1: A Stable Careers Programme

As a school, we have a career programme in place for all year groups. Teachers, pupils, parents, governors and employers must have access to our basic programme and this can be found on the school website. Our programme involves careers lessons, form time activities, visits and workshops. 

You can find out more here. 

2: Learning from career and Labour Market Information (LMI)

This benchmark allows students and parents to have access to good information about what jobs are available in their local area, what business are situated near them, what areas need more employees and which jobs might not exist in the future.

Our students have access to up to date labour market information via Unifrog. Hertfordshire have also their own labour market website called the HOP where students can look up local businesses, find out more about various sectors and apply for different opportunities.

Subject leaders can help students by talking about local businesses and new job roles that link to their subject. 

Widget displays correct data up to 31st December 2024. 

3: Addressing the needs of each pupil

All of our students have different career aspirations and will need different guidance at different points in their education.  The career guidance and advice  will be tailored to support the needs of each student. Every student at SCD will have the opportunity to discuss their next steps, spend time in the workplace, attend career talks, take part in workshops and request additional support should they need it.

4: Linking curriculum to careers

ALL TEACHERS should link careers to their subject area. Students can't choose the best career path for themselves if they don't know what jobs are out there. By adding in careers information into lessons students can understand the variety of jobs on offer. Students can often say what subjects they enjoy but can't often say what jobs they could go into with a love for that subject. Lessons can also include employability skills such as presentation, team work and leadership 

5: Encounters with employers and employees

Every student needs to have multiple encounters with employers and employees so they can learn about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. At SCD we achieve this by inviting employers to deliver talks, running event days (Year 7 Careers and Enterprise Day or Year 12 Brand You Day) and workshops.  

If you every want to run a talk specific to your subject, you could draw on our large alumni network for support - just drop Mrs Garwood-Evans an email. 

6: Experiences of workplaces

Every student should have first-hand experience of the workplace.  At SCD students have their first experience in the workplace during Year 8 where they spend one day shadowing someone at work. In Year 12, students are given 2 days in July to complete work shadowing which should be linked to their career aspirations. There is also a small cohort of Year 10 students are selected by their HoY to  complete a week of work experience. 

All subject teachers are encouraged to run trips to businesses - this counts as careers in the curriculum. 

7: Encounters with further and higher education

All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. At every key phase, students at SCD have encounters with colleges, universities and independent training providers through talks, assembles and visits.  Sixth Form students can take up to 3 days out of school to visit university open days and all Year 12 students are taken to the London Summer Fair where they have the opportunity to visit more than 120 exhibitors from universities, colleges and training providers. 

We work with a range of universities and here are some we have worked with in the last year:

8: Personal guidance

All students should have the opportunity to have careers guidance interview with a qualified careers advisor.  At SCD, our Careers Coordinator, Mel Garwood-Evans is also a qualified careers advisor and she is supported by David Ritchie, an independent careers advisor, and together they deliver high quality, comprehensive advice and guidance to students across the school.

If you have a student who would benefit from a careers interview, please email Mel Garwood-Evans or Caroline Ritchie.