Rigorous assessment

To gain the national Standard, St Peter’s underwent rigorous external assessment over a number of months.  Sarah Calvert, Careers Lead, assisted by Cathy Thompson, Careers Adviser, supplied detailed evidence to demonstrate that the school meets the national accreditation criteria in their overall careers provision.  This included the school’s award-winning Year 10 programme – a six day event incorporating visits to companies, workshops by employers, former students, further and higher education providers, team building with the army and a business game. 

Headteacher at St Peter’s, Mr Toby Miller said;

“We are incredibly excited to have been re-accredited with the newly revised and rigorous Quality in Careers Standard.  Whilst all schools are obliged to have a careers programme that is aligned to the Gatsby Benchmarks* [See notes] for Good Career Guidance, the Quality in Careers Standard requires significant additional evidence over and above the official Department of Education requirements.”

Mr Miller continued;

“St Peter's has been a shining example of good careers education for many years now and we continue to develop and grow our programme to ensure that all our students are always inspired to achieve their individual goals, develop key personal skills and feel confident about their next steps.”

Careers fully embedded in the school curriculum

The Gatsby Benchmarks are fully incorporated into the standard and St Peter's has had to evidence the impact of these on students' learning and on leadership, management and staff development, confirming that careers education at St Peter's is fully embedded in the curriculum. 

Assessment for the Quality in Careers Standard also involved the evaluation of feedback from parents, employers, students and staff on the impact of careers learning and the external assessor met with representatives from these groups to discuss St Peter’s provision in more detail.

Mr Miller concluded;

“At St Peter’s, we work in a positive culture using consistent procedures and excellent systems.  We are very grateful to our school community and wider school community for participating in this process.   The Quality in Careers Standard is recognition of how important we feel careers education and guidance is for our students and we are proud that St Peter’s is providing strong foundations for our students’ futures in the world of work.”

ENDS

Notes:  Brief summary of the Gatsby Benchmarks:

In 2014, Lord Sainsbury’s Gatsby Charitable Foundation published a report by Professor Sir John Holman, Adviser in Education at the Gatsby Foundation, titled “Good Career Guidance.” The report identified eight benchmarks that are the core dimensions of good careers and enterprise provision in schools:

1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance Good Career Guidance and further resources

Contact details:

Sarah Calvert
Careers Lead
St Peter’s Catholic School
Horseshoe Lane East
Guildford
GU1 2TN

Tel. 01483 543654
Email:  scalvert@st-peters.surrey.sch.uk