Careers Guidance

We believe that a well-structured and highly effective programme of Careers and Education Guidance will play an integral part in contributing to how Harleston Sancroft prepares its young people for the opportunities, experiences and responsibilities of adult life. By working in close partnership with external agencies, we will provide accurate and focused careers information, advice and guidance tailored to individual student’s needs to enable them to make informed choices about their future career routes. Please take 5 minutes to complete our Parent and Carer Career Evaluation to help us improve careers education.

The Senior Careers Leader: Johannes Ahrenfelt jahrenfelt@Sancroft.stbenets.org 01379 852561

The staff have provided all year 11 students with the opportunity to meet with the careers advisor to discuss further options and have also assigned us a co-pilot for further help and advice. I have found the year 11 Monday assemblies helpful when we are visited by different schools to consider for our next step. The school has also invited our parents and ourselves to several evenings to learn about the next stage and how we can be supported by both parents and staff. 

Lauren Y11

I have been working with young people since 2003 and I can honestly say that I love my job and truly care about and value all of the students that cross my path…. working at Sancroft Academy has been a breath of fresh air in terms of the positivity and gratitude that I get back in return from your students and staff. It is not something that youth workers are generally accustomed to! I have had e-mails to thank me for my time and just messages just to keep me updated on progress, which is absolutely wonderful.

Independent Careers Adviser, May 2023

Careers Information, advice and Guidance(CIAG)

Careers and guidance is an integral part of the school curriculum at Harleston Sancroft. We give all students from age 11 to 16 years the opportunity to develop an awareness of pathways and make informed choices based on personal aspirations. It features a coordinated programme which involves the whole school community including students, staff, parents and the local business community to produce a well developed and innovative approach which is matched to the needs of the student. Careers advice is available to all students during their time at Harleston Sancroft Academy. Good careers guidance widens pupils’ horizons, challenges stereotypes and raises aspirations.

CIAG is led by our Careers Leader Mr J Ahrenfelt, Assistant Headteacher (jahrenfelt@Sancroft.stbenets.org).

The aim of CIAG and Work Related Learning at Sancroft is to ensure that all students are effective planners and managers of their careers in a rapidly changing world of learning and work. Please refer to our current CIAG policy and CIAG Provider Access policy. Please see our Labour Market Information page for details relating to the world of work, employment trends, job roles and job availability.

The school is committed to following the government’s new Careers Strategy (published January 2018) and is on target to meet the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks as per the guidance. We will use the Compass Audit tool to evaluate our programme’s impact and measure our progress against the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and use Tracker to improve the quality of provision. 

Gatsby Benchmarks

• A stable career programme
• Learning from career and labour market information
• Addressing the needs of each student
• Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Encounters with employers and employees
• Experiences of workplaces
• Encounters with further and higher education
• Personal guidance

In 2021, 98% of our Year 11 destinations were Sixth Form or Further Education. Many of our students also access apprenticeship opportunities, often in tandem with a college course. We work closely with Apprenticeships New Anglia to ensure students secure an apprenticeship.  

Destination measures provide clear and comparable information on the success of our school in helping all of our pupils take qualifications that offer them the best opportunity to continue in education or training. Key Stage 4 education destination data is published on www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables in 2021 our top 6 provider destinations were:

1. City College Norwich
2. Wymondham High Academy
3. Wymondham College 
4. Easton College
5. Notre Dame High School
6. Diss High School

What is Labour Market Information [LMI]?
Labour market information is information relating to the world of work, employment trends, job roles and job availability.

Why is it important?
When choosing a course, job or employment sector to work in, it is important to know about your local labour market. Will there be jobs available in your area of interest?

For more information about LMI in Norfolk, please read the ‘Norfolk Work and Skills Booklet 2022‘.

2022/2023 CIAG Programme at Sancroft

When developing our CIAG programme we have worked alongside students, parents, staff, governors and our Enterprise Advisor Mike Eagle. 

The Enterprise Adviser Network is a national network that connects schools and colleges with employers and careers programme providers to work together to create meaningful encounters with the world of work for young people. The network is based on evidence that a young person who has four or more encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed or not in education or training and can earn up to 18% more during their career.

The programme detailed below is in addition to the work going on in classrooms every day. We are striving to get CIAG embedded within every subject, with all teachers linking classroom learning to the world of work and the pathways available to young people today. Our Careers Advisor, Kerry Bray, is available at Parents Evenings to talk with students and their families about their future pathways. 

The original provider access legislation (occasionally referred to as the ‘Baker Clause’) came into force in January 2018 and placed a new legal duty on all maintained schools and academies to publish a policy statement setting out opportunities or providers of technical education and apprenticeships to access year 8-13 pupils, and to make sure the statement is followed.

Through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, the provider access legislation was amended to specify that schools must provide at least six encounters for all their pupils,
during school years 8-11. At Harleston Sancroft Academy, we provide a range of opportunities for students in Years 8-11 to meet a variety of providers of approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships, listed under each Key Stage and year group below.

CIAG at Key Stage 3

Year 7

• What skills do I have?
• Life Skills lessons where study skills also feature – once a fortnight
• Visiting speakers 
• Business Hub: presentations from employers, followed by Q&A by our Year 7s

Year 8

Researching careers

• Life Skills lessons where study skills also feature – once a fortnight
• Business Speed Networking and Careers morning with the Harleston & District Business Forum, with approximately 25 local businesses
• Visiting speakers 
• Access to conventions and careers visits
• Visit UEA STEM day – TBC in 2022/23

Year 9

GCSE Preferences and Pathways

• Visit Norfolk Skills Show where students meet a variety of providers of approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships – March 2023
• Life Skills lessons where study skills also feature – once a fortnight
• Year 9 GCSE Preferences evening
• GCSE Preferences meetings for all students in year 9
• Appointment for identified students with our Careers Advisor; Kerry Bray from Beacon East
• Visits to careers events, employers and workplaces  

CIAG at Key Stage 4 

Year 10

Researching careers and further education

• The Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) – assembly and Q&A about apprenticeships
• University Technical College (UTC) assembly on technical qualifications
• Norwich City College – assembly on post-16 courses including technical options.
• Study Skills ‘Drop Down Day’ afternoon
• Visits to careers events, employers and workplaces  
• Visits to colleges and universities
• ⦁One week of work experience in July
• Meetings with our Careers Advisor; Kerry Bray from Beacon East
• Duke of Edinburgh award (developing skills and promoting voluntary work)
• Employability workshops, including finance, CV writing, interview skills, networking, social media within the workplace
• Registration with Help You Choose, Norfolk’s careers information, advice and opportunities website and online applications system for young people.
• In school Further Education evening
• Employability assemblies 
• Mock assessment centre (organised by Jarrold Training & South Norfolk Council)
• NHS Health Ambassadors in school

Year 11

College & Sixth Form Applications and Next Steps

• The Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) – assembly and Q&A about apprenticeships
• ASK workshop – supports students to search for; register with apprenticeship providers
• University Technical College (UTC) assembly on technical qualifications
• Norwich City College – assembly on post-16 courses including technical options.
• At least one appointment with our Careers Advisor; Kerry Bray from Beacon East
• Support completing applications on Help You Choose
• Sixth form and college open evenings
• Assemblies from Sixth forms and colleges including University Technical College Norwich
• In school Further Education evening
• Employability workshops, including finance, CV writing, interview skills, networking, social media within the workplace
• Mock interviews
• Visit from National Citizen Service
• Visit from training and apprenticeship providers
• Study skills advice for parents and students 
• A-Level Experience Day at a Sixth Form College

Can you help? Careers Support Required

To support the school’s careers programme we are always looking for professionals to work with us. Are you able to act as a mock interviewer? Can you offer careers talks? Can you offer work experience placements for our Year 10 students in your workplace?

We have the thinkers, strategists, problem-solvers and employees of the future. If you are interested in working with us now, please contact Johannes Ahrenfelt, Assistant Headteacher and Careers Leader at Sancroft jahrenfelt@Sancroft.stbenets.org