Careers

Careers programme information:

At Brenkley School, our careers programme includes the delivery of careers guidance and the development of key skills, to year 7 to year 11 pupils (11 to 16 year olds). The school’s Careers Leader is Ms Vicky Malthouse vickymalthouse@icehome.co.uk Tel: 0191 300 3663. The Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Curriculum Overview for Careers Education has been reviewed for the academic year 2023/24 and is available here.

View Careers Overview

Careers lessons include:

Opportunities for employer engagement with school, including visits to school from employers to meet pupils’ and introduce their sector, supporting pupils’ with business enterprise projects or offering pupil work experience placements
Excellent advice and guidance to enable pupils to use data and technology to investigate a range of further education and future career opportunities
Personal career planning with both Brenkley School careers advisor and also external advisors such as Connexions and apprenticeship providers
Exploring different occupational sectors through workplace visits, networking events and regional career workshops
Visits to all local further education providers to explore interests and all available opportunities

Careers Guidance

Other units of study include detailed careers guidance on a range of possible opportunities for pupils and enabling pupils to research a range of careers that interest them. The Careers Education curriculum offer is reviewed annually and included in the school’s Curriculum Policy with links included in the relevant Curriculum Maps.

Pupils, parents/carers, other schools, colleges, providers of technical education and apprenticeships and employers may access information about the careers programme at Brenkley School by contacting the Headteacher.

The school measures and assesses the impact of the careers programme on pupils through monitoring their progress when they return to mainstream school or move on to further education. Termly pupil feedback is also used to gather pupils’ views about the careers curriculum delivered at the school.

Brenkley School follows the statutory guidance for schools on careers guidance and access for education and training providers.

Careers

Post-16 Options

Academic qualifications – studying subjects
If you would like to carry on studying some of your favourite subjects or you’re thinking about university, you may want to look at the following types of Level 3 qualifications :
A levels – you usually study three subjects or more. There are a wide range of subjects available. They’re usually studied at the same time over two years.
Applied learning – qualifications offering broad study of a job family
If you’re interested in a particular job family or industry but not yet sure what job you’d like to do, these qualifications might suit you. They combine practical learning with developing knowledge and skills. You can go on to further education, training or employment, or you can go on to university.
BTECs – give you a broader knowledge of a particular sector or industry. They are available in a range of sizes which are equivalent to one, two, or three A levels. They can be taken in combination with other qualifications.
Technical qualifications – job-related study
If you know what sort of job you want to do, or want a course that’s more practical, or includes some work experience, these may be the right qualifications for you. There are many types of technical qualifications in a wide range of subjects and career areas, and there are qualifications available for all levels, from entry level up to level 8.
NVQs and SVQs – provide you with skills to do a specific job and can be taken if you have a full-time job, or are on a course with a work placement.
T Levels – include a range of qualifications which give you specialist technical knowledge and skills and are recognised as leading to specific job roles.