Careers and Guidance

Careers Education at Hope High School

To educate, advise and inform our pupils of all pathways that will lead them to employment.

We aim to deliver a broad and balanced careers programme that raises aspirations and develops employability skills, enabling pupils to become positive members of society and our future workforce.

School’s Careers Lead

Matthew Davison is the School’s Careers Lead. He has extensive experience supporting young people with Special Educational Needs to engage with education, employment, and training as they transition from Key Stage 4 to Post-16 study. His role is to continue developing and maintaining strong links across the community to improve pupil opportunities and outcomes. He is supported by Deborah Gillies and in-school careers advisor.

Mr Davison can be contacted at davisonm@hope.lancs.sch.uk or 01695 721066.

In-School Careers Advisor

Hope High School is proud to have its own qualified Careers Advisor working directly with pupils in school. This dedicated professional provides personalised one-to-one careers guidance, helping students explore their options, make informed decisions, and plan for their futures. All pupils will get chance to work with the careers advisor each year to complete and update an action plan. This will be shared with parents and in review meetings to support target setting.

Support includes:

Individual careers interviews for Year 11 pupils and others as needed
Guidance during Annual Reviews
Help with choosing pathway subjects, finding apprenticeships, and exploring post-16 pathways
Support with work experience opportunities
Participation in key events such as Green Careers Week, National Apprenticeship Week and Careers Fairs
The careers advisor will be available during Parents’ Evenings for individual appointments if desired
Resources and advice available to students, staff, and parents/guardians

This in school provision ensures that careers advice is timely, tailored, and accessible, supporting every pupil’s unique journey.

What are the Gatsby benchmarks?

The eight Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework for good career guidance developed to support schools and based on best practice from across the world.

Careers Programme overview

Key stage 3

All subjects will highlight how the work done in class can support next steps after school including how knowledge and skills link to the world of work. Pupils will experience careers fairs in school and trips to attend external events where they can gain knowledge of the workplace. Pupils will attend workshops and assemblies about the technical routes they could take after school. All pupils will have met with the careers advisor and created an action plan outlining key information that will support them to develop towards their desired goals.

Key stage 4

All subjects will continue to highlight how the work in class can support their next steps after school particularly in their chosen pathways. Pupils will continue to attend careers fairs and external events to make links with employers and learn about employability skills. Pupils will continue to receive support in assemblies and workshops around their next steps and technical routes available to them. Pupils will have the opportunity to visit local colleges and universities to raise aspirations and make informed choices of next steps. All pupils will continue to meet with the school careers advisor to update their action plans according to current aspirations. Support will be given with application to post 16 placements in these meeting if required. All year 11 pupils will have a timetabled careers lesson each week to Explore possibilities and reflect upon own strengths, manage their career aspirations, create opportunities and be proactive in their next steps, learn about balancing life and work and see the wider world by learning about the economy, society and politics.

Student Voice and Parent Engagement in Careers Education

At Hope High School, we believe that listening to our pupils is key to delivering a meaningful and impactful careers programme. Student voice plays a vital role in shaping careers learning across the school. We regularly gather feedback through pupil surveys, focus groups, and informal conversations to understand students’ interests, aspirations, and the support they need. This feedback directly informs the planning and development of future careers activities, ensuring that our provision remains relevant, engaging, and tailored to the needs of our learners.

To keep parents and carers informed and involved, we share key information and updates through:

Open Evening events for the local colleges
Parents’ Evenings, where careers guidance is available to discuss individual pupil progress and action plans created with the career’s advisor
Access to the Unifrog platform, which pupils use in school to explore careers, record achievements, and research post-16 options. Parents and carers are encouraged to engage with Unifrog to support their child’s career journey.

We are committed to working in partnership with families to ensure every pupil is well-prepared for their next steps in education, training, or employment.