Careers Advice
Please note this page is currently under review.
At BACA we know that careers guidance helps students to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make successful choices for their future.
The Careers team is lead by our Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Lead (CEIAG), Mrs Jodie Bovington, who is there to provide students with careers information and guidance to help them manage the transitions in learning, progress to higher education, and ultimately move into the world of employment. We encourage students to think about what the future might hold and consider - What kind of work might be possible? How will they discover their dream job and find out how to get it?
Working alongside Mrs Bovington, are Careers Advisors Miranda Glavin and Marina Del Gaudio, who support through the local careers company Get Career Confident. Ms Glavin and Ms Del Gaudio attend the Academy twice a week and can be found in the Careers Room in POD 1 to provide personal careers advice to all students. You can contact the Get Career Confident support workers online here.Get Career Confident offers the following online resources as well:
Read about how we measure the impact of our careers programme here.
Get Career Confident are developing new ways to share important careers information, advice and guidance with young people, parents, teachers/school staff, and careers advisors. They would like your feedback to make sure they can create content useful to you and share it with you in the way that works best.
Please complete the survey HERE
Whether students have lots of ideas or none at all, BACA’s Careers Advisors are here to help. They support students with discovering the world of work, choosing GCSE options, making college decisions, and applying successfully for apprenticeships, university courses and jobs. BACA’s career advisors broaden student’s awareness of what is possible and inspire them to take advantage of all the opportunities available.
Students can access a range of careers support including:
- Drop in appointments on Mondays and Tuesdays
- Use of careers material in the Pod
- Careers assemblies, workshops and talks throughout the year
- One-to-one guidance session in year 11 and college and on request in other years
Careers Lead Information
Jodie Bovington - jbovington@baca-uk.co.uk
Available Tuesday - Thursday in POD 1
Phone 01273 691191 ext 2078
What is CEIAG?
CEIAG stands for Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance.
School Vision
Our students leave with the core skills to prepare them for the world of work. They are ambitious and confident to take on the challenges of the ever changing workplace. They are knowledgeable of a whole range of options available to them and can make informed choices based on their skill set.
Careers Programme
Careers Calendar
This careers programme ensures our students develop their employability skills and their own personal skills to help them be ready for the place of work. At BACA we have our own sixth form, which our students have access to, the receive information about other education establishments in the local area and alternatives to further education such as apprenticeships. Students are given advice on open evenings, the application and the interview process with an independent careers advisor, support from their tutors and the careers lead.
Year 8
Students will complete a full PSHEE programme during Term 2 in the lead up to choosing their options in Term 3. This is to help them look at a range of different careers they may not have heard of, find out and discuss their own personal skills thinking about what they are good at. Become experts about post-16 options and plan a budget of what it would be like to live in their dream career.
During Term 3, year 8 students will also be out of lesson to discuss their options with employers and employees from the local community and how they can make the right choices for them.
Year 10
Students start the careers interview process from term 4. They also have a full PSHEE Curriculum during term 6 to help support their transition into year 11 and their post 16 choices.
They all take part in futures week and attend the Big Bang Fair South East as part of this programme.
Year 11
Students will have had at least 1 careers interview by the end of term 3 with an independent careers advisor from Get Career Ready.
A Preparation for College and Revision evening is provided in September to help students prepare for the year ahead and what is expected of them in the coming months as they prepare to leave school.
They are also visited regularly by the careers lead during tutor time to take part in workshops about CV writing, application writing, and preparing for an interview.
Tuesday 4.00pm - 5.00pm in B15 is dedicated to year 11 for help in writing their application and interview practice for when the time comes.
BACA College
Our sixth form students will then receive at least 2 interviews during their time at BACA College. They also receive apprenticeship application, UCAS and job application support.
They also receive 1 hour tutor time a week that is dedicated to PSHEE and as part of this a discussion around careers and their future prospects.
Additional Information
All teachers are part of the careers programme, they ensure in lessons that they reference to the real world context of their lessons and expose their students to the wider range of careers available.
How do our students access careers guidance:
- Get Career Ready
- Careers Lead
- PSHEE Curriculum
- Tutor Time
- Career of the Week
- Careers Club
- Trips
- Role Models Project
- IntoUniversity
- Widening Participation
- Futures Week
- Options Day
Tracking
At BACA we track all our students, to ensure each child has the best start to their professional carers.
Gatsby Benchmarks
As a school we follow the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks to ensure our pupils receive good careers guidance
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Useful websites
The following websites are also useful for starting to think about your future options:
Barclays lifeskills
www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk - National Careers Service
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk -National Health Service
www.nmc-uk.org - Nursing and Midwifery Council
www.army.mod.uk - Army
www.raf.mod.uk - RAF
www.royalnavy.mod.uk - Navy
www.mod.uk - Ministry of Defence
www.stemnet.org.uk - Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
www.autocity.org.uk - Careers inform from the automotive industry
Careers Research
www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk - Advice and guidance to parents & carers with regards to the options open to students after leaving school
www.careersbox.co.uk - Careers films on the web
http://icould.com - Careers Advice, Choices & Ideas
www.startprofile.com - Prepare students for a rapidly changing world
www.plotr.co.uk - Discover and explore careers you'll love
www.careersworld.co.uk - Online careers resource
www.connexions360.org.uk - General information for young people
http://getsmaart.com - School Leaver Career and Course Information
A levels
www.russellgroup.ac.uk - Making A level choices
www.a-levels.co.uk - Brief outline of subjects and where they may lead
Apprenticeships
www.apprenticeships.gov.uk - To register and see vacancies
www.apprenticeships-in-sussex.co.uk - To see local Training Providers
www.semta.org.uk - Science, Engineering & Manufacturing Tech
www.southernwater.co.uk/about-us/careers/apprenticeships - Southern Water
Universities
http://www.whatuni.com/- All you need to find the right uni!
www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk - League tables and rankings
www.russellgroup.ac.uk - Represents 20 leading UK universities
www.oxbridgeapplications.com - How to apply and much more
Routes other than university
http://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/ - the one stop site for apprenticeships,
gap years, distance learning and jobs
Building a network of people who could help you
The Aldridge Foundation has launched Aldridge Connect, a free site on the social media platform LinkedIn, which has over 27 million users in the UK and focuses on jobs and careers. Joining can help you grow professional connections in industries that interest you; gives you immediate access to a network of all Aldridge students AND professional companies; and provides help with CVs.
Volunteering
www.gapyear.com - Gap year/volunteering
Work experience
www.connexions360.org.uk/education/careers/workexperience/Pages/workexperience.aspx
www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-work-experience-and-internships
Study abroad
www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus.htm
www.prospects.ac.uk/studying_abroad.htm
www.topuniversities.com/studying-abroad