Career Information and Guidance
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
CEIAG at St Thomas More Catholic Academy
Careers education at St Thomas More Catholic School supports pupils to make informed, ambitious and realistic decisions about their future. The school secures independent and impartial careers guidance for all pupils from Year 7 to Year 13.
The careers programme is planned, progressive and inclusive. It is structured around the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance and is reviewed annually. Provision includes careers education within the curriculum, encounters with employers and employees, experiences of workplaces, engagement with further education, higher education and training providers, access to labour market information, and personalised careers guidance at key transition points.
The Parents’ Guide 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.
Provider access
The school is committed to ensuring that pupils are informed about the full range of post-16 and post-18 pathways, including academic, technical and vocational routes. Education and training providers, including further education colleges, apprenticeship providers and independent training organisations, are welcome to request access to pupils in Years 8 to 13.
In line with statutory requirements, the school provides a minimum of six meaningful encounters with approved technical education and training providers across these year groups. These encounters are planned as part of the wider careers programme and support pupils to understand progression routes and application processes.
Details of how providers can request access, the opportunities available, and how the school manages and evaluates provider encounters are set out in the Provider Access Policy.
Careers Leadership
The school has a named Careers Leader, Adele Bradbury (Assistant Headteacher), who is responsible for the strategic leadership, delivery and evaluation of the careers programme. The Careers Leader is supported by trained and qualified careers advisers to ensure pupils receive high-quality, impartial guidance and support.
Mrs Kerr | Careers Lead Practitioner
BA (Hons), PGCE, Level 6 Careers Leader Contact details: vkerr@stmca.org.uk Telephone: 01782 882900
Mrs A Bradbury | Oversight of CIAG
Contact: abradbury@stmca.org.uk
Mrs Kerr | Careers Lead Practitioner
BA (Hons), PGCE, Level 6 Careers Leader Contact details: vkerr@stmca.org.uk Telephone: 01782 882900
Mrs A Bradbury | Oversight of CIAG
Contact: abradbury@stmca.org.uk
Our Careers advisor who works with students at St Thomas More Catholic Academy through the Local Authority Careers service is:
Mr James West
BA(Hons), MPhil, Level 6 Careers Guidance, Level 3 Award in Education and Training.
Pupil entitlement
All pupils in years 7-13 are entitled to:
- Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
- Hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
- Understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses
If you are an employer or college provider who wishes to engage with our students please contact Mrs Kerr (vkerr@stmca.org.uk) or Mrs Todd (abradbury@stmca.org.uk).
The full CEIAG plan can be found here:
If you have any enquiries with regards to careers, please call the school office on 01782 882900.
How we evaluate our programme
Please click on the below links to review the full reports.
We would welcome your views as a parent. Please contact Mrs Todd etodd@stmca.org.uk with your views and suggestions for further improvement. Alternatively, please speak to Mrs Kerr at your son / daughter’s parents evening.
Did you attend St Thomas More Catholic Academy in the past?
Alumni are encouraged to follow our Linked in account where we can keep in touch. We welcome any past students who wish to encourage our current students through sharing their experiences of the world of work. This may be as a mentor 1-1 or to run workshops for small groups or even whole year groups. Please contact us with any suggestions!
Students
All students at St Thomas More will be part of a TEAM where careers information suitable for their year group is posted. These TEAMs are named ‘Class of ****’, the year being the year that you will leave education or training (Year 13).
If you require any support TEAMs is also a good forum to use to contact Mrs Kerr initially. She will then be able to help you directly, refer you to an independent careers advisor or send you links to resources that will support you.
All students also have their own account on unifrog. This website allows you to research all available opportunities, access resources to further your learning and have up to date labour market information for Stoke on Trent as well as nationally. If any student has a problem logging into this site they should follow the ‘forgotten password’ link in the first instance. If this doesn’t work they need to see Mrs Kerr who will reset their profile.
Work Experience
The Launch of Y10 and year 12 Work Experience
The Launch of Work experience placements for year 10 and 12 students saw our most aspirational students taking the initiative to visit a wide range of employers and undertake work experience in a huge variety of settings: from cattle farms, in which students helped birth calves, to primary schools and nurseries assisting teachers marking and reading; from health and safety training at Astra Zeneca to planning marketing campaigns in Tesco; from participating in conflict management training at Serco to cutting hair at barbershops and hairdressers; from Personal Training in gyms to watching professional dancers rehearse and creating costumes for the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Our reintroduction of work experience reflects the increasing importance of having relevant work experience to enhance CVs, college and university applications. We continue to be committed to ensuring our aspiring students are competitive at the highest level. We can strongly advise all students to take advantage of work experience placement opportunities. Benefits enjoyed by students included: increased confidence, motivation to achieve at school, and the ability to communicate with adults in the World of Work effectively. Staff noted that students returned from work experience with an ‘improved focus’ and a ‘more mature attitude’.
We would like to thank all the employers who hosted a work experience placement this year and hope that our network of employers who support us in our mission to drive our student’s achievement continues to grow.
If you know anyone interested in hosting a placement or want to discuss setting up a pilot placement project at your work, please contact our school careers team.
Work Experience Locations
| ABI BAGS | MPFT- North Home first |
| Almadina superstore ltd | Ornua |
| AstraZeneca | Our Lady Catholic Academy |
| Barnardo’s Longton | PCT Coaching |
| Belgrave Medical Centre | PRO CAR HIRE LTD |
| Belgrave St Bartholomew’s Academy | Sandford Hill Primary School |
| Bentilee Nursery School | Santander bank |
| Birmingham Royal Ballet | SCDC Dance School |
| Carmountside academy | Serco |
| Christ Church CofE Primary School Academy | SH maintenance |
| Comserv Contracting & Commercial Ltd | Spotacre Farms |
| Connect Anything LTD | St Augustine’s Catholic Academy |
| Cookies hair design | St Josephs Catholic Primary School Uttoxeter |
| Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff | St Maria Goretti Catholic Academy |
| CROSSWAYS GARAGE | St Matthew’s C of E Academy |
| CT Barbers | St Paul’s C of E Primary |
| Diamond Freight | St Teresa’s Primary School |
| Etruscan primary school | Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Fenton Kindergarten | Staffordshire Fire Doors |
| Gates D Y & Son LTD | Staffordshire Police |
| Gladstone primary academy | Suttons exterior cleaning |
| Karetakers Nursery | The Fenton Kindergarten |
| Kate’s House | Thejus Foods |
| Kumeso Empire | Tiny Stars Nursery |
| Little Robins Pre-School | Total Energies |
| Longton Community Fire Station | Tradycja Polish Food Shop LTD |
| M&M vehicle repairs ltd | Veritas primary academy |
| Mahdis barber shop | World of Wedgwood |
Parents/Carers
All parents are able to log onto unifrog either with their child or with a parent log in. Please see the unifrog information powerpoint for details.
In addition, the following are useful resources.
Employers
If you are interested in supporting our students by visiting the school please email Mrs Kerr (vkerr@stmca.org.uk) in the first instance.
Please note that Unifrog is a complete CIAG platform including links to all colleges, universities, training providers, apprenticeships and advice. Local labour market information is also provided via this platform.
Unifrog – Useful Information
Apprenticeships links
https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
If you would like to employ and train an apprentice and are unsure of your next steps please do contact Stoke on Trent college who will be able to advise further.
If you have any apprenticeship vacancies suitable for post 16 and 18 leavers please email then to careers@stmca.org.uk and we will ensure all Year 11-13 students see these.