Quick Links

Quick Links

Claydon High School

  • SearchSearch Site
  • Translate Translate Page

Careers and Employability

During their time at Claydon High School, students will take part in various career and employability skills activities. We work with a range of providers to give students the opportunity to learn more about the choices they have for the future and prepare them for life after education. To view our comprehensive careers programmes and policies, please click on the links below:

KS3 Careers Programme             KS4 Careers Programme

Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Policy

Wider Opportunities Policy 

Our Head of LIFE Faculty - Mr Rawlings, oversees all aspects of our Careers Programme, liaising closely with Mrs Garner our Careers Advisor.  For any queries, please email nrawlings@claydonhigh.com or telephone the school on 01473 836110.

Examples of Activities 

Learning About Work Day – Local employers are invited to school to teach Year 11 students about ‘employer expectations’. Each student has the opportunity to have a one-to-one interview with a representative from a local business/company.

Work Experience - As part of Year 10’s careers programme and employability skills development, students are required to do one week of work experience in May. We believe work experience is highly valuable to our students, giving them the opportunity to see what the working world is like. Last year's work experience was very successful and below are a few comments made about our students from the companies they went to:

“Brilliant! So, impressed with her, she is using the till, really good at talking to people from all walks of life as she makes them feel at ease.”

“Excellent attitude towards the role. Learning lots and asking questions. Taking the opportunity seriously and fitting in well.”

“Lovely lad - a credit to the school!”

Pathways Evening – This is a KS4 post-16 information evening for students and their parents/carers to discuss, with local and national employers and post-16 providers, jobs or courses that will be available to them when they leave school.

Quick-fire Connections – Year 9 speed networking event where we invite local businesses in to school to talk to students so they can find out more about different careers. These range from hairdressing to nursing to working for the police.

Work placement visits - Year 8 visit Suez, a local 'energy from waste' facility to see a working facility in action and learn about sustainability.

Suffolk Skills Show – Year 10 and 11 visit the Suffolk Skills Show to learn more about employment opportunities in the local area.

Visits to post 16 providers - currently we organise visits to: University of Suffolk, Suffolk One, Suffolk New College, Northgate High School and Suffolk Rural College, to name but a few.

Royal Navy Catering Team Outreach – Year 10 work with Royal Navy Catering Team for the morning learning new culinary skills and about careers with the Navy. 

Business Mentoring – Students can access a Business Mentor during their time at Claydon High School, helping them to research a chosen career path.

Students are also able to access the Careers Library which has prospectuses from both further and higher education providers. The library contains computers that students can use to research different career paths and courses. They can also make appointments to see our Careers Advisor Mrs Garner. Specific careers topics are also taught as part of the PSHE programme for Years 7-9 and within PD at KS4.

Links with Employers and Local Businesses

At Claydon High School we are proud of our long-standing links with many employers and businesses in the local area who return to us year after year to support us with our events and careers education.

We are always looking to work with as many different businesses from a range of different sectors and industries as we can in order to provide our students with a broad and varied experience of both our local labour market and the world of work.

If you would like to support us with engaging and developing the workforce of the future, please contact Sue Garner on 01473 836110 / sgarner@claydonhigh.com. We would be delighted to hear from you.

To view our Provider Access Policy, please click here.

Here is what some of the employers we work with have to say:

“I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the exceptional “Learning About Work Day" organised at Claydon High School. It was truly an exceptional experience and I want to extend my appreciation for the effort and dedication put into making it a success by you and your team.”

"Claydon High School excels when it comes to interacting with local employers such as ourselves. The Learning About Work Day and Speed Networking events are really good examples of this and it is clear the pupils gain valuable experiences as a result - our staff also very much enjoy visiting the school and sharing their knowledge. We also enjoy supporting the pupils through the provision of work experience placements during the summer and have had a number of pupils visit our office in recent years and feedback has been really good. It is great to see a local school focusing on raising the awareness of it's pupils when it comes to preparing for life after education."

 Careers Information Advice and Guidance 

A dedicated team of staff work to support students through the decision-making process and transition points. During their time at Claydon High School all students will have the opportunity to receive one-to-one careers information, advice and guidance appointments with our Careers Advisor, Mrs Garner who will provide impartial careers advice. Students from any year group can request an appointment. If your child wishes to see the Careers Advisor, they should speak to their form tutor or Mrs Garner in the Wider Opportunities Office in the first instance. We support all of our Year 11 students during the autumn and spring terms, helping them plan for their future and to understand the various choices they have, as well as guiding them through college applications. Year 10 are seen during the rest of the year with some Year 9s to help them through the Options process.  

 Useful Links

 www.unifrog.org/

This online platform helps students with their progression, it has intuitive quizzes which look at what their interests are, it records their achievements, helps write personal statements, finding education or training opportunities and drafting applications. Every student at Claydon High School has a log in for Unifrog.

www.prospects.ac.uk/

Prospects is a useful website to research job profiles, subject choices, working abroad and taking a gap year. It also has a career planner and users can search for graduate jobs. 

www.thesource.me.uk

The Source is a website from Suffolk County Council which is designed by young people for young people. There are many useful pages on this website including: choices at 13+, choices at 16+, a CV builder, various job information as well as signposting young people to information about health, housing and money. It also has a lot of information on apprenticeships, including how to search and apply. You can even download an app which sends alerts to your phone every time a new apprenticeship in your chosen field is uploaded onto the apprenticeship system.   

www.icould.com

Icould is full of career videos of real life stories from many different industry sectors, from zookeepers to accountants! You can get first-hand information on jobs and ideas for the future from the people who are currently in those roles.  

www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk 

The National Careers Service website has information and careers advice on many job roles.  Students can take the ‘skills health check’ to give them some ideas of what area would be suited to them.  You can also request to speak to one of their Careers Advisors. 

www.icanbea.org.uk

Icanbea… provides news, information on events and jobs in the local area. You can use the Career Wizard to find out about job roles and there is also a CV Wizard. Once you have created an account you can learn more about employers and follow them to keep up-to-date with their latest information. 

 www.search.ucas.com

UCAS website will help you search Higher Education courses, job profiles and plenty of useful videos.  

  

https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

This is the Government apprenticeship website where you can search and filter for current live apprenticeships in your area. You will have to create an account before you apply for most of the apprenticeships here but once you create an account you will receive alerts to your phone when an apprenticeship in the area you are looking for is posted. 

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/

Find out about over 350 roles with the NHS, take a careers quiz and explore vacancies including apprenticeships available nationwide. 

 

 www.notgoingtouni.co.uk

This website will help you explore the alternatives to Higher Education.

 

 

Our local Post 16 Providers

  

Other students go on to apprenticeships or join the armed forces.