Careers Leader: Caroline Knox

Contact: caroline.knox@riddlesdown.org

Information for students and parents/carers

Student Entitlement of CEIAG

Riddlesdown Students are entitled to:

  • A programme of Careers Education that gives chances to cultivate and apply knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to make realistic careers decisions.
  • Individual guidance from Tutors, Education Development Trust’s impartial Careers Advisors, external business partners and/or members of the Senior Leadership Team as part of their Post 16 applications and Year 9 options.
  • Access to the physical and online careers library with comprehensive and up to date information about opportunities in Education, Training and Employment.
  • Support for the processes of preparing effective CV’s, learning interview presentation skills and individual action planning.
  • The opportunity to experience the world of work.
  • The opportunity to visit workplaces
  • The opportunity to meet with employers and employees
  • Computerised careers guidance through the www.startprofile.com website which provides job ideas and careers information, employability, what to study, where to learn, and advice on the best combination of subjects for different careers

This ensures we are providing inspiration and innovative experiences within and beyond the classroom and ensure we are delivering successful outcomes and positive futures for all of our students in line with Riddlesdown Collegiate’s development plan.

The choices you make during your time at Riddlesdown will have an impact on your future career choices and happiness.  So it makes sense to start thinking about your future as soon as possible.

To prepare for life after you leave Riddlesdown, there are questions you should be thinking about and the answers you give will likely shape the GCSE subjects you choose, and what routes you wish to take post-16, whether it’s A Levels at College VI, vocational qualifications at a local college or an Apprenticeship.

Some of the questions you should be thinking about:

  1. What are you most interested in? What do you like doing?
  2. What are you best at? What skills do you have?
  3. What types of careers interest you? What do they involve? What skills and qualifications do they require?
  4. What can you do to find out more about careers that interest you?
  5. What can you do whilst at school to make future employers more likely to hire you?
  6. What help you can expect whilst at Riddlesdown?

Start Profile Careers Platform

Riddlesdown Collegiate uses the Start Profile careers platform to help you get the best out of our Careers Programme.  You have an account on the website which you can use to track your career activities. Start Profile offers:

Locker: You can add careers activities, as well as other achievements throughout your time at school to your locker. Access to this as you get older will be helpful when writing CV’s and applications for part time work and post-16 education.

World of Work: This section acts as a database with hundreds of different jobs across a range of sectors. You can find out about day to day duties, pay, hours, qualifications and routes in, skills, qualities, interests and work preferences best suited for the role, as well as top tips and related jobs. It’s an excellent resource regardless of whether you know what you want to do, or if you have no idea at all.

What to Study: Whether you are in year 9 thinking about GCSE choices, Year 11 thinking about Post-16 education choices or Year 12 and 13 thinking about Post-18 choices, the what to study area has information guiding you on what your options are and how best to make the choices.

Employability: This area helps you with CV and Cover Letter writing, skills that employers look for as well as tips on how to gain work experience.

Apprenticeships

Riddlesdown’s Careers Programme will provide you with an understanding of Apprenticeships and advice on how to explore the opportunities they offer.

An apprenticeship is a real job with training which would allow you to earn while you learn, whilst gaining a nationally recognised qualification. Apprenticeships take between one and five years to complete and are available in thousands of occupations across hundreds of industries ranging from construction and trades to manufacturing and engineering through to IT and the creative and digital sectors.

All apprenticeships will include elements of on the job and off the job training leading to industry recognised qualifications. Some apprenticeships will require an assessment at the end of the programme to assess your ability and competence in the job role.

Apprenticeships are available to anyone over the age of 16 however there are different entry requirements depending on the sector and job.

Apprenticeships fall under 4 different levels:

Intermediate – often found in areas such as electrician, plumber etc. where you must start with the basics.

Advanced – Equivalent to 2 A Level passes

Higher – Equivalent to a foundation degree

Degree – Equivalent to a Bachelor’s or master’s degree