Castle Hill Careers Guidance
Rhian Wheeler is our Careers & Lifelong Learning Leader and her email address is: rhian.wheeler@castlehill.stockport.sch.uk.
Michael Henshall-Watson is the school's Independent Careers Advisor and provides high quality careers advice to our pupils, parents and carers. His contact details are: michael.henshall-watson@stockport.gov.uk.
Lesley Millican is our EHCP Coordinator and attends EHCP review meetings from year 10-13. She offers information on post 16 and post 18 provisions and support with applications for courses. Her contact details are lesley.millican@stockport.gov.uk and 0161 2181337.
Our Careers Guidance Programme
The Government's careers strategy aims to make sure that all young people in secondary education get a programme of advice and guidance that is stable, structured and delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience.
At Castle Hill we use the Gatsby Benchmarks, together with the Careers Development Institute (CDI) framework, to prepare and measure the quality of our provision. Links to the CDI framework, the Gatsby benchmarks and our most recent benchmarking results, are given below:
Our most recent evaluation against these benchmarks can be viewed here:
Information about our careers and lifelong learning activities, together with useful careers resources will be helpful to teachers, students, parents, carers and other stakeholders.
An overview of our programme of careers and lifelong learning education and guidance can be viewed here:
Programme of Career Education & Guidance
A stable careers and lifelong learning programme
In Key Stage 3 careers and lifelong learning forms part of the PSHE, lifeskill and pupil voice programme of study. In Key Stage 4 students have one careers and lifelong learning lesson a week and a pupil voice programme of study.
Learning from career and labour market information
In lessons we use specific careers software programmes and government websites to gather up-to-date information and learn about and explore live job, college and apprenticeship opportunities. This is supplemented by labour market information from a range of sources, links to which can be found here:
We also provide Post-16 and Post-18 events where providers inform parents and students with quality information about future study options. The Education and Careers Advice Service work with students and parents to complete and track Post-16 and Post-18 applications.
Addressing the needs of each student
Students have different amounts career guidance at different stages of their time with us. Opportunities for advice and support are tailored to the needs of each student and our careers programme promotes and supports equality and diversity considerations throughout.
Linking curriculum learning to careers
A range of subject-specific displays, throughout school, highlight the knowledge and skills gained in each subject, alongside jobs and careers that those skills relate to. All subject teachers highlight the relevance of their subjects for future career paths and suggested career pathways are mentioned within our Key Stage 4 Qualifcations Booklet for students and parents.
Encounters with employers and employees
At Castle Hill we invite employers and employees into school to deliver workshops and talks to our students. We also take students into a variety of workplaces and careers events to meet employers and employees. Enterprise activities are also embedded in our curriculum through a range of subjects.
We invite past students to talk to our current students about moving on, careers choices and life experiences since leaving Castle Hill.
Experience of workplaces
At Castle Hill we have a work experience programme that starts in Year 11 and continues into our 6th Form. This builds in terms of time and variety of experiences over the three years.
Encounters with further and higher education
Our careers programme is designed to ensure that all students understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.
Personal guidance
For students who live in Stockport, this is provided by Lesley Millican, our EHCP coordinator. For students from outside Stockport, advice is provided by our independent careers adviser, Tim Newman.
Key Documents
Our Careers Policy, which is reviewed annually, can be viewed here:
The way in which we address the Provider Access Policy can be viewed here:
Destinations 2022
The following document gives the destinations of our Summer 2022 Year 11 and Year 13 leavers.
Work Experience
To exemplify the quality of our work experience programme the following document summarises our work experience placements in 2021-22:
Work experience - awaiting update
Photos of students on their work experience placements can be viewed here:
Employers: Can you help?
We would love to hear from employers who think they might be able to help us deliver our careers programme.
If you think you can help, please contact: rhian.wheeler@castlehill.stockport.sch.uk.
Information for providers and employers (Baker clause)
Parents and Carers: Can you help?
If any parents, carers or friends are willing to give up 30 minutes of their time to talk to a group of students or deliver a workshop based on their career or profession we'd love to hear from them.
If you are able to offer a young person in Year 11 a week's work experience or a Sixth Form student a weekly work placement one day a week please contact Miss Wheeler directly: rhian.wheeler@castlehill.stockport.sch.uk.
We really do appreciate the support of parents and carers who are already doing this for us and we are always looking for quality work placements for our students.
Useful Resources
The following links also provide useful sources of independent advice:To access JED use the code htjq5jva
This document outlines the Post-16 options open to young people locally:
This document outlines Post-18 options:
The following document outline the various Post-16 options available locally:
The following guides provides information about options for young people with SEND to help them move into paid employment:
The Parents’ Guide to What Comes Next provides parents with the information they need to help their teenage children make the right choices to create successful futures after GCSE and sixth form:
Parents' Guide to What Comes Next
A range fo useful websites can be found here:
Useful websites for researching careers and labour market information can be found here:
Juniper Traineeships
This is a free programme for 16-18 year olds to gain the skills, qualifications and work experience to progress into Apprenticeships, Employment or Further Education.
