CEIAG & Careers Leaders
Four things a headteacher needs to think about before September 2018
Wednesday 8th November 2017
Yesterday, I listened to Anne Milton MP give a speech at the Careers England Careers Summit. In the speech she set out the direction of the long awaited governmental careers strategy. Whilst the message was yet another exhortation declaring "you're going to have to wait a bit longer" there were 4 very clear messages for headteachers about the direction of travel of careers in schools delivery.
Schools need a careers leader - Not a careers coordinator.
Gatsby is here to stay. The 8 benchmarks of good careers as outlined by the study of international research by the Gatsby Foundation; require a lot more control and authority than somebody without management responsibility can deliver. There was a lot of talk about what careers leaders do - David Andrews the veteran CEIAG expert just about managed to summarise the role in 2 PowerPoint slides
Encounters with providers AND employers
This is the one message most headteachers seem to have taken on board over the past few years. The underlining of providers coming first would seem to indicate that the policy of some schools not passing on information from apprenticeship and other educational providers is increasingly frowned upon.
Get a qualified careers adviser
Now at this point I nearly had to be picked up off the floor by the person sitting next to me. I never thought I'd hear this from the lips of a minister...
guidance from a qualified adviser can have a real impact.
She then went on to praise the work of the CDI Register of qualified careers professionals, saying
very much welcome the CDI's register which we want schools, colleges and others to use to find a professional who can guide their pupils and students.
The role of data and Labour market information (LMI) in careers
LMI - information about which jobs are available, where they are, the pay, conditions and what kind of qualifications they require is a key part of modern careers education. It is only now in the digital age that we have access and ability to process this information and it is vital for young people to understand how jobs are changing and how that affects their aspirations.
Yet it is also true that these information sources can be difficult to navigate and those who could most benefit from them are sometimes unable to access them - cue obligatory mention of social mobility:-
we are to harness the potential of this data in a way that supports social mobility we need to ensure that everyone is able access and understand this information, including those who are not digitally confident.
Don't forget that means your teachers will need to understand it before they can upskill your pupils. At this point, blatant plug alert, I point out the need for CPD for teachers and the courses and support that I can offer.
Finally Mrs Milton finished off mentioning the importance of destination data and how the Government is working to improve the understandability of the information.
Link to the full transcript of Anne Milton's speech
The CDI register can be found here
The Gatsby benchmarks information
