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Careers Programme

Information about the different elements of the careers programme at Commonweal

One-to-one IAG careers interviews are provided by our School Careers advisor and are available to you from Year 7.  The careers team provide impartial and personalised information, advice and guidance, about the range of education and training options that are most likely to help you achieve their ambitions. A lunch-time careers advice drop-in session is held once a week and advertised around the school. Referrals can be made via your tutor or directly from you or your parent / carer via email to jfalaki@commonweal.co.uk.

‘Futures’ Days – Dedicated Career focussed day, where you come off normal timetable. Available to year group Year 7 – Year 10. Futures Days consist of:

  • ‘Spotlight on Careers’ – professionals from a selection of industries eg. Healthcare, Business, Finance, IT, Science, Engineering will provide workshops to expose you to careers in their industries
  • Sessions to help you identify skills you have or need to develop for the workplace
  • Sessions to Help you understand your preferences, passions, motivations and strengths and relate them to certain careers / job roles
  • Trips to employers and training providers

Social and Global –You have a Social and Global session each week.  The curriculum develops through the school to provide age appropriate careers-based lessons. In year 7 it begins with considering what skills young people need to develop to be successful at school and in a career.  They also research successful people and consider what makes them successful.  There is also a project on the SDGs which explores careers which would work towards them. In year 8 we discuss careers within politics e.g. What is an MP and explore concepts of poverty and wealth. In year 9 we have specific lessons looking at potential careers as well as considering motivation. In year 10 we consider a range of careers within the field of social science e.g. What is law?  What is a judge?  By year 11 we have explicit careers sessions as well as lessons on budgeting, applying for jobs and preparing for interviews.

Access to Enterprise Advisor – As a school, we endeavour to facilitate as many student / employer encounters as possible. As such, the school is part of the Swindon Enterprise Adviser Network and we are working closely with our Enterprise Adviser from Barclays Bank. Click here for more information.

Employer insights / experiences and visits – Commonweal has good links with many other local employers, independent advice services and Universities to promote impartiality and which allow us to offer a variety of employer insights/experiences and visits. We have close working relationships with several employers and education providers including Swindon Borough Council, BMW Mini, Nationwide, Barclays Bank, Thames Water, Catalent, Oxford University, University of the West of England, Reading University, Bath Spa University, STEM NET, Inspiring the Future, National Apprenticeship Service.

Links with Study Higher – In 2019/20 students had the opportunity engage in several external ‘Study higher’ events that complemented our careers programme.

Access to website resources – Good quality careers resources are available to you via the school website the school library, and the careers office. There are also poster and leaflet displays around the school.

G30 – Global 30 group is about young people working towards a world that they want. They look at the Sustainable Development Goals and we discuss how we can make change to invent, innovate or campaign for solutions to them. We invite in inspirational speakers from the world or business or the charity sector who talk about why they wanted to make change and how they built it into a career. We also develop skills of communication and presentation which will be hugely useful in future careers.

Villiers park Scholars scheme – A scheme for gifted students in years 10 – 13 inclusive who meet the charity’s criteria. The charity wants able students who may otherwise not consider applying to university to do so. As such, the main aim of the scheme is to explore the opportunities afforded by a university education and to support students with their applications. Developing students’ qualities and skills is achieved via regular mentoring on an individual basis, workshops, university visits and residentials.

C30 -To encourage our most able 30 Year 9, 10 and 11 to demonstrate outstanding learning and citizenship to lead to an Oxbridge / Russell Group university education, regardless of background (Young foundation – ‘For some of the most disadvantaged, it is their school which is their main driving factor, yet they only spend 17% of their total time there.’)

  • To work on their skills vs knowledge, resilience in times of difficulty and emotional intelligence
  • To build on what is already happening with the smaller cohort of Villiers’ Park You in KS4 and KS5
  • To build on the XPA/C6 scholarships.