Careers InformationAt the Charter School North Dulwich, we are committed to providing the best possible careers support for our students, families and staff. As part of this commitment, we are currently undertaking the Quality in Careers Standard, which is the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance(CEIAG) in secondary schools.
We are working towards completing the first stage of this assessment (intent) and demonstrating that we have everything in place to complete the standard. We will be submitting further evidence over the next several months and aim to be fully accredited in the near future.
An overview of our curriculum and general provision is attached below in our Careers Policy.
Should you have any questions, feedback or suggestions relating to the document below or anything else on this website, please do not hesitate to contact our Assistant Headteacher for Personal Development, Mr Somerville: asomerville@charternorthdulwich.org.uk
We encourage students to think about their future careers and employment from Year 7 all the way to Year 13. We provide an extensive programme of activities which aim raise student aspirations and to open their minds to different ideas and opportunities as they think about their futures beyond school. Our programme is structured around the following themes:
Activities include external speakers in assemblies, trips to externally organised careers/employability or university fairs, employability workshops, and visits to a wide variety of workplaces and companies.
We aim to ensure information is shared widely and use ClassCharts to communicate regularly with key year groups. We include Careers updates in the termly Newsletter and send half termly Careers updates to KS4 and 5 parents.
Please contact the following members of our team for any careers related queries.
Andrew Somerville – Assistant Headteacher, Personal Development
Email: asomerville@charternorthdulwich.org.uk
Ebony Brown – Careers & Destinations Coordinator
We subscribe to the online careers resource UNIFROG, which offers a Careers Library, information on post-16 and post-18 training and education, support in choosing options, writing CVs and applications, and a record of all the Careers interactions students have had at school. UNIFROG is regularly used in KS4 tutor times and in our PSHE curriculum for all KS3 students.
Students can log on at www.unifrog.org;
Parents and carers can use Unifrog too! Please create your own account and explore the resources by going to www.unifrog.org, choose 'been given a sign up code?' and use the code CHJHPARENTS.
Weekly Opportunities
Young people can sign up to this weekly bulletin to receive updates on local vacancy opportunities and support including part-time jobs, internships and apprenticeship opportunities, as well as CV support and virtual work experience.
Please click on the link below to access the Weekly Opportunities Bulletin:
We host a Careers Fair every year in school where students have the opportunity to meet employers and individual professionals from a wide range of employment sectors and training providers. Students can find out about apprenticeships, further and higher education, and career options.
The school also works closely with local businesses and organisations to provide mentors and work experience for students in year 10 and year 12 as they look to explore their chosen career paths further. We have excellent links with world class organisations such as PWC, Transport for London, Kings College Hospital, O2, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, JP Morgan Chase, Investment 20/20 and The National Theatre.
Each year, our Year 10 students complete a week of work experience with an employer. Students are given advice and support in school to prepare a CV and to contact employers to find a suitable placement. This helps them to learn about how to describe their skills and talents in a CV, and how to approach businesses and organisations when looking for work.
In recent years we have had students heading off to work in a wide range of interesting places from schools and hospitals, to film sets and engineering firms. Work experience is a valued part of our KS4 curriculum as it gives our young people the opportunity to find out more about the world of work and teaches them valuable skills such as communication, teamwork, timekeeping and organisation.
In Year 12, students are supported to secure a further work experience placement in the summer between Year 12 and 13.
We run 'Destinations Week' each year in the summer term for all our Year 12 students. This is a week of inspiring talks and workshops which will help students to prepare for their future destinations in further education, apprenticeships or work. We also run workshops on a variety of life skills, and offer all Year 12 students a practice interview with volunteers representing a wide range of industries and organisations.
Could you help inspire the next generation?
If you have skills or expertise which you could share with our students please contact us using the emails above. We are always looking for volunteers to speak in assemblies, deliver small group talks, host a stand at careers fairs or run practice interview sessions.
We have an Independent Careers Adviser available in school, who works closely with students in Years 11, 12 and 13, and who can also advise pupils in other year groups.
Appointments are offered to students during school hours on Mondays and Tuesdays or there are drop-in sessions between 3 and 4pm on Mondays and Tuesdays where students who have any queries can call in without an appointment.
The link governor with responsibility for the oversight of our careers guidance provision at The Charter School North Dulwich is David Malone, one of our elected parent governors. He can be contacted by emailing the clerk to the governors, Carrie Fentum, at cfentum@tcset.org.uk
Other training and education providers are very welcome to speak to our students at key transition points (Y9, Y11, Y13) so that the students are furnished with information about a full range of options available to them in the next stages of their education and/or training. If you are interested in finding out more about how you can access our students please see the Provider Access Statement below or contact our Director of Careers and Destinations, Andrew Somerville.
