Kenilworth School

Parent room

The school aims to provide useful and engaging careers education for all students throughout each key stage. We believe that high quality careers education and guidance in school or college is critical to young people’s futures and helps them to prepare them for the workplace. We aim to provide a clear understanding of the world of work, supporting students to acquire the self-development skills they need to achieve positive employment destinations and improve their life opportunities.

We hold various events throughout the year such as Careers Fairs, Sixth Form Further Education and Apprenticeships Fairs, Year 9 Speed careers, and Futures Days. Careers is embedded in the curriculum and throughout the school, with workplace skills forming part of PSHE lessons. We invite in a range of employers for talks and welcome input from parents if they can assist with the breadth of our careers provision. We aim to show routes to jobs and careers that students might find engaging and rewarding, and most suitable for each individual.

All Years 11-13 are offered, and undergo, one-to one careers interviews to help them through their next steps and to make sure they are aware of the range of options and opportunities open to them. Ms. Linsell the Careers Advisor is also happy to see any student in any year group if they want advice or guidance. Parents are also welcome to contact Ms. Linsell on s.linsell@ksn.org.uk

We work closely with the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, who provide important external support with careers education and information about the regional labour market and industry strategy. https://www.cwlep.com/about

The school currently uses Unifrog as its digital careers platform to complement the careers provision.  Unifrog is designed to support learners in making the most informed decisions about their futures and has a range of tools that are suitable for all year groups. Each student has their own personal account that provides a wide range of information related to their interests and aspirations. Key features of the platform include:

  • Exploring Pathways – personality quizzes, career and subject profiles, MOOCs and webinars
  • Recording – self-reflection about extracurricular activities and key employability skills
  • Opportunities – search tools showing live vacancies/courses/placements for apprenticeships, universities (in the UK and abroad), FE, virtual work experience and much more
  • Applications – tools to help students learn about building applications for a range of pathways

Students access Unifrog by clicking a link in their welcome email, where they create a password and can begin using the platform. They login to Unifrog using their email address and password and they can do so from any computer, tablet or smartphone. We also talk about how to use Unifrog during assemblies, and work with the students to help them make the most of the features.

We have set up a parent/carer login so that you can use Unifrog as if you were a student yourself, allowing you to support your child throughout the process. The form code you need is: KNLWparent and you can sign up here: www.unifrog.org/code

‘Schools and colleges have a responsibility to set students on the path that will secure the best outcome which will enable them to progress in education and work and give employers the highly skilled people they need. That means schools and colleges must act impartially, in line with their statutory duty or contractual requirement, and not show bias towards any route, be that academic or technical.’ (Government asset publication) We aim to provide our careers education in line with this advice and the guidance given by the Baker Clause and Skills for Jobs White Paper.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-for-jobs-lifelong-learning-for-opportunity-and-growth

We support the students through all stages throughout their school journey, helping them to aim higher, and realise their potential.


Post-16

Students have a range of available options and may choose:

  • Full-time study, such as for A-levels, BTECs, T levels or a different college course
  • An apprenticeship or traineeship
  • Or to spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering while also doing part-time education or training
  • Study can be continued at a Sixth Form or Further Education (FE) College or a specialist college. Each school or college is likely to offer a range of different subjects, courses, and learning styles.

The school has a respected and popular Sixth Form which offers ‘A’ levels and diploma courses  for year 12 and 13. https://www.ksn.org.uk/770/welcome

Other local colleges for this area include:

Warwickshire College Group. https://wcg.ac.uk/

Coventry College https://www.coventrycollege.ac.uk/

Stratford-upon-Avon College https://www.stratford.ac.uk/

Solihull College https://www.solihull.ac.uk/

University College Birmingham https://www.ucb.ac.uk/

Aspire2Be (Sports based on Warwick University site) https://aspire2becoaching.co.uk/


Financial support

Students may be eligible for the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund, which can help with things like books, travel or equipment if you will struggle with education or training costs. https://www.gov.uk/1619-bursary-fund


Apprenticeships and traineeships

Apprenticeships are real jobs with training so students can earn while they learn and achieve qualifications. Schemes take between one and four years to complete and run on different level.

 To find an Apprenticeship Students can : -

If ‘all standards’ is selected, then you can see all the opportunities available within the local area. Alternatively:-

Getting advice

Please contact Ms. Linsell the School’s Careers Advisor. s.linsell@ksn.org.uk

The National Careers Service also gives detailed information about post-16 options.

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/career-choices-at-16

Websites such as https://icould.com/  ,  https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers   and https://targetcareers.co.uk   are good for general advice.

Career pilot will also list all the relevant qualifications, courses and live job data by region, so is worth having a look through. https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors  

Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership provides regional specific information with employment and apprenticeship opportunities.

https://www.cwlep.com/  

And job vacancies can be found on the National Career Service websites.

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/advertised-job-vacancies   

This web link also gives advice on how to search for a job.

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/top-10-smarter-ways-to-find-a-job.html

 

Looking after mental health and wellbeing for students

Students can talk to the school for advice and support.

Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity – visit their website for resources and advice. Their online resource hub, Student Space provides mental health support services and information for difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.studentminds.org.uk/findsupport.html  

 

Kenilworth School and Sixth Form Careers.

Careers Lead: Mr. Paul Hoverd.

Careers Advisor: Ms Sally Linsell.

 

CAREERS ROADMAP 2021-2022

“Enabling and Empowering our students to be the best they can be”.

Adhering to the Gatsby Benchmarks and the Department for Education strategy.

 

YEAR 11

One to One appointments – at least one intervention through Key Stage 4

Additional follow up appointment’s if required.

Targeted appointments for: SEN/Pupil Premium/Needing support.

Assistance with Applications

Introduction to Unifrog

Careers, Apprenticeships and Post-16 Providers Fair – Autumn Term

Employer Talks and Labour Market information.

Work experience – Summer Term

Careers Café – students can drop in through lunchtime: January – April.

Futures Day – introduction to Sixth Form

National Apprenticeship Week

 

YEAR 10

Initial Careers interventions – spring term.

Careers, Apprenticeships and Post-16 Providers Fair – Autumn Term

Introduction to Unifrog

Employer Talks

National Apprenticeship Week

Careers café – June to end of term with introduction to CV writing and post-16 options.

 

YEAR 9

Assembly Introduction to Careers

Introduction to Unifrog

Speed Careers Event/Employer Encounter – January

Options Evening – careers adviser present

PSHE – Employability Skills

National Apprenticeship Week

Appointments with careers advisor for Options information.

Drop in Careers Café Jan-March.

 

YEAR 8

Assembly introduction to Careers – September

Careers introduction in PSHE

Introduction to Unifrog

Employer Talk

National Apprenticeship Week

Building in careers awareness via Curriculum

Careers drop in. July

 

YEAR 7

Introduction to Careers

Introduction to Unifrog

National Apprenticeship Week

Building in careers awareness via Curriculum

Careers drop in. July.