Balshaw's Online Careers Week - February 2021
Balshaw's Online Careers Week took place from Monday 8th February to Friday 12th February.
You can see all the information, links and videos below:
Each day there was a different focus. This information is ideal for our KS4 students to plan their futures after Balshaw’s, for current Year 9 students who are going to be considering and choosing their options and for our students in Years 7 and 8 to help them to develop an awareness of the world of work.
Friday 12th February - Apprenticeships
Focus: Using an Apprenticeship as a Pathway to your Future Career
Tutorial Session: Introduction Mr Melling
Resources:
- Amazing Apprenticeships
- T Levels - What Are T Levels
- Runshaw College
- Cardinal Newman College
- Preston’s College
- Myerscough College
- Training 2000 - Website
- Training 2000 - Video
- Live Vacancies - Website
Thursday 11th February
Legal, Business & Finance and Leisure
Focus: To provide people with the services they need to live and enjoy their lives.
Tutorial Session: Introduction by Mr Melling
Resources:
- Local Council Apprenticeships
- Harrison Drury - Video - Thank you to Harrison Drury who created this video especially for us.
- Harrison Drury - Website
- Careers In Business & Finance
- Lloyds Banking - Video
- Lloyds Banking - Website
Hospitality, Catering, Leisure and Entertainment
- Purple Carrot Recruitment
- National Careers Service
- Youth Employment - Hospitality And Catering Industry
- Careers In Hospitality
- Best Western Hotels
- JD Wetherspoon Careers
- Health And Fitness
- Total Fitness Careers
- The Performing Arts - Jobs In Performing Arts
- BBC Careers
Wednesday 10th February
Health, the Emergency Services and the Military
Focus: Helping people when they need it the most and keeping them safe.
Tutorial Session: Introduction by Mr Melling
Resources:
- NHS Apprenticeships
- NHS Careers
- NHS Careers - We Are The NHS - We Are One Team
- NHS Careers - It’s More Than Doctors And Nurses
- NHS - Step Into the NHS
- NHS - The Best Thing About A Career In The NHS
- Life As A Nurse
- Life As A Physiotherapist
- Social Work
- Police - Video 1
- Police - Video 2
- Police Recruitment - Website
- Fire Service - Video
- Fire Service Recruitment - Website
- Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service
- North West Ambulance Service Apprenticeship
- Paramedic Information - Website 1
- Paramedic Information - Website 2
- Army - Website
- Army - Video
- Royal Navy Apprenticeship
- RAF - Video
- RAF Apprenticeship - Website
- Veterinary Courses
Tuesday 9th February
Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and the Construction Industry
Focus: Making things, from a pen to hospital, to help people live their lives in a safe, comfortable and enjoyable way.
Tutorial Session: Introduction by Mr Melling
Resources:
Manufacturing Industry
- Leyland Trucks - Video 1
- Leyland Trucks - Video 2
- Jaguar Land Rover
- BAE Systems - Video 1
- BAE Systems - Video 2
- BAE Systems - Website
- Westinghouse Springfields
- Chemical Engineering/Manufacture
- Astra Zeneca
The Construction Industry
- Eric Wright Construction
- Balfour Beatty
- Amey Construction & Consultancy
- Preston College
- Careers in Construction
- Construction Industry Training Board
Monday 8th February
The World of Work (National Apprenticeship Week 2021)
Focus: Most people will eventually start a career, how do we try to make sure it’s the right one?
Tutorial Session: An introduction to the Balshaw's Online Careers Week by Mr Melling
Resources:
- How To Kick-start Your Career
- Explore Careers
- Transferable Skills
- Top Tips For Your CV
- Department for Education Post 16 Choices
Careers Support
September 2020
Mr Melling, one of our Assistant Head Teachers, is the member of staff at Balshaw''s who leads the careers agenda. He works very closely with Mrs Seedall to offer the dynamic and rich careers program at Balshaw's. An important link in that program is the work carried out with the local Chamber of Commerce who add 'real world' insight and advice into many elements of the careers work that we can carry out.
Mr Melling can be contacted by email using d.melling@balshaws.org.uk.
Please see the following document about Apprenticeships: Parents’ and Carers’ Pack Apprenticeship Information September 2020
Please see the following document about Westinghouse Springfield Apprenticeships
Please see the following video from Bolton College https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVDyIIdfIk&feature=youtu.be
Careers
The basis of the Careers information and guidance offered at Balshaw’s is the Gatsby framework (see our Careers Policy for more information). We work in partnership with the local Young Chamber of Commerce to offer a rich and varied 'Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance' (CEIAG). Working with Balshaw's the Young Chamber of Commerce assist with organising the annual Careers Event, Apprentice workshops, industrial visits and the Mock Interview program in which every Year 11 is offered an interview from the world of work.
In every school year CEIAG is part of the PSHE Curriculum as this is a really important element in preparing Students for life after Balshaw's.
January 2021
To keep your Year 11 child focused and motivated, Mrs Seedall has put together a careers package that she has added to their class charts homework section. In this, there are pre-recorded sessions, talking through each section of the guide and relevant documents attached to their class charts homework section. They may have questions surrounding this or may want to discuss career options with you. Mrs Seedall thought it useful to provide you with a comprehensive careers information guide written for parents / carers, that will assist you in these discussions with your child.
Success at School have produced a guide that you can read here. You can find out more information about Success at School here.
January 2021
Preston's College School Leaver Event - Thursday 28th January 4-7.30pm
Measurement and Assessment of The Careers Programme
The key measure for the career (CEIAG) advice given at Balshaw’s is the destination data published by the DfE. The data below, published in January 2020, is for students who completed KS4 in 2017, the most recent data available.
It can be seen below that the vast majority of students, 97%, who left in 2017 are involved in some form of education, training or employment. In 2017 the national figure for students staying in education or gaining employment was 94% so that means Balshaw’s outperformed the national figure by 3%. The fact that so many Balshaw’s students have stayed in education or gained employment is an excellent indication of the success of the CEIAG program. Having said that, we hope that the developments we have made over the past few years will push the overall figure even closer to 100%, our ultimate goal.
Students staying in education or employment |
School |
Lancashire LEA |
England state-funded schools |
Students staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after KS4> |
97% |
94% |
94% |
Total number of students included in destination measures |
185 |
12076 |
528139 |
Students staying in education for at least 2 terms after KS4 |
85% |
83% |
87% |
Further education college or other further education provider |
83% |
47% |
37% |
Sixth form college |
0% |
19% |
11% |
Students staying in apprenticeships for at least 6 months after KS4 |
9% |
7% |
4% |
Students staying in employment for at least 2 terms after KS4 |
3% |
5% |
5% |
Careers Fair
A Careers Fair was held on Thursday 10th October 2019.
We were delighted and grateful that so many companies and services came along to talk to our students and their families. Here are the companies and services who came along on the evening:
Provider Access Statement
You can find our Provider Access Statement within the Careers Policy on our School Policies page
Summary of Careers Advice and Guidance covered in School
Year 7 and 8
In Year 7 and 8 students are given information, guidance and careers choices within their PSHE work. They also have the opportunity to attend year group sessions offered by local companies such as BAE who recently delivered a session that including drone and jet technology and how it was used within their organisation.
Year 9
In Year 9 students are given information, guidance and careers choices within their PSHE work. Each Tutor group has an individual careers talk with Mrs Seedall who is experienced in careers information, advice and guidance. During these talks options are fully discussed. Year 9 also have a careers and options assembly which provides them with relevant information on 'Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG) to enable them to make informed choices about their own career path and GCSE choices.
All Year 9 students also have a 1:1 careers interview with their Tutor, Head of House or member of SLT to discuss their options. Parents can attend these if they wish.
Relevant information for Parents/Carers:
- Investigating GCSE options and careers thoughts
- Options evenings for Parents
- Parents’ evenings
- GCSE option form deadline
Year 10
In Year 10 students cover CEIAG via their weekly PSHE lessons to investigate relevant career paths. In the Summer term they participate in a ‘Moving on Day’ where they are off timetable and are given careers talks by outside speakers and a presentation by Mrs Seedall on personal statements, CVs, apprenticeships and college placements. Year 10 students also are given relevant information in the Summer term to allow them to start the process of decision making for their life after Balshaw’s. This is followed up with a sample day at our biggest feeder college Runshaw College. In 2019 it is hope that every student in Year 10 will take part in the 'World of Work Day'. The day will include all students visiting a place of work, for example Leyland Trucks and the local NHS Trust. The morning session will be followed up with an afternoon session working with the British Army in school, again this will be organised by the 'Young Chamber of Commerce'.
Relevant information for Parents/Carers:
- CVs
- Personal statements
- Activities weeks
- College visits
- ‘Moving on Day’
- Employer visits
- College sampling day
- Parents’ evenings
- Careers Event
Year 11
Year 11 students spend PSHE lessons in their first term preparing for work, applying for apprenticeships, completing college applications and looking at financial capability. Students will also be invited to attend visits at local employees such as the one or procurement at BAE.
During the second half of autumn term and spring term, students receive regular assemblies on - how to revise, guidance on exams in English, Maths and Science in preparation for their mock examinations in December and the final examinations in May and June. The students will also be offered a tailored mock interview that has resulted from them applying for a mock career opportunity.
All Tutor groups also have careers advice and guidance sessions with Mrs Seedall who you may contact via the school on 01772 421009 or email r.seedall@balshaws.org.uk
Relevant information for Parents/Carers:
- Apprenticeship pack for parents can be found here
- Careers evenings
- College applications
- College interviews
- College open evenings
- Mock interviews (first term)
- Mock GCSE exams
- Mock GCSE results day
- Motivation sessions
- Parents’ evenings
- Revision assemblies
- Revision technique sessions
- Science career days – e.g. medicine/dentistry/veterinary science
- The Armed Forces assembly
Links to local Colleges & Training Providers
Don’t forget that College Open Events are one of the best ways to get up to date and accurate information on specific courses and entry requirements which can change year on year. The links below are useful for finding this information:
Colleges:
- Runshaw College – www.runshaw.ac.uk
- Preston's College – www.preston.ac.uk
- Cardinal Newman College – www.cardinalnewman.ac.uk
- Blackburn College – www.blackburn.ac.uk
- Myerscough College – www.myerscough.ac.uk
- Hutton Sixth Form College – www.huttongrammar.org
Apprenticeships:
- The Apprentice Guide - www.apprenticeshipguide.co.uk
- The National Apprenticeship Website - www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
- North Lancs Training Group – www.nltg.co.uk
- Rathbone Training – www.rathboneuk.org
- Training 2000 – www.training2000.co.uk
Local Apprenticeship Employers:
- BAE Systems - www.baesystems.com/en/careers
- Booths - http://recruitment.booths.co.uk/
- Eric Wright - www.ericwright.co.uk/
- Lancashire Constabulary - www.lancashire.police.uk/
- NHS - www.jobs.nhs.uk/
- Springfield Fuels and Westinghouse - www.westinghousenuclear.com/springfields/careers
- UCLan - www.uclan.ac.uk/