Careers

Careers Mission Statement and Aims

Mission Statement

Inspiring, encouraging and enabling students to make informed choices and to prepare for their future and the world of work.

Aims

Together with local employers, alumni, careers education providers and universities, the Careers Department supports students at every stage throughout their school life.

The careers provision enables students to:

• Explore careers and the job market
• Develop self-awareness, employability & enterprise skills
• Make informed decisions about their education including apprenticeships, university, traineeships.

Providing our students with opportunities to develop their key skills and undertake guided research will help them to become more confident and employable and will equip them with the skills and knowledge to be successful in their future careers.

Sixth Form students are given support in making important career decisions. Mrs Hibberd, Head of Careers, is on hand to guide them and they have open access to our the careers room and its vast array of resources. They are given careers advice from the start of Sixth Form and are encouraged to build their CVs. We make use of the ALIS (Durham University) prediction scheme which allows students to track their progress against their potential which is estimated using an independent test which is taken at the beginning of Year 12.

Many careers nowadays require work and other experience beyond A Level. We assist all students in securing a work placement for our designated work experience week and we do expect students to be proactive in arranging further placements in their holiday time. We enter Sixth Form teams in competitions, participation in which will enhance a student’s CV. Examples are Business competitions such as BASE, Biology and Chemistry Olympiad and the UK Maths Challenge.

Careers advice is on hand through Alumni careers presentations, ‘Career of the Week’ activities and a biennial careers convention which brings in experts from a variety of fields. We also organise a biennial Higher Education Fair and attend external University conventions. Parents have access to the Head of Careers at Parents’ Evenings and are welcome to arrange daytime appointments or to make contact via telephone or email.

Paths to Professional Careers – A Parent’s Guide

The 2018 edition of Paths to Professional Careers contains information and guidance for parents to help their child explore career options and weigh up whether to go to university or earn and learn at the same time as an apprentice or on a school leaver programme. The guide includes apprentice, graduate and parent profiles, as well as advice on getting into finance, business, engineering and IT.

Click here to download the Paths to Professional Careers – A Parent’s Guide

Westholme is a member of the Inspiring Futures Careers Service that provides an invaluable information helpline and arranges careers experience courses for sixth form students on a range of professions. The most recent monthly IF Newsletter (April 2019) can be accessed by clicking the IF logo:

Please click here to view the Careers Insights Events

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