Careers guidance and inspiration at MCA May 2014 ““The great myth of the old education debate was that schools were only interested in education for education’s sake and businesses were only thinking about young people as the future labour force. …..business and education are looking for the same thing – a young person who can navigate their way in the 21st century” [ Neil Carberry CBI]
“Students in England perform significantly above the OECD average in
Background The Challenge: The Education Act 2011 places schools and academies under a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance for their pupils from September 2012. While complying with the requirement to secure careers guidance from an external source, schools will be free to make arrangements for careers guidance that fit the needs and circumstances of their pupils, and will be expected to work, as appropriate, in partnership with external and expert providers. The chief schools inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has said he wants to see schools providing "destination data" on their pupils, to help Ofsted judge the effectiveness of each school's careers education.
problem solving (scoring 517 points compared to an OECD average of 500). England ranks above the topperforming European countries.”
“A competitive science, technology, engineering and maths skills base is vital to our future as a knowledge-intensive economy. As the economy rebalances towards manufacturing, investment and exports, major growth sectors require these skills, and they must be confident that the UK’s supply can grow with their businesses in the years ahead. We need to build wider gateways in to STEM careers through vocational routes”
{OECD Survey]
[Katja Hall CBI]
“There is a challenge to us : to schools, to government; to careers professionals and to employers , to respond to the world as it changes, to find new ways of working together. And above all to inspire, to motivate, to encourage and to strengthen people to meet their full potential”
The charity Edge, set up to campaign for academic and vocational education to be put on an equal footing, revealed that nearly one in four students had been put off following a vocational route because they were told by teachers they were "too clever".England’s good showing in the recent OECD study, according to researchers is likely to be down to teachers regularly giving pupils reallife problems to solve - such as finding out the most convenient meeting place for three friends from different places in terms of miles.
MCA students at The European Space Agency
What is careers guidance? [ HM Government Inspiration Vision Statement Sept 2013]
Careers guidance refers to services and activities, intended to assist individuals of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make education, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers.
The activities may take place on an individual or group basis and may be face-toface or at a distance (including help lines and web based services). They include careers information provision, assessment and self-assessment tools, counselling interviews, careers education programmes, taster programmes, work search programmes and transition services. “74% of schools and colleges believe their students are well prepared for the world of work , but only 35% of employers agree” [ McKinsey Study] BT Openreach apprentices have visited MCA for two consecutive years to work with Year 7 students. The apprentices
set up a telephone exchange and demonstrate the practical applications of electricity and circuits. MCA students learn about current and voltage and setting up and measuring circuits Through this project students experience all aspects of an Openreach engineer’s job and find out the qualifications and knowledge required for this career path.
Silchester Drive | Harpurhey | Manchester | M40 8NT manchestercommunicationacademy.com admin@mca.manchester.sch.uk | 0161 202 0161
The Solution HMG Paints Ltd and Manchester Communication Academy have worked together to create a pioneering project to encourage the entrepreneurial ambitions of the students of Harpurhey, Manchester. The project sees eight students from Manchester Communication Academy aged between 15 and 16 visiting HMG Paints on a weekly basis to receive hands on experience of working within the coatings industry, learning about the manufacturing process, sales, research and development, and marketing. The aim of the partnership will not only be to develop eight talented individuals from the local area, but also lead to future career opportunities within the company, focussing on new technologies.
We have already defined the outcomes that we want for young people at the academy and despite the pressures of league tables we believe that we should make the brave decisions to secure long term outcomes for our students.
They will be the CIAG “expert “ in each house and curriculum area, will broker partnership activity, attend subject specific careers and advice events and and liaise with parents and other staff.
Our ambition is to raise attainment for every student as far as their abilities permit and to ensure that everyone leaves the academy with the basics of literacy and numeracy required for success in life.
Our planning takes account of the local labour market intelligence with regard to employmentopportunities and our focus on STEM subjects reflects the needs of the national and global economy, and the requirements of our sponsor BT.
In addition we will ensure that our students achieve a social literacy that equips them with a set of behaviours and attitudes which play a critical role in personal effectiveness. These include qualities such as determination, optimism and emotional intelligence as well as the key skills of communication, team work and enterprise.
MCA also provides a range of wider career activities for young people which are completely inclusive and which includes engagement with local employers who are providing workplace visits, work shadowing, work experience placements, internships and apprenticeship opportunities; a Friday morning option programme focused on product design Higher aspirations alone are not enough – and STEM careers supported by business young people need to be able to navigate the partners and undergraduate mentors from paths to their goals. Our careers guidance proSalford University; the provision of industry gramme must take account of this to ensure standard software from organisations such as that students’ ambitions are realistic and realisVEX and Autodesk; and opportunities to acable. quire a range of professional qualifications Careers Guidance at MCA linked to specific sectors of the economy We maintain a broad and balanced curriculum embeds core subjects which provide the essential scaffolding for gaining other knowledge and skills in the workplace and in education. A choice of enabling subjects will equip a young person to move on to university, apprenticeships or further training - whatever the mix all routes identified through the Pathways planning will be rigorous and stretching. Approximately 20% of our staff have recent and relevant experience in other areas of employment or training including engineering, joinery, local government, sales and retail, business and finance, law, the prison service, sport and leisure, and hospitality and catering.