Mock Interviews
Work Experience Week (3rd – 7th March)
Year 11
System People apprenticeship providers attending Year 11 parents evening
Unifrog
Students will be using Unifrog to support them through their careers journey at West lakes Academy. This can be accessed here – www.unifrog.org.uk
Further Resources
