Key Information

Each week the the Careers Student Bulletin will be posted below. Inside it will be information and links to careers opportunities and resources. 

Careers Student Bulletin - April 2024

Careers Student Bulletin - March 2024

To aid with integration the careers programme at DGSB has been branded to aid all students in being aware of the different parts of the programme as well as all of the different activities and skills that form part of their career’s education and preparation for the future. 

The DGSB Futures programme is one that is in constant development, and has been designed to produce the following impacts (some of which will be fully phased in during future academic years): Develop student understanding of the different career paths available.  

- Work with parents/carers and professionals to build a knowledge base of different career paths and resources
- Support all students in identifying and achieving their chosen career paths with activities and opportunities tailored to the needs of each year group.
- Embed the discussion around careers experience in the curriculum and student development.
- Provide students with appropriate work and future education experience.
- Take students on a bespoke careers journey starting at year 7
- Develop key employability and character qualities such as teamwork, independence and communication
- Ensure all students are aware of the full range of learning opportunities available to them, covering both academic routes such as sixth form and university, and vocational routes such as apprenticeships
- Help students develop the ability to plan and take control of their own futures
- Enable all students to confidently choose appropriate subjects at GCSE and A Level for their preferred careers and conversely gain a detailed understanding of potential careers associated with each subject. 

The programme will be regularly adapted and amended with the inclusion of staff, students and parents. 

You can read the careers policy in full here. 

The main event in the careers programme is our careers week, which this year will be March 20th to March 24th. 

Students across key stages will be involved in a series of different activities which all have a careers focus. This will involve bringing in outside speakers to talk about the different option choices that students have, for example college or apprenticeships. 

This will be accompanied with visits and talks from business experts in a number of different fields, ensuring that students gain an understanding of different career paths that are available as well as the ways that each could be achieved. Sessions will also be included that focus on employability skills to ensure that when have they have made choices at key points all students are best placed to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

Careers education is not something that should be delivered in a vacuum, with the best results coming from ensuring that information about careers futures are interwoven into the curriculum. 

This allow students to not only learn of the career paths available in different subject areas, but as part of the DGSB Futures programme also understand what cross curricular skills they are developing towards their ideal future. 

Students also engage in bespoke careers lessons delivered as part of the PSHE curriculum. In these lessons students learn about sources of both career and LMI information, how to think about a future career when choosing options, key employability skills that will be needed in the future and how to write a successful covering letter as well as what could be expected in a job interview. 

Students in years 10 and 11 take part in regular careers activities during PDT, with students in year 13 being supported in the completion of applications for UCAS as well as apprenticeships and jobs. 

Careers sessions also run as an optional choice as part of the sixth form enrichment programme.

As a student you will take part in a number of activities during each academic year. You will also play a key part in deciding the future of the DGSB Futures programme as it adapts, with surveys and testimonials being vital in ensuring that the programme delivers for its most important clients – you! 

Careers education is vital in ensuring that you are aware of the different options available to you. At DGSB you will never be pushed in a particular direction, but supported in whichever choices you make with regards to your future. 

Your views are always welcome, whether as part of a post event survey or an individual email. 

The careers journey that you will take at DGSB as part of the Futures programme is shown below: 

As a parent we know that you will want to support your child through their careers journey, but that it is not always easy to know where to start. 

You may not be sure how to start a conversation about careers and futures, or with many changes over the past few years you may not be aware of all the education pathways that are available. 

As well as delivering a programme for students it is also important that we all work together. The views you have on the careers programme are vitally important to help us shape the content that we deliver. In turn it is also right that we share with you the aims and the implementation of the DGSB Futures programme. 

To give you more guidance and some useful links we have created a series of parent packs, one for each academic year. These packs talk in more detail about the careers activities that will take place for your child during the academic year. They will also include useful information on how to use LMI and key contacts at the school for careers questions you may have, as well as links to other websites that can provide information about different paths. 

We are keen to hear from you as we build our programme. If you have a question or a request, or if you are able to offer something more such as a work experience placement or would be willing to come into school to talk about the career area you work in, please contact us using the email address careers@dgsb.co.uk.

No careers programme would be sufficient without working with employers, and at DGSB we are keen to have as many different groups and individuals involved as possible, at both a student, subject and whole school level. 

Each year we run a number of different activities in subjects. Some have a focus on particular careers and areas of industry, with others exploring a range of employability skills that will be useful for students in all potential professions. 

If you are company, individual charity or other outside organisation that would be willing to contribute to the DGSB Futures programme in some way please let the school know:

https://forms.office.com/r/dYnkSZw7ZT.  

Staff are a vital part of the programme that we run at DGSB. We want to ensure that students are able to gather information from a wide range of different sources. One key area is ensuring that they have a member of staff in each subject area that is able to guide them in choices and potential futures. 

They are our department careers champions. 

It is vital that not only to students have encounters with employers in school but are also able to get direct experience of different workplaces. 

In Year 10 as part of the careers week all students take part in a job shadowing trip which allows them to explore a local business and understand all the different career paths that they offer as well as the paths that different workers took to get to their current role. 

In Year 12 we work with EBP Kent to ensure that all students have a week of direct work experience. Students complete choices around options they are considering with EBP Kent handling the placements alongside the required health and safety checks. This academic year this week will take place 17th July to 21st July so that all students can focus on their end of year mock exams and then be able to engage fully with their assigned. 

All students need to be able to receive independent guidance as part of their future, and to have the confidence to be able to ask questions knowing that the information they receive will be useful to their chosen path. 

At DGSB we work with EBP Kent to ensure that students receive this independent guidance, with all students in year 10 and year 12 taking part in a 40-minute one-to-one independent career interview during the academic year to ensure that they have the clearest idea of their options and future before making key decisions. 

We want to ensure that the careers programme at DGSB not only meets the statutory requirements but also provides students with as many of the opportunities as possible. 

It is also important to ensure we can measure the impact of each careers event. 

To this aim a student careers development group has been setup. This group is made up of 47 student members spread across all years in the school. They will work directly with the designated Careers Lead to help plan and review careers activities. 

Group Breakdown: