Careers Guidance

Careers provision at Swakeleys School for Girls and Sixth Form

Careers Staff

• Mrs P Laguillo – Assistant Headteacher, School Careers Leader
• Mr R Williams – Independent Careers Advisor
• Mrs K Doyle – Work experience administrative assistant

To contact the above please use the school email address: office@swakeleys.org.uk and mark in the subject who it is for the attention of.

The Careers team at Swakeleys School for Girls provides information, advice and guidance to students so they can develop the skills needed for a working life. This supports the more general careers education students receive in subject lessons, Form Group tutorials, assemblies and general careers events.
Careers guidance and education is delivered in all Key Stages as an integral part of the PSHCE programme. In sixth form, the careers guidance is expertly supported by external advisors who provide bespoke guidance on the UCAS process to students and parents.

From Year 8 onwards, they are given progressive support to reflect on career choices, to prepare for work experience and to research career opportunities. For our Year 11 students we provide particularly intensive support as they make important decisions about which Post-16 pathway to follow: academic A Levels; vocational BTECs; or workplace Apprenticeships.

Swakeleys School for Girls and Sixth Form works in partnership with Education Development Trust (EDT) to employ an independent careers advisor (Mr Richard Williams) who delivers impartial careers advice and guidance to learners and parents / carers of pupils in the school. Every student from Years 7 to 13 will have access to a careers interview which is individually tailored to their particular needs. Personalised action plans are developed with the student during the meeting and their execution is monitored by the student’s Form Tutor and via a follow up careers meeting should this be required.

Mr Williams is available for 1-1 appointments each Wednesday and Thursday, 9.00am – 3.30pm, Room A171

A careers advisor is present at our Year 8 Options Evening, Year 11 Parents Evening and on GCSE / A-level Results Day to help and guide students in making informed choices about their future.

Swakeleys School for Girls and Sixth Form is keen to promote the STEM agenda and we are committed to promoting careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. Numerous events, integrated into the careers programme offers providers from different industries to share their knowledge and experience of their field of work.

Swakeleys School is committed to students experiencing the real world of work through a two–week work experience programme in Year 10. We work in partnership with an external agency to ensure that qualitative placements are sourced as part of this programme that will hopefully help to inform their future study pathway. Students often refer to the experience and skills they have developed through their work placements in future job application or in their UCAS personal statements.

Throughout the year, we engage in events offered by companies and external agencies to maximise our students exposure to the world of work. Please click below to find the following useful careers documents.

Measuring the impact of our careers programme

We use a wide range of evaluation tools to measure the success of our careers programme. These include:
Compass+ evaluation tool which assesses ongoing progress against Gatsby benchmarks. We do a full evaluation of our Careers Fair and Work Shadowing programme using Google Forms to obtain pupil feedback. The options process is also fully reviewed each year and adaptions made including pupil and parental feedback. Our Careers Advisor continually reviews the effectiveness of the 1-2-1 guidance interviews on a termly basis including pupil engagement. All career related trips are also reviewed in terms of pupil enjoyment and value. Our evaluations also look at a range of evidence including attainment, progress, option numbers, destination data and feedback.