Gatsby Benchmarks
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8
is advising a child who excels at coding,
but may need to develop softer
communications skills in order to thrive
in the workplace, she may suggest they
do some work experience in a shop.
“We know that softer skills give young
people a wider opportunity for paid
employment, but parents don’t always
get this – they don’t necessarily see the
value in working in a shop,”
she explains.
In these cases, careers leaders need
to tread carefully, engaging parents in the
conversations around careers and gently
challenging their views, putting the focus
on the child, whenever possible.
“We give the young people choices,”
says Pullan. “We say ‘this is what your mum
and dad are thinking, but remember there
are these options as well’. Sometimes I’ll get
Family Support involved too.”
Providing timely support
Safe Opportunities tends to see young
people who are already in crisis, but Pullan
believes that mental health problems could
often be nipped in the bud where people are
referred at a younger age.
Fazakerley High School, located in an area
of high disadvantage in Liverpool, has recently
implemented the Blues Programme, a “blues-
busting course” developed by charity Action
for Children for teenagers aged 13-19. This aims
to reduce the signs of adolescent low mood
and negative thoughts and promote prevention,
targeting young people as early as possible.
When she heard about the initiative, careers
leader Julie Jones “jumped on” the opportunity
to contribute, with early careers guidance and
employer mentoring interventions.
So far, the school has identified two cohorts
for its programme, the majority of whom are
female. These individuals have esteem and
confidence issues, some stemming from social
media and the fact that they rarely socialise with
peers in person (or rarely leave their bedrooms,
in certain cases).
“When you talk about leaving school, this feels
horrific, they can’t deal with it,” says Jones.
Consequently, she is focusing on finding mentors
and scheduling early careers interviews for
students, which will be followed up regularly.
“Careers guidance can add so much to the
mental health agenda, building on young people’s
self-esteem and getting them ready for the
world,” she says. “We can improve pupils’
confidence, work on their softer skills and make
them feel more in control and instil more self-
belief. Just telling a young person that ‘their best
is good enough’ can sometimes help them
breathe a sigh of relief.”
38 // WELLBEING
Giving
students half
a day to visit
somebody in a
workspace
can impact
positively on
their decision
making and
mental health
Training for careers leaders
It is for this reason that Jan Ellis, CEO of the
Career Development Institute, is campaigning
for the introduction of careers advice
intervention in primary schools.
However, the major challenge she notes is
the current lack of training and support for
careers leaders performing this crucial work
around identifying and dealing with mental
health problems.
“For example, when I was a careers adviser,
I had to interview a young person with elective
mutism,” she recalls. “No one prepared me
for that. We ought to do much more to
support practitioners.
“After all, it’s an absolute no-brainer that
more careers guidance for students, at a
younger age, could mean fewer mental health
problems in children,” she continues.
“I would love someone reading this
article to come to me and say, ‘we can help
training people to do this’. So get in touch if
that’s you!”