Careers Guidance

To achieve excellence in your future, to love what you do, to benefit your home life and family, to be polite and successful, to be determined to reach your goals – we are here to help you plan your future.

The academy Career's Leader is Jordan Kenison, and she can be contacted should you have any further queries about our careers programme.

Over the time that you are at Oasis Academy Coulsdon, you, with your parent/carer support, will be making a number of decisions relating to your future. We know how important and life-changing these decisions can be, and this drives us to ensure that everyone receives the best possible careers education.

During your time at Oasis Academy Coulsdon, you will be involved in activities and opportunities to develop your skills and understanding of the world of work. This enables you to make informed choices for your future in line with your strengths and areas of interest.

As a School, we have a statutory duty to provide access, for all young people in Years 7 – 11, to impartial, independent information, advice and guidance on careers.

Investor in Careers

We are proud to announce that the students and staff of Oasis Academy Coulsdon are committed to the assessment for Investor in Careers. This Quality in Careers Standard award is a kite mark for quality in Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) and is recognised nationally across the country. It is awarded to schools who have demonstrated a commitment to provide impartial, independent CEIAG to young people, to improve students’ awareness of opportunities, to raise their aspirations and to work with them to ensure they achieve their full potential.

The Gatsby Benchmarks (https://www.goodcareerguidance.org.uk) are a key measure of the effectiveness of careers advice and are central to the Government’s Careers strategy. To ensure our students receive the highest quality of careers guidance, we are working towards meeting all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks, in line with DfE expectations. The focus of the benchmarks are:

● A Stable Careers Programme

● Learning from Career and Labour Market Information.

● Addressing the Needs of Each Pupil

● Linking Curriculum Learning to Carers

● Encounters with Employers and Employees

● Experience of Work Places

● Encounters with Further Education

● Personal Guidance

Investors Certificate of Commitment

To ensure that our students are provided with the best careers education we work closely with a number of professionals and providers of further and higher education including the University of Surrey, Coulsdon college, East Surrey College, Southbank UTC, DHL, Chelsea Football Academy, and HSBC.

If you are an employer or education provider and you would like to work with us, please click on the below link and explore the opportunities available.

Careers Provider Access Arrangements

Careers Guidance @OAC

Evaluation of the Careers Programme

We evaluate the effectiveness and impact of our Careers programme by measuring our success against:

● The 8 Gatsby Benchmarks.

● Our NEET figures (Not in Employment, Education or Training) 98.4% of our students progressed into successful Post 16 programmes/ employment in 2021-22.

● Student Voice following each Careers Activity undertaken.

● Student surveys and feedback forms

● Teachers & Parent/ Carers feedback

● Employer feedback

● Students Careers Action Plan data

● Learning walks

Our latest Compass + report which allows us to evaluate our careers activities against the eight benchmarks can be found here.

Careers Guidance

All students at Oasis Academy receive Careers information and advice. This is delivered through dedicated careers sessions which take place fortnightly in the Mentor Time programme and the ‘Employable Me’ modules delivered through in our comprehensive PSHE programme.

Additional careers workshops and assemblies are delivered by parents, local businesses/companies from a wide variety of professions and industries plus a range to higher and further education institutions. These are aimed at supporting students with making informed decisions regarding the selection of their KS4 Options, Post-16 destinations and beyond.

Year 10 students take part in a week long work experience programme during the Summer Term. They are fully prepared for this beforehand and shown how to make use of the skills they have learnt when they return to school.

Our 2023 - 2024 programme can be viewed HERE.

For further information about our careers programme please contact Jordan Kenison.

Careers Interviews

Any student at Oasis Academy Coulsdon can request a careers interview with Your Careers Advisor Michele Cretney to discuss their future plans/next steps.

All students in Year 11 will automatically be timetabled for a careers interview to help them decide whether it would be best for them to continue in education, training or employment.

What will be discussed?

In your career interview, there is no right or wrong answer. It is an open discussion about you and your interests.

During your guidance interview your careers advisor Michele Cretney will help you to:

• identify your personal qualities and skills
• identify the skills you would like to develop
• come up with ideas for study and work
• explore specific career areas open to you
• explore current and future job opportunities
• understand the process of job search, writing a CV and going for interviews
• explore your interests, likes and dislikes, family influences, personal barriers and work experience
• think about how study, work experience, and home-life can all contribute to your employability

Your careers advisor Michele Cretney will give you:

• accurate and up-to-date information
• the opportunity, if suitable, to complete a personality-based assessment which helps individuals to know themselves better
• alternative sources of information and help if required
• an action plan to help you move forward

How to prepare for your interview:

Think about:
• your current situation – what planning you have already done, if any
• what you would like to change
• qualifications or additional qualifications and experience required for the career you are interested in
• how much control you feel you have in making choices
• the ideas you already have but don’t know how to move forward with or perhaps you have no ideas at all

The benefits of a guidance interview are:

• increased motivation and self- confidence
• greater self-awareness
• identification of more achievable ambitions
• improved decision making skills
• increased awareness of opportunities

Support for Students

This page has information and links for students, which you might find helpful as part of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance.

You can email Ms Kenison , Careers Lead, on jordan.kenison@oasiscoulsdon.org

Exploring Careers

Sacu - a unique career quiz used by students at thousands of UK schools and colleges; offers independent and impartial careers information

How2become - guidance on how to write a CV, complete an application form, pass psychometric tests and succeed in interviews

Careerpilot - explores choices at 14, 16 and 18 and combined study and work options

Study & Careers Magazine - secondary & sixth form educational and careers magazine with tips & advice to help students excel

Apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Service - information on the range of available apprenticeships

Not Going to Uni - info and guidance on apprenticeships, gap years, distance learning and jobs

University links

Russell Group Universities Click Here

The complete University Guide Click Here

UNISTATS – Compares different university courses Click Here

Which University Click Here

Hundreds of examples of personal statements to browse Click Here

Specific careers

Remember you can use any of the search engines above to explore certain careers. These are just some specific ones we have information on.

National Careers Service, researching a particular career Click Here

Tomorrows Engineers latest Newsletter Click Here

Apprenticeships in Fashion Click Here

Skills for Care , for information relating to careers in Health Care Click Here

Career profiles with Maths, Science and Engineering Click Here

Careers in Health care Click Here and Here

Interested in a career in Medicine? Click Here

Interested in a career in Law? Click Here

Make it in Marketing Website Click Here

All About Law website Click Here

The London Beauty Training Academy (The LBTA) have just created a guide on “How to Become a Make Up Artist”, The guide features key pieces of information about entering the business from job opportunities, essential skills, income and creating your own personal portfolio Click Here

How to be a Web Developer Click here

Support for Parents

At Oasis Academy Coulsdon, we value the input of our pupils’ Parents and Carers when it comes to planning their next steps. Parents and Carers have a huge influence on our children and young people’s decisions when it comes to choosing a course, career or method of study. We’ve added essential careers information for Parents/Carers in this section:

Careers Magazine for Parents and Carers to Support Post 16 and Post 18 options

https://careermap.co.uk/career-advice/careermag/for-parents-guardians

Apprenticeships

Knowing the best advice and support to give to your young person about the next steps for them beyond secondary school is tricky. With so many options available to them it is difficult to know where to begin. We are pleased to share with you these useful resources from Parent Zone-Amazing Apprenticeships to help you and your child(ren) make an informed choice about whether apprenticeships are the right choice for them.

Apprenticeships: Hints & Tips for Parents

Apprenticeship levels explained

Latest apprenticeships Croydon

Latest apprenticeships City of London

Latest apprenticeships Crawley

Latest apprenticeships Sutton

Pod Casts

Below are some interesting podcasts for parents on Apprenticeships.

OAC Appreticeships Evening Presentation

Labour Market Information

What is LMI?

LMI tells you about what is happening in the job market at national, regional and local levels and includes information about jobs and salaries, what skills employers are looking for in different industrial sectors, conditions, communities and future trends.

LMI can help you discover where the job opportunities are, the sectors, occupations and locations you need to look out for, and help you identify the skills you might need to develop in the future.

The world of work and employment patterns are changing rapidly. Our young people need to be aware of this and how it might affect their decisions. At Oasis Academy Coulsdon, we are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information, advice and guidance possible. For this reason we will be uploading updates on Labour Market Information for you to explore.

LMI includes information about the structure and working of the labour market including:

■ Jobs available and people available to do those jobs.

■ Changes in the economy and business environment.

Effects of the economy upon the labour market. Work patterns have changed in the last 30 years because of new technologies, global shifts in production and changing economic markets. It will help your child make better decisions if they are aware of:

■ the growth industries which are likely to provide more opportunities in the future.

■ industries which are in decline and therefore the number of job opportunities may reduce.

■ the skills employers look for – key skills such as IT, numeracy, communication, problem solving, adaptability, the ability to learn and team working.

■ how work patterns are changing.

■ the pressures on labour markets caused by recession. Increasing competition for jobs and places on courses means that it is important for students to have up-to-date information about trends and developments in the labour market, about the options available, the types of work or learning involved. Good information helps people make good decisions.

A short video explaining LMI can be found below.

Working lives have changed over the last few decades. A short video explaining this can be found below.

Has your child thought about the possible changes over the next 10 years? Which jobs will decrease and what are the new jobs that may arise.

What Is Labour Market Information

The Future of Careers

Useful tips for students

■ Study job vacancies, look for common ‘transferable’ skills. Do you have these skills? If not, how can you gain them?

■ Find out about the companies opening and closing in your area.

LMI can be gathered in many ways. Talk to your parents, grandparents or carers about their working experiences. Speak to the school CEIAG Advisor. Watch the news and read local newspapers.

Useful links for LMI can be found here:

Start - Explore Croydon providing summary of LMI for the Croydon Borough

Prospects Luminate LMI Newsletter providing a round up of November LMI

Borough profile - Croydon Local Strategic Partnership's 2019 borough profile

Coast to Capital - how Croydon fits into the Coast to Capital programme (includes the Gatwick 360 strategic economic plan)

NOMIS - free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics

LMI For All - combines government information with vacancy data from various sources

Skills Match - features labour market information (LMI) for the whole London region

icould - accessible labour market information

National Careers Service - career profiles organised by industry featuring local opportunities

Education Development Trust- INSIGHTS, news about employability, careers, and the labour market in the UK

Careers Destination Data

Destinations

Destination data helps to monitor and evaluate careers provision and tailor advice and guidance to individual pupils.

Destination data is any information that is collected on where a pupil goes, and what they do after leaving school. Post-16 information is passed on to local authorities, so that the local authorities can fulfill their requirement to ensure pupils have an education or training placement for the September after they finish Key Stage 4.

Post 16 Destination Data

We track our Year 11 pupils' intended destinations, confirmed offers of learning, and actual destinations, as well as offer support to pupils during their post-16 transition.

Post 16 Destinations	2019- 2020	2020- 2021	2021- 2022
Further Education	29.1%	36.2%	32.3%
School 6th Form	9.9%	11.3%	9.1%
Sixth Form College	51.7%	46.3%	52.7%
Other Post 16 education	0.7%	-	0.5%
Repeating year 11	1.3%	-	-
Apprenticeship or Employment with training (regulated qualification)	3.3%	3.4%	2.7%
Employment without training	-	0.6%	0.5%
Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET)	1.3%	1.7%	0.5% Start date agreed
NEET - Not available to Labour Market (Mental Health and anxiety)	1.3%	0.6%
Unknow	1.3%	-	1.1%
Grand Total	151 Pupils	177 Pupils	186 Pupils

South London Careers Hub

Oasis Academy Coulsdon is partnered with the South London Careers Hub.

The South London Careers Hub helps young people to build the skills and experiences they need to lead successful futures. It does this by connecting businesses with schools and colleges. This ensures that young people are aware of all the career pathways and opportunities available to them.

The South London Careers Hub has provided Oasis Academy with an Enterprise Coordinator Miayah Wright and two dedicated Enterprise Advisors Bryony Williams, CEO of The Glass Female and Pamala Graham from Centrale Croydon and an Enterprise Coordinator Miayah Wright to support the Academy’s compliance with the Gatsby Benchmarks.”