Careers

Careers Overview and Aim

At Saint Cecilia’s we deliver an inclusive, dynamic and aspirational careers programme that aims to provide the best opportunities and chances for our pupils and students. All staff contribute to Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) through their roles as mentors, subject teachers, curriculum/subject leaders, and Heads of Year. It is delivered through five strands: the curriculum, the pastoral team, trips, encounters with employers and through pathways to GSCEs, post Year 11 and post Year 13 education and training. The school incorporates the eight Gatsby Benchmarks and the Career Development Framework into its careers programme. The aim of the Saint Cecilia’s Careers programme is to support all pupils and students to be self-reflected, encourage career curiosity, be aware of the opportunities available and investigate them, in turn enabling career and education decisions to be made with confidence aligned to each pupil and student needs and aspirations.   

Careers Team 

Students are supported in their Careers Education by our dedicated team Mrs Catherine Young, Careers Co-ordinator and Ms Barbara Orr, Careers Adviser.  
Mrs Young is available for careers support with pupils and students from any year group during drop-in sessions in the careers space.
Available: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8.30am-4pm 
email: cyoung@saintcecilias.london, phone: (020) 8780 1244 extension 6715 

The SLT link is Ms Anessa Lee, Assistant Headteacher and CTL for PSHE.

We support the Careers programme from Year 7 to Year 13 with Unifrog. In addition, parents and carers also have access to this tool.

During term time each year group receives a weekly Careers Newsletter from Mrs Young, sent out through Satchel:One, highlighting a career, sector or industry of the week, including labour market information and many free local and virtual opportunities. 

Methods used to assess impact 

The impact of the Careers programme at Saint Cecilia’s is measured and assessed through pupil and student voice, monitoring aspirations and destinations of leavers.  Parents and carers have an important role to play in supporting their child in relation to their career journey and therefore you can request a meeting with our Careers Co-ordinator and/or provide feedback on the careers programme. In addition, we seek feedback from the staff team, governors, employers and education providers and a termly evaluation using Compass+ is conducted. The programme and policy are reviewed annually.   

Management of provider access requests

We welcome support for our Careers Programme from alumni, parents and carers, members of the local community, employers, training providers and Further and Higher Education Institutes. Our community represents a talented and skilled group of individuals from different jobs, sectors and industries and importantly pathways into those as well. There are many ways that you can volunteer and support all of our pupils and students broaden their horizons. For further information about how to get involved please contact cyoung@saintcecilias.london and view our Provider Access Policy. 

Careers Overview and Programme 

Click on the thumbnails below to see our Careers Strategic Overview and Careers Programme in full size.

Our careers programme is delivered through five strands: Curriculum, Pastoral, Trips, Employers and Pathways.

Curriculum

Our curriculum is broad and diverse and within each subject specialism there are many careers opportunities within and outside the classroom. We begin in Year 7, where pupils are encouraged to think about skills, interests and hobbies in preparation for Careers learning throughout their time at Saint Cecilia’s.

Pastoral

Supporting the wealth of opportunities across the curriculum areas, and through the embedded PSHE Careers curriculum, we have a strong pastoral team. They provide ongoing one to one support in terms of progression and attainment, Unifrog, completing applications, writing references and delivery of a programme of study that enables pupils to demonstrate and understand skills in the context of work and life. The Sixth Form Academic Mentor teaches small groups mastery skills on organisation, learning, memory retention and more to achieve Sixth Form success and beyond. 

Trips

Trips are a fantastic way of ensuring opportunity for all to take part and gain experience. There are also extra-curricular and optional trips that run in the evening, weekends or during the school holidays. Some recent trips undertaken or scheduled include visiting universities (Cambridge, Liverpool, Oxford, Roehampton, Royal Holloway), colleges (South Thames), external university and apprenticeships fairs and employers (Expedia, Music Studios, Royal Parks and the All England Lawn Tennis Club).

Employers

Saint Cecilia’s holds an annual Careers Fair for pupils and student in Years 10 through to 13. Some recent examples of additional opportunities include workshops and talks with women in the STEM industry, cybersecurity employer and ‘Make me a Medic’ day for those interested in healthcare in the Sixth Form.  

Click on the image to the right to read about our Careers Fair September 2023.

Pathways

There are three pathway points in the life of a pupil or student at Saint Cecilia’s: Year 9 preferences for GCSEs, Year 11 applications to the Sixth Form or other colleges and Year 12 applications to higher education, training or employment. 

Mentors, year leaders and subject teachers work hard to ensure all pupils and students have as much information as possible before choosing their next step. We aim to reassure pupils, give them confidence and support their decisions based on aspirations, attainment and skills. Parents are invited to engagement evenings, options evenings, and Sixth Form application interviews, to ask questions and find out as much as possible.