At Weald of Kent Grammar School, you should get:

• Independent and impartial careers guidance for all students in years 8-13.
• Be inspired and motivated to fulfil your potential.
• Support and guidance to help you make your choices and create a career plan for the future.
• Help to decide what to do when you leave Weald, including further learning, training or employment. Including apprenticeships, entrepreneurialism or other vocational routes alongside traditional A level and university routes.
• Face-to-face guidance by a careers professional.
• A programme of careers education helping you develop skills and knowledge to make choices and the transition to work and learning reflecting the School ethos and meeting the needs of all students.
• The opportunity to speak with employers who can inform you on the range of roles and opportunities in the workplace.
• An opportunity to learn about the world of work through work experience.

You can arrange a Careers Interview by initially contacting Ms Swanton. Your careers interview is a confidential, impartial discussion with a qualified Careers Guidance Adviser. Don’t worry if you have no definite plans. We are here to encourage and support you while you are making decisions about your future. Depending on your needs, it may be helpful to have several discussions, so don’t think of your careers interview as a 'one-off’ event.

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Weald of Kent Grammar School is committed to fulfilling our statutory obligations concerning CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) which includes the Gatsby Benchmarks, to maximise the opportunities and future choices of our students. We ensure that CEIAG activities and guidance are tailored to meet the needs and interests of each individual student. All staff contribute towards the delivery of Careers Education through curriculum learning and designated careers lessons in PSHE. Key resources are shared internally and additional resources to support staff in linking careers to the curriculum can be found on the Careers and Enterprise Company's website.

The Gatsby Benchmarks were developed on behalf of the Gatsby Foundation by Sir John Holman. They define what world class careers provision in education looks like and provide a clear framework for organising the careers provision at your school or college. Every young person needs good career guidance to make informed decisions about their future. The 8 benchmarks ensure that students are more likely to be career-ready, be more engaged and have better GCSE attainment.

The eight benchmarks are as follows:

1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance

The value of employer engagement with our students cannot be underestimated. Weald of Kent Grammar School are proud of the huge number of employers who have worked with our students to prepare them for the world of work. We are continuously promoting careers and future aspirations for students and we are always looking to grow our employer partnerships. To get involved please contact Sara Swanton sswanton@wealdgs.org

We draw on the expertise of employers from a wide range of sectors: private, public and voluntary. This empowers our students to develop an understanding of the workplace, of employer expectations, transferable employability skills in addition to the opportunities that are available to them. It also enables our students to grow in confidence and self-belief and learn about what employers have to offer. This can range from pathways available; job opportunities; apprenticeships; internships and scholarship programmes to name a few, all of which help our students to develop a greater understanding of what they need to do in order to pursue their chosen career.

In previous years, we have been fortunate enough to have some of the following employers work with our students:

• Willmott Dixon
• North Kent College
• Hadlow College
• The Education People
• Mazars
• Goldberg Engineering
• Kent Police
• SpecSavers
• Army
• PwC
• InvestIN
• TN Recruits

What is in it for you?

• You can inspire the next generation of young people to work for you/your sector.
• You will be giving something back to your local area whilst making a positive impact and raising awareness of your company.
• It is brilliant for staff development. Employees who offer talks at schools or mentor work experience placements grow in confidence and gain a sense of pride and achievements in supporting young people. It also enhances their planning, communication and presentation skills.
• You will get a chance to network and make contacts with other businesses.

Ways to get involved

At Weald of Kent Grammar School, we offer a wide range of opportunities for employers and businesses to get involved:

• Pass on knowledge of your sector through talks, workshops, assemblies and workplace visits
• Offer a work experience placement
• Offer an apprenticeship to a leaving student and prepare them for the world of work – school outreach is a fantastic way to spot future talent
• Help students be ‘work ready’ through assisting with activities such as mentoring, mock interviews or CV/application support

If you would like to get involved, raise your profile and help to support the next generation in any way, please get in contact with our Careers Manager, Sara Swanton sswanton@wealdgs.org

Students are given the opportunity to participate in work experience which we believe enables them to:

• Explore likes and dislikes to develop future career planning
• Develop self-confidence and interpersonal skills
• Raise awareness of the workplace and how organisations are structured
• Understand the importance of self-discipline in achieving own objectives
• Experience the world of work through active participation and observation
• Gain valuable experiences which can be added to a curriculum vitae and enhance university application.

Students in Year 12 are encouraged to attend a one-week work placement at the end of Term 6 and will contact organisations about possible work experience. It is essential that students are proactive, as finding a placement is very competitive. Ms Swanton is available to help, offering support and advice. For certain career areas, such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary, teaching, law and media, as much Work Experience as possible is recommended to help secure a place at University. 

We are using the Unifrog Placements Tool to manage the administration of the work experience programme.  Students enter the placement information on their personal Unifrog account which then gets checked by the employer, parents and carers and the school prior to the placement taking place.

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Career of the week

Every week students are presented with a different 'Career of the Week', which is a short video shown in Form Time via the Student Bulletin. The Career of the Week provides students with a variety of career information and professions in an ever-changing world to help them make informed choices.  They are shown routes into this career, qualifications and salaries.

The Career of the Week for Term 5

Market Research Analyst, Network Engineer, Risk Manager, Science Writer, Textile Designer