Careers, Advice and Guidance

Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) 

At The Douay Martyrs School we have high expectations for our students and we will make every effort to help our young people make well informed and realistic decisions, which will enable them to reach their full potential in the future.  

We believe that it is just as important to understand why you are doing something, as it is to learn how to do it. We want our students to know it is never too early to start thinking about their future options and pathways. The more informed our students are; the better choices and decisions they can make.  

The Douay Martyrs Catholic Secondary School ensures that there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access all pupils for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. Click here for our Careers Information Access Policy

One of the keys to success in helping students on their career journey is providing them with meaningful interactions with industry professionals. We would be happy to hear from anyone that is willing to give up their time to give back to the Douay community. We have many programmes in place including, but not limited to, mock interview days, careers fairs and seminars with industry professionals. Please get in touch  if you work in industry and would like to find out how you can be involved: ccaccaviello@douaymartyrs.co.uk  

Every student in our community has access to Unifrog to help them research and plan for their futures. They can also use the platform to record interactions they have and keep a log of their experiences.  

Careers education, combined with effective information, advice and guidance, is critical to young people’s educational career in:  

  • Avoiding disengagement during key stage 3; 

  • Choosing KS4 options; 

  • Helping to avoid underachievement or disengagement during key stage 4;  

  • Choosing appropriate post-16 and post-18 destinations.   

Careers education also draws on and contributes to the whole school curricular development of students’ employability skills which are listed below: 

  • Self-management; 

  • Team working;  

  • Business and customer awareness;  

  • Problem solving;  

  • Communication and literacy;  

  • Application of numeracy;  

  • Application of information technology. 

For more information contact: 
Careers Leader: Mrs Caccaviello 
Email: ccaccaviello@douaymartyrs.co.uk 

The Gatsby Benchmarks

Our CEIAG programme is based around the principles of developing employability skills, taking into consideration the CDI (Career Development Institute) framework and the “Gatsby Benchmarks”. 

  1. A stable careers programme 

  1. Learning from career and labour market information 

  1. Addressing the needs of each pupil 

  1. Linking curriculum learning to careers  

  1. Encounters with emloyers and employees 

  1. Experiences of workplaces  

  1. Encounters with further and higher education  

  1. Personal guidance  

Labour Market Information

Labour market information is a mechanism that matches potential employers of people (the demand for labour) with people who are available for work (the labour supply). Labour markets operate at local, regional, national and, increasingly, at international levels, reflecting how economies operate.   

It is important that parents and students understand labour market information as it is constantly changing. LMI helps us to understand and track changes as well as predict future trends so we can be prepared.  

Labour market information is gathered from a wide variety of sources including:  Government departments – e.g. unemployment figures, levels of imports and exports;  The National Census – e.g. people’s ages, occupations, etc;  Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) – e.g. levels and types of training in demand, skills shortages, etc;  Sector Skills Councils representing particular industrial sectors,  Chambers of Commerce – e.g. wages surveys, business activity surveys; Business Link – e.g. new business start-ups educational performance data – e.g. achievement and attainment tables, exam entries and results, progression data;  local government – e.g. inward investments – success rates for attracting new or relocating business to the area; External IAG providers such as Connexions – e.g. employment activity surveys, education leavers‟ destinations and tracking information.  

Labour market information is interpreted by many organisations to produce reports and forecasts on a wide range of topics, for example:   National Government Departments – e.g. statistics on skills shortages and training needs; predicted staffing shortfalls in occupations like medicine and teaching; external IAG providers – e.g. reports on destinations of school leavers. 

At Douay Martyrs career and labour market information (LMI) can be accessed by our students through: Unifrog as well as discussed with their teachers.  

Please click here to see up to date Labour Market Information LMI Bulletin 

Useful links for parents and students

It is never too early to start to plan for the future. The links below are to support both parents and students:  

Click here to see a Parents' guide to National Careers Week

Unifrog: https://www.unifrog.org/sign-in  

Skills for careers: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/skills-for-life 

Careers ideas and information: https://icould.com/ 

Careers ideas and information: https://careers.startprofile.com/page/home-page 

Careers ideas and information: https://careermap.co.uk/ 

National careers service: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/ 

Apprenticeship opportunities: https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship 

University options: www.theuniguide.co.uk/ 

UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-and-where-to-study/what-can-i-do-next 

Post 18: https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/  

Resources to support parents: https://wlcareershub.com/category/resources/resources-for-parents/ 

 

Independent advice and guidance

We have an independent careers advisor, who is based at our school two days a week, to support students when they are making key decisions across their academic careers.