Careers (CEIAG)

Students at Barnhill are provided with a high-quality careers program that allows them to explore their future careers options and helps them build links with their local communities. Our aim is for them to become world leaders in their chosen fields and allow them to meet with high achieving ex- students and companies.

In order to provide this, we try to go for a whole school and community approach to careers and involve all facets of Barnhill Community High in delivering the very best careers program possible. At Barnhill, we realise that careers must be embedded into the curriculum and be at the forefront of students' thinking to relate what they are learning in class to the outside world. With this in mind and through various conversations with staff and students, we have come up with the following vision for our careers program:

Every student is in a position to make informed, realistic and sequential decisions about their futures.

Key Staff 

Name Role Responsibility
Clara Love Associate Assistant Headteacher
Careers SLT Lead
Ensure the carers offering at Barnhill is effective, unbiased and puts students in a position to succeed
Danielle Bertin Deputy Headteacher Ensure the carers offering at Barnhill is effective, unbiased and puts students in a position to succeed
Tayyba Qureshi Associate Headteacher Ensuring KS4 have an adequate offering throughout their time at Barnhill. Leasing with the careers coordinator and careers advisor to offer opportunities and timely guidance.
Zac Rawlinson Assistant Headteacher KS3 Ensuring KS3 has an adequate offering throughout their time at Barnhill. Liaising with the careers coordinator and careers advisor to offer opportunities and timely guidance.
Deborah Streatfield Independent Careers Advisor Offering independent careers advise and 1 on 1 meeting with students across KS4 & 5.
Supported by the Educational
Leadership Trust
Edith Okoye Careers Co-ordinator Offering careers advice and 1 on 1 meeting with students across KS3-5.
Claire Fitzgerald VI careers and further education advisor Offering further education and careers advice, supported by 1 on 1 meeting with students across KS5.
Amanda Martincevic Assistant SENDCo Supporting high-needs students on the Prince’s Trust pathway. Organising Alt Ed to accompany this programme and post 16 pathways.
Curriculum Leaders Subject-specific careers advice, projects, guidance and opportunities.
Head of Years Supporting students with specific careers advice, projects, guidance and opportunities.
Form Tutors Offering guidance and delving careers advice through PSHRE.

The Elements of Barnhill CEIAG Provision 

  • Careers Education, including dedicated careers sessions, subject lessons linking curriculum learning to careers, work related learning (work experience and careers events etc).
  • Career Information, on all education and employment routes, provided through various channels and media, including the Careers Fair and online resources.
  • Career Guidance, both impartial and independent, offered with open access to a careers professional, teaching and other staff, as well as external sources such as employers and professional bodies.
  • We benchmark our provision against best practice nationally, monitor our provision and student destinations, and we develop our provision using feedback from students, staff and others. Students provide feedback to our CEIAG provision through our annual survey and through conversations with our staff. We evaluate the success of our provision not just through the quantitative measures of destinations and outcomes but also through this qualitative feedback we receive. 

As of September 2025, all students will have a Unifrog login. This will bring all the available information into a single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications. It will allow them to create links with employers, be a part of the talent pool, enjoy virtual work experience and much more. Staff and parents will also be able to login. To look at Unifrog further - https://www.unifrog.org/

Careers Programme 

Year 7

Intent: To introduce pupils to employability and life skills and apply them in a specific project within a school environment. To encourage pupils to start thinking about what jobs and/or sector of work would suit them as individuals. To give pupils an understanding of what subjects are needed to follow specific pathways. To give pupils the opportunity to have a fun initial contact with employers and learn about various industries.

  • Pupils have access to a 1:1 careers meeting with a Careers Advisor.
  • PSHRE lessons:
    - Pupils consider who they are and look at key traits they have and unique pathways into roles. -- Key skills they have or are developing and how these relate to careers.
    Pupils start to think about what careers there are in the world around them, they have the opportunity to speak to employers at the annual Careers Fair.

Year 8

Intent: To give pupils the opportunity to apply their newly acquired employability skills to a specific project in a classroom environment. To give pupils an understanding of today’s work environment through contact with various employers. To give pupils the opportunity to participate in a range of career centred activities and projects relevant to their identified career sector/s.

  • Pupils have access to a 1:1 careers meeting with a Careers Advisor.
  • PSHRE lessons:
    Work and labour market information including challenging stereotypes.
    Entrepreneurship introduction.
    Challenging discrimination in the workplace.
  • Careers event – guest speakers from various companies.

Year 9

Intent: To provide each pupil with up to date relevant information about option choices and the implication of those choices on their future. To expand the range of career centred activities and opportunities offered to students to suit their needs. To expand students’ knowledge of today’s work environment.

  • Pupils have access to a 1:1 careers meeting with a Careers Advisor.
  • PSHRE lessons:
    - Exploring careers pathways.

    - Review their skills and values to help identify possible career pathways.

    - Set goals for the future.

    - Preparing for choosing GCSE courses and post-16 options.
  • Careers event - talk to a range or employers.
  • Careers week – Summer Term careers morning ‘Guess the job’.
  • DHL logistics day

Year 10

Intent: To encourage students to use their employability skills to find a work experience placement. To provide students with multiple opportunities to learn from/talk to employers about work, employment, the skills valued in the workplace and today’s labour market. To give students first-hand experience of the workplace through 2 weeks work experience placement/s

  • Pupils have access to a 1:1 careers meeting with a Careers Advisor.
  • Pupils receive group or individual advice sessions focused on finding a work experience placement.
  • Assemblies from Ask Apprenticeship/ Careers advisor/ Colleges on next steps
  • PSHRE lessons:
    - Online presence.

    - Applying for jobs.
  • Work experience - Pupils undertake work experience in a local business or organisation at the beginning of July. Online experiences are also included.

Year 11

Intent: To give students access to impartial, high-quality information about post-16 study options, providers and the labour market. To lead students to understand the full range of learning opportunities available to them: academic or vocational, in school, college, university and/or the workplace. To give students a high-quality impartial individual focussed guidance meeting lead by an informed advisor to help them decide on post-16 choices.

  • Pupils have compulsory 1:1 careers meetings with a Careers Advisors to make a post 16 plan.
  • PSHRE lessons:
    - Writing a personal statement.

    - Options and careers.

    Post-16 applications.
  • Assemblies with Ask Apprenticeship/DHL/local colleges

Useful Online Resources  

Personal Development

  • Buzz Quiz: Personality quiz which helps you to consider your strengths and what jobs you might enjoy: Click here
  • 16 Personalities: In-depth personality test based on Myers and Brigg personality indicator which looks at different personality types and their strengths, development areas and what careers may suit these: Click here
  • Prospects Planner: Matches your skills, motivations and desires to a range of careers: Click here
  • Barclays Life Skills: Interactive tools and resources to reflect on your skills and develop new ones, stay safe online, write your CV and prepare for interviews: Click here

Exploring the World of Work

  • BBC Bitesize Careers: Inspiring videos and articles that explain the world of work, with advice from people who've found the right path for them. Includes job profiles, application and interview tips and enterprise insight: Click here
  • Careers Box: Careers film library, a free careers resource showing hundreds of real people doing real jobs: Click here
  • National Careers Service: Information on a range of different jobs including roles and responsibilities, routes in, skills needed, salary etc: Click here
  • Prospects: Information on graduate jobs, postgraduate study, advice about work experience, internship opportunities and graduate careers: Click here
  • iCould: Career videos and job profiles including information on different roles and responsibilities, routes in, skills needed, salary etcClick here
  • Careerometer: A tool to compare jobs, use the Careerometer to compare different jobs — salary, working hours, etc: Click here
  • My World of Work: Subject choice tool can help you explore where your subject choices can take you: Click here
  • Prospects – what can I do with my degree? Explore your career options and see where your degree could take you: Click here
  • Nesta Skills Map: A tool which provides a Skills Map for a range of different jobs based on millions of UK job adverts: Click here

Finding Employment

  • Springpod: Online training and work experience: Click here
  • Speakers for Schools: Inspirational talks about different careers and work experience opportunities: Click here
  • Prospects – Getting a job: Guidance on how to go about looking for a job, how to work with recruitment agencies, social media and job hunting, how to get a job with no experience, making a career change, the skills that employers look for and more: Click here
  • Indeed: Search millions of jobs online to find the next step in your career. Use tools for job search, CVs, company reviews and more: Click here
  • Glassdoor: Search millions of jobs and get the inside scoop on companies with employee reviews on the best places to work, personalised salary tools, and more: Click here
  • Guardian Jobs: Search and apply for vacancies at top employers on this job site. Add your CV today and apply for open roles throughout the UK. Find a job where you can be you: Click here
  • Adzuna: Search Over 1 Million Jobs on a single website. Evaluate and improve your CV. Every job. Everywhere. Real time employment data: Click here

Preparing for Employment

  • Prospects – CVs and covering letters: Discover how to write a CV and Covering Letter, mistakes to avoid and a variety of examples to help you target your application to the company: Click here
  • Prospects – Interview Tips: Advice on the best ways to prepare for an interview, example interview questions, tips on interview technique, practice psychometric tests, and help with phone and video interviews: Click here