As Earth, Wind & Fire are playing ‘Do you remember’ on an advert tonight, and in preparing the Community of Practice for the CDI/C&EC uploading articles such as ‘Fake or Fiction’ and sourcing information, David Andrews on Networking and the forthcoming careers conversation with Jonathan Lightfoot, I ‘drifted’ back a few decades to the wonder of resource support I had to make my job as careers teacher and work experience coordinator run smoothly.
Firstly, I had the Careers Service who provided the Careers Library Initiative Funding which helped resource a space for careers, equipment and CPD that included a visiting library expert who would take students and tutors through the nuances of the Careers Library Classification Index as part of the CEG programme. The funding also paid for up to two site licences such as Kudos, JED or Fast Tomato.
I was also fortunate to have support for a local quality award, the fore runner of the Quality in Careers Standard. For work experience the school had match funding for H&S and risk assessment checks and again Trident our work experience provider, would provide inputs to our CEG programme, giving talks at parent evenings, assemblies etc. I was invited to join the Trident Skills for Life team and that’s where I started writing school resources to embed employability, personal development and community interest skills into the PSHE/Citizenship programme.
Two things really helped me in carrying out my role: 1) I attended the Careers Teacher training an 8- day course with David Andrews (this sounds familiar) and 2) I was able to rely heavily on the different networks of businesses, volunteers and an active PTA and governing body to provide contacts and inputs into the programme.
As an 11-16 school we also had excellent partnerships with our post-16 providers. The school was a training ground for new career advisers working in partnership with the local authority Careers Service which meant we probably got more input as the advisers were keen to make the most of CE &IAG working together. There was also a very large local CEG group, very much along the lines of the new career hubs that helped in local CPD and sharing of practice. We were one of the first schools in the country to be inspected for careers.
For me some of the key issues facing all career leaders is how do we access funding? Writing bids or asking for sponsorship was never part of my role; knowing where to source resources both free and costed, this was provided as outlined above. Importantly, how do we use the knowledge we glean to support students in becoming discerning users of information?
Has much changed since 1986? Yes, it has, Kubler-Ross's curve theory comes to mind, however, it does seem like the ‘good times’ are coming back - see the C&EC's State of the Nation Report published Friday,
As part of this new Community of Practice, look out for:
· Master Classes on LMI with Helen Janota
· Careers conversation with Jonathan Lightfoot
· Articles from David Andrews and the October edition of Career Matters
· Resources section – Mark Fox NELEP Careers Hub Facilitator
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