Careers

Our Aim

At Dene Academy, we believe that all students, irrespective of their background or starting points in life, should have high aspirations in relation to their future lives and careers.

Our vision for the careers provision at our centre of excellence is to empower and motivate each individual student to develop their own future pathway, and to confidently raise and achieve their aspirations in an increasingly competitive and ever-changing world.

Context

At Dene Academy we have a critical role to play in preparing our students for the next stage of their education or training and beyond. Our students will be embarking upon a career pathway which is more challenging and complex than that faced by previous generations. Global opportunities and increasing technological advances will result in young people having several careers during their working life and potentially working in a career which does not currently exist.

Consequently, we must equip them with adaptable skills to allow them to access and transition between the greater choices of education, training and employment experiences. Additionally, we need to expose them to a wide range of training and employment providers throughout their secondary school life in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks and the ALP careers policy.

Gatsby Benchmarks

https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/educators/provider-access-legislation

To access our Policy for Careers, Education Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG), please go to our Policies & Procedures page.

Students in Years 7 – 11 are entitled to:

Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
Hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options evening’s, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
Understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.

We have a whole school approach to careers education with every member of staff helping to deliver quality and impartial CEIAG, allowing students to access the necessary information to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Throughout all areas of school, we prepare students with the skills they will need to succeed in education and beyond into employment.

All young people in England must continue in education or training until 18 years of age. Young people have different choices at the end of Year 8 and the end of year 11:

STEM Specialist School (UTC) from Year 9
Full time study at a college, sixth form or training provider
Full time work or volunteering combined with part time education of training
An apprenticeship
A traineeship

As part of our careers programme, students in all year groups receive careers information from a range of providers and have the opportunity to ask questions. This supports our Year 9 students when choosing their GCSE options and Year 10 and 11 when making choices for their next steps. Key Stage 4 students are also provided with a one to one guidance interview with a qualified careers advisor.

For Further Information please contact: Antony Ryan (Careers Lead) at careers@dene.durham.sch.uk or 0191 5546000.

Career related activities	Y7	Y8	Y9	Y10	Y11
Assemblies	•	•	•	•	•
Independent one to one careers advice				•
Workplace experience				•
Lunchtime drop in sessions			•	•	•
PSHE	•	•	•	•	•
Careers lessons	•	•	•	•
Visits to employers	•	•	•	•
Visits from employers	•	•	•	•
College taster days			•	•
Visits from colleges			•	•	•
Visits from Universities	•	•	•	•	•
Internal careers events	•	•	•	•
External careers events	•	•	•	•
Parent evenings on careers			•	•	•
Careers Fair	•	•	•	•	•
Web based activities	•	•	•	•	•
National Careers Service – website	•	•	•	•	•
Other careers websites	•	•	•	•	•
STEM Week	•	•	•	•
DurhamWorks Workplace Programme				•
Subject visits/tasters		•	•	•
Application clinic				•	•
In school college interviews				•	•
NCS Assemblies & lunch pop ups					•
National Apprenticeship Week	•	•	•	•	•
Careers Week	•	•	•	•	•
North East Collaborative Outreach Programme (NECOP)		•	•	•	•
CareerWave Careers Education Programme				•