FUTURE TALENTED Spring Term 2019 - Issue 2 | Page 23

Gatsby Benchmarks
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EMPLOYABILITY
Education consultant Jane Delfino
MBE outlines practical steps to
building an effective, sustainable
and impactful strategy to meet
the Gatsby Benchmarks.
s an education consultant specialising in
employability and entrepreneurship, Jane
Delfino MBE is understandably positive about
the new emphasis on careers in schools. She
has spent her own working life at the coalface of careers
education, holding leadership roles in highly urban
and challenging contexts.
Underpinning her enthusiasm is the
belief that “every child has the potential
to be a successful and valued global
citizen – and that with the right support
this can be achieved”. However, she is
aware of the constraints careers leaders
face and the level of the challenge
posed by the Gatsby Benchmarks.
“Schools are facing challenges from
all directions,” acknowledges Delfino.
“A lot of them panic and think ‘it’s all
about English and maths’. And, of
course, it is… but it isn’t. If you only focus
on those, you’re diminishing children’s
life chances.”
The (proverbial) ‘carrot’ for
educators is this opportunity to
transform lives, while on the ‘stick’ side,
she warns that “people are starting to
look at destination data and link it back
to schools. If you’ve got 10% of your
cohort NEET (not in education,
employment or training), someone’s
going to come knocking at your door,”
she predicts.
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How to create
a sustainable
careers strategy
for your school
FUTURE TALENT // 23