FUTURE TALENTED Autumn Term 2019 - Issue 4 | Seite 13

STRATEGY SPOTLIGHT
having a positive impact on young people’s
lives and 81% are optimistic about the future
of careers support in schools.
However, notable challenges include apathy
demonstrated by some teaching staff towards
careers guidance, plus limited budgets in many
schools (see chart, page 16).
Whole-school approach
While two-thirds of careers leaders are in
middle or senior posts, a third deliver the role
at an administrator or coordinator level. A lack
of seniority can affect how well leaders can
embed careers support across a school, warns
CEC head of education Lesley Thain.
“The schools that have been most effective
in implementing the careers leader role have
ensured that the person appointed is
sufficiently senior to influence change at a
whole-school level. If a principal has not
appointed a middle or senior leader to the
role of careers leader, it may be that they don’t
fully understand the need for this role to be
strategic and drive change across
the school.”
HEADTEACHERS
ARE ENCOURAGED
TO FOCUS ON:
Strategy. Integrate career
guidance into the school’s
strategy so that it is
delivered collaboratively
across the school.
Leadership. App oint
careers leaders at middle
or senior leadership level
so that they can work
effectively with staff
across the school and
with external partners.
Governance. Engage the
governing body with
the school’s work on
careers to ensure that
careers leaders are
supported and challenged
at a senior level.
Time and resource.
Allocate sufficient time
and resource for careers
leaders. Discuss priorities
with careers leaders to
ensure that the time
available is used to
best effect.
This strategic approach is particularly
important in ensuring the wider educator
workforce can champion careers advice. The
survey shows that almost half (43%) of careers
leaders believe the engagement of teaching
staff is a barrier to careers in school.
Among those already embedding careers
support within school is Jake Armstrong,
careers leader at Addey and Stanhope School
in Lewisham, south London. In addition to sitting
on his school’s senior leadership team, he is a
subject teacher and manages a number
of departments. This gives him broad access
to members of staff from the ‘top table’ down
and ensures teachers are able to attend careers
events. He is also on hand to advise teachers on
using careers guidance within lessons.
Referring to a recent event, designed around
the Gatsby Benchmark 4 ( linking the curriculum
to careers), he says: “Now I have three or four
members of staff who are actively coming up
to me to asking if they can take something off
my hands, saying, for example, that they’d love
to work with colleges.”
But he stresses that such staff should not be
labelled ‘careers ambassadors’. “Careers needs
to be integrated and embedded around the
whole school,” he argues.
Training. Encourage and
enable careers leaders to
take part in training.
Source: Careers Leaders in Secondary
Schools: The first year, The Careers &
Enterprise Company, July 2019
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