Employable me is our bespoke careers education programme that is delivered as part of Personal Development and is delivered across all key stages. The scheme comprises six elements designed to assist students in discovering their career paths.

Grow throughout life
Grow throughout life by learning and reflecting on yourself, your background, and your strengths.

Explore possibilities
Explore the full range of possibilities open to you and learn about recruitment processes and the culture of different workplaces.

Managing careers
Manage your career actively, make the most of opportunities and learn from setbacks.

Creating opportunities
Create opportunities by being proactive and building positive relationships with others.

Balance life and work
Balance your life as a worker and/or entrepreneur with your wellbeing, other interests and your involvement with your family and community.

See the big picture
See the big picture by paying attention to how the economy, politics and society connect with your own life and career.

We offer three essential experiences designed to prepare students for their future careers.

Careers Fair

In February we host over 30 employers, universities and other providers to our school to highlight what our students options are post 16 & 18. Many of these exhibitors provide valuable insights that help students plan and prepare for possible future careers.

If you are an employer and wish to support this event please contact careers@stcm.torbay.sch.uk

Work Experience

Work Experience provides a wonderful opportunity for students to undertake full time work, in an environment that differs significantly from that of school. The purpose of Work Experience is not necessarily for students to decide upon the career which they wish to pursue; instead the emphasis is on working in the ‘real world’ and understanding how organisations operate, as well as working with different people and having the opportunity to try something new and interesting.

We offer all our year 10 students the chance to experience the work place through work experience. A work placement is a great opportunity to spend a week out of the classroom environment, learning about your chosen job or area of work. Work experience can help you decide on your options for after Year 11 and beyond.

You will have the opportunity to develop and show evidence of vital skills such as self-confidence, time keeping, communication, independence, and working as part of a team.

It is our students’ responsibility to make contact with employers and arrange their own placements, help and support from family members and staff is encouraged.

Our work experience placements are all completed through UniFrog where students will be given the chance to create online application.

Interview Experience

Our Interview Experience is a highlight of the CEAIG calendar and is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ of School Interviews. Our Interview Experience happens in November for all year 11 students.

Students will be asked to apply for once of our jobs and then be invited to the Osbourne Hotel to be interviewed for that job by Industry Professionals.

We believe in giving students a real life experience and they will find out if they were successful or not the following week with feedback from the interviewers.

As part of our drive for excellence all students in years 10 and 12 will receive an invitation to an appointment with a CDi Qualified careers advisor who is independent from the school to give bespoke, impartial advice of the options available at to students at 16 and 18 as well as support on how to apply for those opportunities.

 

Post 16

Deciding what to study after your GCSEs and where needs careful thought. The film below gives an overview of your options. At St Cuthbert Mayne, we offer a range of A level and Level 3 vocational qualifications. Please see our sixth form page for details.

All Year 11 students will have a 1:1 meeting with our SLT and additional support for SEND students will be arranged by Mrs Toohey. To arrange a careers 1:1 meeting, please contact careers@stcm.torbay.sch.uk

Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is an opportunity to work and study at the same time. Most of your time is spent doing on-the-job training, and the rest is spent working towards a qualification. You’ll get paid a salary and be part of a team, just like a standard employee, but you’ll also get dedicated study time throughout the week.

The qualification you can achieve could vary from the equivalent to GCSEs, to a master’s degree depending on the level of apprenticeship you take. There are different types or levels of apprenticeships depending on where you are in the UK. Each level apprenticeship will have different entry requirements.

T Levels

T Levels are an alternative to A levels, apprenticeships and other 16 to 19 courses. Equivalent in size to 3 A levels, a T Level focuses on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships.

Each T Level includes an in-depth industry placement that lasts at least 45 days. Students get valuable experience in the workplace; employers get early sight of the new talent in their industry.

T Level students spend 80% of the course in their learning environment, gaining the skills that employers need. The other 20% is a meaningful industry placement, where they put these skills into action.

Post-18

If you are about to choose your options at 18 there are plenty of things to choose from. The choices you make will be affected by many things like your financial situation, interests, your attitude to study, your qualifications, the job market, etc.

Another big factor is the job or career you have in mind and now is a good time to really get into the detail about which job sectors you are interested in, what sort of opportunities they offer and what qualifications they are looking for.

Choices you could consider at 18:

• Doing a higher education level course – either full-time, part-time or by distance learning, at a university or a college
• Doing an Intermediate, Advanced, Higher or Degree Apprenticeship
• Getting a job that offers training
• Doing a vocational course at a Further Education College
  Taking a year out (a gap year)

As always, getting advice and support from those who know you or are career specialists is very important, as is finding out about the different employment options available to you and the qualifications and skills you need for a particular career.

MOOCs

MOOCs are a recent development which aim to use new technologies to bring free, short learning opportunities to large numbers of people worldwide. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course.

You do not need qualifications to start these courses. The courses are a chance to try something new, develop an area of interest, learn something which will help you get the job or course you want, etc. Although the courses might not offer a formal qualification, the knowledge gained from doing one could help you prepare for a higher-education-level course or help you choose a course.

By completing a MOOC you will gain skills and knowledge that can boost your CV or UCAS personal statement.

FutureLearn offer a diverse selection of free, high-quality online courses from some of the world’s leading universities and other outstanding cultural institutions. The aim is to connect learners from all over the globe with high-quality educators and with each other.

FutureLearn has developed a new set of ‘FutureLearn Choices’ courses, which last for three to eight weeks. These are taster courses to give school leavers a real sense of university level study.

Courses to help students secure a place at university:

• How to Succeed at Interviews
• How to Succeed at Writing Applications
• Preparing for Uni
• Developing your Research Project

Courses to help give students an experience of subjects outside the national curriculum:

• Computer Science
• Dentistry
• Archaeology
• Robotics

There are many MOOCs available to students using the Unifrog website and clicking on MOOC in Exploring Pathways

Employers

We have had great success working with a number of employers and agencies over the years. We are keen to continue to develop strong partnerships with a wide range of educational institutions, training providers and employers who may contribute to our careers programme through: raising aspirations demonstrating the relevance of the knowledge and skills developed through the academic curriculum to the world of work providing enrichment opportunities including work experience, workplace visits, guest speakers, mock interviews, curriculum support.

CAN YOU HELP OUR STUDENTS WITH THEIR FUTURES?

As part of our careers provision at St Cuthbert Mayne we are looking to work with a greater number of employers, businesses and organisations in the local area as a means of providing our students with meaningful interactions with as broad a range of employers and career pathways as possible.

This may be through companies working with individual subject departments, linking curriculum to careers. It may also be through engagement with our whole-school careers fair, through smaller talks and seminars to students or by offering work experience placements to our Year 12 students.

If you, your employer or anyone you know would be interested in working with us in any of the ways above please do get in touch by emailing careers@stcm.torbay.sch.uk

We look forward to working with local businesses and employers to support our students in developing aspirations and realising their potential.

Parents

In Year 9, St Cuthbert Mayne pupils are required to reduce the number of subjects that they take and select specialisms which they will study alongside compulsory subjects such as English, Maths, Science and RE. This is an exciting and crucial time for pupils as they can now begin to tailor their education around what they enjoy and/or steer them towards a particular career path.

As a parent or carer, you are in a great position to support your young person through this process and help them look ahead to consider the implications of their choices. As someone who knows them well, you can discuss their favourite subjects at school and what they might want to do in future. These conversations can help your child to choose options that reflect their strengths and potentially set them on the path to their chosen career. When supporting young people to select subject options, it is useful to discuss the following questions with them first:

• What subjects do you enjoy studying the most and what subjects don't you enjoy?

• What subjects do you think you are best at?

• Are there any that you would like to study further at A Level?

• Would you like to go to University?

• What tasks/ skills would you like to do/ develop in a job? What is your dream career?

After Year 11 / GCSEs

In Year 11 students select fewer subjects and become more focused about their individuality. They investigate the options available to them and begin the application process to one of the following routes:

• Apprenticeship

• Traineeship

• Further Education (at a our Sixth Form Centre, College or another Sixth Form of their choice)

• Armed Forces

How does my child apply for a course?

Your child will be given the time to apply during lunchtimes and break time in the Careers Hub or they can do it from the comfort of home if they would prefer – they will need to go direct to the website of the College, or 6th Form of their choice.

When should my child apply?

Applications for Year 12 should be made as early as possible most students apply between December and January. For more support please see the Link for the Careers and Enterprise Company 'Padlet' or Career Map