Helping children to make informed career choices
At Wykham Park Academy, we work closely with parents and carers to support their children to make informed career choices. Parents and carers are encouraged to attend careers events and information evenings on our campus and at various outside locations. All events are promoted through our website and our weekly school newsletter ‘The Weekly Word’. Text and emails are also sent to parents regularly to ensure they are well-informed and do not miss out on any local opportunity.
Parents and carers are always welcome to contact the Careers Leader, Ms. Foster (01295 251 451, cfoster@wykhampark-aspirations.org) to seek advice and ask any questions they might have regarding careers pathways.
Parents and carers can also support their children at home by visiting the following websites together:
The National Careers Service
The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential and impartial advice. This is supported by qualified careers advisers.
The National Careers Service website aims to:
- help with careers decisions and planning
- review skills and abilities and develop new goals
- motivate to implement personal plans of action
- enable students to make the best use of high quality, career-related tools.
Get the information you need to help your child make the right choices at 14, 16 and 18 through the Careerpilot website, aimed at young people, and the Parent Zone aimed at parents and carers.
Careerpilot is a free website helping 13—19 year olds in the South of England plan their future study and work and has a lot of useful information for young people and parents.
The Careerpilot Parent Zone can help you as a parent/carer get answers to the career questions you want to ask, about:
- Choices at 14, 16 and 18;
- Further Education College;
- Apprenticeships and Traineeships;
- Higher Education (including HE provided at local colleges);
- Job sectors and growth;
- Funding and support.
Answers are clearly written and link to additional information in the Careerpilot website or on other websites.
Start is a free, online careers platform designed to connect 11-18 year olds with their future career potential. It combines the most comprehensive source of information with a personalised experience and career planning tools, helping our students to make more informed decisions about their future study and career options, as well as developing their employability. Start includes:
- A student profile: students build their profile and access personalised study and career information.
- Modules: activities to guide students through the information on Start at the right time.
- Up to date information: engaging content on what to study, where to learn and the world of work.
- Locker: an online record of achievement to evidence skills for future applications and CVs.
- Employability action plan: Students can set goals and stay in control of their career planning.
Apprenticeship.go.uk
Central Government’s dedicated apprenticeship website has a whole range of information to help young people decide if Apprenticeships are the right route for them. Students can also search for apprenticeship vacancies.
Traineeship information for trainees
What traineeships are and how young people can apply for one: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/traineeship-information-for-trainees
Youth Space
The study guide section within youthspace contains a range of information including help on making GCSE choices in Year 9, post 16 pathways, and getting into higher education.
icould
icould has a range of video clips showing real people talking about their jobs and careers.