Recent Award Holders

Case Study 1.

We chose to go to Prospects/Ixion for the award as we had used this provider previously and found them to be helpful and supportive – it was also good to be familiar with the process used. Having the standard awarded for another three years is important to us and to the MAT as a whole- as it recognises the work we do to support students in developing the skills and qualities they will need beyond school; careers is an integral part of that student journey.

As well as having that recognition, going through the process of gaining the award is a very useful exercise, in terms of seeing how we shape up but also drawing any fragmented parts of our careers programme together. It does this by involving many different stakeholders and feels in some ways like a chance to join the dots- for example between governors, the careers leader, SLT teachers and support staff as well as parents and carers, students and our stakeholders outside the school. While these relationships are in place anyway, going for the award makes us question whether they are working in the best ways possible, and if we are making the most of these opportunities. As such it is a valuable evaluation process and the feeling is one of having had a really deep dive into our careers provision.

At the same time, the gathering of evidence is so encouraging, as it helps us reflect on all the good work we’ve done in the past two years. Working in careers is a process of constant evaluation, staying updated, improving resources and provision as well as dealing with the unexpected- Covid19 would be a good example! For me gathering the evidence and seeing it all together helped me to see how far we’ve come and to feel proud of all the work we do together.

The original reason for going for Prospects/Ixion, rather than the organisation suggested by the MAT, proved right. The portfolio is easy to navigate and Michele Squire was very helpful and supportive. Knowing there is someone at the end of a phone or email made the whole process enjoyable. We are delighted to have been awarded the standard and to have this recognised at Gold level is the cherry on the icing on the cake! Thank you for all your support in the process this year.

Case Study 2

Why did the institution decide to apply for the standard?

- Raise profile of careers within school

- To be recognised for our work

- Evaluate our current programme and make improvements to our provision

What happened, how did you go about collecting the evidence – did the process help you to address gaps in, or improve provision? What support did you have? We started the process 2 years ago by uploading our current evidence to the award and analysing gaps. We then worked on improving certain areas before following this process again. We had support from our onsite careers advisor before submitting the award and working closely with Nicky Brown who helped us develop further. We really appreciated the feedback gained from this and the opportunity to adapt our programme. As a team, we thoroughly enjoyed the process; the opportunity it gave us to reflect on our current practice and the facility it gave us to identify and fill in gaps and ultimately strengthen our provision. It also allowed us to raise the profile of careers within school.

What will you do next? We plan to work on the areas where we did not achieve 1.0 to further strengthen our provision. We are are working towards far more small and bespoke careers events so that we can better support students in the transition to post 16 and post 18 and wish to maintain the profile and momentum we have gained from achieving the award. We firmly believe in increasing exposure of employers to students from year 7 up and aspire for a NEET figure of zero. We ultimately aim to achieve the Ixion gold award and would love to know how to further improve our practice in order to achieve this.