We are committed to providing our pupils in Years 7 to 11 and the Sixth Form a comprehensive programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance and work related learning. This is called our Future Horizons Programme.
Mrs Pascoe, Head of Careers is Level 6 qualified in Career Guidance and Development. She has 20 years of experience in private sector recruitment and working in further education before moving to Writhlington School in 2014. She now works across a number of schools in the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership – working at Writhlington School every Tuesday and on Friday during Week A.
We offer support, advice and guidance to all pupils and their parents/carers. It is a friendly, confidential and impartial service. Whether you know exactly what you aspire to do or have no idea, we can support you in a wide range of topics from Sixth Form, Further and Higher Education, Apprenticeships, the labour market or taking a gap year.
All pupils take part in a careers programme that:
The 2017 Government Careers Strategy outlined plans to roll out 20 Careers Hubs across the country after a successful pilot scheme in the North East. We were delighted to be included in the South West of England Careers Hub bid in July 2018 which was approved.
The Careers Hub consists of 25 local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve careers education for young people in the region.
To empower schools & colleges to improve outcomes for their pupils through the Gatsby Benchmarks & strategic collaboration. The hub will serve and support schools to achieve their own objectives as well as build a community of practice with a shared vision.
We review our Careers Programme three times a year using the Careers & Enterprise Company’s Compass Tool – which is a careers benchmark tool.
Compass is a free resource for schools and colleges in England that quickly and easily helps to evaluate our careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice – known as the Gatsby Benchmarks, these are listed below:
The tool was built in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, to help us discover our strengths and find areas for improvement. We review these regularly to ensure we provide the best programme we can.
Please click here for our latest Compass Survey Results.
We work closely with parents/carers to support their child/children to make informed career choices. Parents and carers are encouraged to attend the careers events, information evenings and options evenings.
Parents/carers are always welcome to contact Mrs Pascoe at epascoe@writhlington.org.uk to seek advice and ask any questions you might have regarding careers pathways.
We also regularly provide careers information via our weekly newsletter and encourage parents to explore the opportunities available and to have conversation with their children.
Termly Future Horizons Newsletter are sent to parents of pupils in Year 10/11 and parents of pupils in the Sixth Form.
Work Experience is always important, especially now in our current economic climate. Therefore, gaining more work related experience is likely to give you an advantage in the labour market by the time you leave full-time education.
The placement with an employer is for a period of one week, where pupils will learn about a particular job. Whilst on the Work Experience placement pupils will be able to find out about the types of skills employers look for when they are recruiting. This opportunity also develops communication skills and self confidence.
Work Experience will take place for Year 10 and Year 12 pupils in the last week of the summer term.
“For work experience, I completed a Nuffield Research Placement at Bath University whereby I spent four weeks on a project concerning weather, health and wellbeing. I produced a 20 page report on my findings and also a scientific poster.
I enjoyed the independence gained from the project as it was a realistic task that would have been set for a university student.
I would definitely recommend this work experience as it’s something unique to put on your personal statement and the four weeks flew by!”
“During my time at Dc-activ I learnt a lot. It was the first time being in an actual business environment and allowed me to see how a real business operates. It also gave me more confidence in that type of environment for the future.”
“I completed my work experience at the Ordnance Survey headquarters in Southampton where I learnt how to create Geographical Information System (GIS) maps and how to collect data that is relevant to a topic.
I really enjoyed my time there because I gained some valuable skills to prepare me for university such as cartography skills.
The team that I was with were very friendly and helped me when I was stuck. My mentor explained how Geographical Information Systems are relevant in today’s world and their place in multiple industries, for example the Ordnance Survey works with large multinationals to map their data.
I cannot recommend going to the Ordnance Survey enough. This will benefit anyone looking for a career in analysis or geography.”
“I completed work experience at Rotork, Bath. During my time there I was tasked with designing and making a functional speaker box. During this process I used CAD design to design the 3D model of the box itself and used it to measure out the dimensions of the components I would fit inside. This took me 2-3 days to finish the design. I then produced the components that would be fitted inside. This involved me soldering and designing a motherboard to use. After fitting the parts together and printing the box on a 3D printer I fitted it all together.
Whilst working there, I was involved in various parts of the businesses, such as in the office where lots of research and development took place, I worked in the workshops where the testing of new and existing actuators is done. I also was involved in the electronics lab. Whilst there I spoke to various people in different sections of the business which were employed through work experience after they completed their A-levels.
Overall I enjoyed the experience, and would recommend doing a weeks placement there to anyone interested in engineering. It allows you to experience all aspects of engineering, from the sales team to the production line”.
Apart from work experience, it is also possible to do some voluntary work if you join the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
