Our Curriculum
Aspirations & Careers
CEIAG
CEIAG is a key component of Little Lever School’s Life Chances Strategy. We are committed to providing a comprehensive and planned programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) for all students in years 7 to 11.
We aim to support and develop all of our students by:
Developing the skills and attributes required to review achievements, research and plan future actions, make informed decisions and proactively and effectively engage with the transition process to life beyond secondary school.
Providing a curriculum that ‘brings learning to life’ by highlighting connections between the learning a student experiences and the opportunities presented by higher education and future employment.
Developing an understanding of the world of work and the changing world in which we live.
Providing high quality, impartial careers guidance that includes the full range of education and training options available to students.
Developing, across all subject areas, the key skills and attributes that will support all of our students in securing future success, both whilst at school and in the wider world.
Committed to the fulfilment of the eight Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Aspirations & Careers Visual Learning Journey
View- Our Commitment
Little Lever School is committed to ensuring that our CEIAG programme continuously improves and it delivers the necessary impacts for our young people. This is achieved through:
A designated Leader of Careers, Mr M Welch and a designated Senior Careers Leader, Ms M. Moore. Mr Welch can contacted through the main school email info@little-lever.bolton.sch.uk or by telephone 01204 333 300.
An independent Careers Advisor who is dedicated to providing impartial careers information, advice and guidance to students on all the options available to them.
Reporting to SLT and Governors.
A dedicated online platform providing a broad range of up-to-date information and online resources on key post-16 opportunities.
Attendance and active engagement at the Bolton CEIAG Hub.
Establishing and developing links with FE Colleges, apprenticeship providers, University Technical Colleges and universities.
Establishing and developing links with employers.
Opportunities provided by NCOP in relation to Higher Education and the world of work.
Building a network of alumni who can help with the careers guidance and Life Chances plan.
Liaison and support from the Enterprise Coordinator
Monitoring of the eight Gatsby benchmarks through the Compass evaluation tool.
Tracking and evaluation of retention and destination data and analysing the data to provide our students with the latest trends and labour market information.
Evaluation through and accreditation by the Quality in Careers Standard Award.
- Destination Data
All students are supported and tracked during their time at Little Lever School. Interventions are put into place to support and ensure all students have a September guarantee. This is closely monitored by the CEIAG team so every leaver is engaged in some form of education, employment or training.
Students with additional needs are supported within school though additional careers meetings with our careers service, personalised visits to post 16 establishments are arranged and extra support is given to them whilst the students complete their post 16 application. We also work closely with the careers service to ensure that vulnerable students are supported throughout the summer before they enrol with their destination.
The school continues to offer support to leavers once the enrolments have taken place. Tracking is continued and support is offered to those who haven’t been able to secure an appropriate place at a post 16 destination.
- Programme of Activity
A discreet programme of CEIAG lessons delivered through the Life Chances curriculum (Years 7 to 11) in addition to a range of cross curricular opportunities, visits and experiences.
Year 7
Autumn Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform
Spring Term: Life Chances: Discovery, Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform
Summer Term: Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform.
Year 8
Autumn Term: Life Chances: Pathways and Choices, Subject option taster sessions, Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, Option Information Evening, START platform
Spring Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform
Summer Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform.
Year 9
Autumn Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform, National Apprenticeship Show (17th November 2021)
Spring Term: Life Chances: Pathways and challenging stereotypes, Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform
Summer Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, Careers Fair, START platform.
Year 10
Autumn Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform, National Apprenticeship Show (17th November 2021)
Spring Term: Life Chances: Pathways and Preparation, Assemblies, Skills NorthWest (25 April 2021), Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform, Workplace Safari
Summer Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, Careers Fair, START platform, Workplace Safari
Year 11
Autumn Term: Life Chances: Pathways and Application, Assemblies from range of post-16 providers, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, One to one guidance interviews (Connexions), Mock Interview Day, START platform, National Apprenticeship Show (17th November 2021)
Spring Term: Life Chances Lesson presentations, Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas., START platform, Introduction to the National Citizenship Service
Summer Term: Assemblies, Careers Weeks in individual curriculum areas, START platform, National Citizenship Service, Post-16 transition support and guidance.
Throughout the academic year we also provide:
Identification of each student’s career aspiration to support personalisation of careers guidance.
Access to an independent Careers Advisor; students from all years are directed as required and may also request an appointment at any time.
A range of assemblies that focus on raising aspirations and future choices.
A comprehensive career education programme at key transition points, delivered by Edge tutors, Leader of Careers, Careers Advisor and SLT:
– Options process (dedicated CEIAG lessons, options assembly, options evening with an opportunity to speak with every subject area, ‘taster’ GCSE lessons, interview preparation, referral to Careers Advisor, one-to-one interview (parents and carers invited to attend) with feedback, parent/carer feedback/evaluation of process).
– Post-16 transition (‘How to help your child succeed’ evening, support for post-16 applications, presentations from a range of post-16 providers, post-16 evening with representatives from over 12 regional providers including sixth form colleges, apprenticeship providers, National Citizenship Service, Armed Forces and Connexions, college visits, individual college visits for SEND and vulnerable students).
Student completion of START programme; an online tool designed to support students in years 7 to 11 to make informed decisions about future study and careers options.
Work Experience placements
- Working With Parents & Carers
- Life After Little Lever - Supporting Transition into Key Stage 5
We want to ensure that our Year 11 students are effectively supported as they transition from Key Stage 4 into Key Stage 5 or employment with training. The resources found in the page below aim to help students, parents and carers with this transition.
https://www.little-lever.bolton.sch.uk/learning-zone/?subject-37=life-after-little-lever
- How do we measure the impact of our careers and aspiration programme?
- The school, in conjunction with its Enterprise Coordinator from GMCA, completes the Compass self-evaluation tool to support us to gain a greater understanding of how our provision of career education and guidance compares to the model of good practice set out in Gatsby’s Good Career Guidance benchmarks.
- The school tracks every student’s engagement in CEIAG and other enrichment activities. This informs each student’s Life Chances report which supplements their academic report.
- The aspiration of every student is recorded, revisited and tracked over their lifetime at Little Lever School. Not only does this support us in developing a more personalised approach to CEIAG, it also allows us to track developments in our students’ aspirations as a result of the guidance, opportunities and information that they receive.
- The school takes part in the annual GMCA Life Readiness survey. We use this data, in comparison to GM trends, to evaluate the impact of our practice and identify opportunities for development.
- The intended post-16 destination of every year 11 student is tracked, from application to enrolment, to ensure every student is fully supported and has secured appropriate post-16 education or training.
- Destination data is used to evaluate the impact of our careers programme, for example, the range of post-16 establishments that our students go on to attend.
- Student Voice activities are carried out to evaluate impact and inform future practice, including year 8 post-options process and to year 11 leavers.
- Provider Access Statment