Careers Education at Churston

Careers Leader:  Mrs Lorraine Barnaby BA (Hons) MCDI MInstLM

Work Experience Coordinator:  Mrs Donna Hawkins

Careers Adviser:  Kelly Cumming, FutureSmart Careers

Assistant Headteacher (Student Development): Mrs Gemma Longhurst

Careers Link Governor:  Mr Ben Williams

Email Address:  careers@churstongrammar.com

Telephone Number:  (01803) 842289

Talking Futures

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UCAS Parent, Guardian and Carer Guide

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Department for Education: Skills for Careers

We provide a progressive and well-sequenced programme of meaningful career experiences to equip our students with the skills and knowledge that they need to make informed decisions at key points in their school lives and ultimately prepare them for future educational, training and employment opportunities.

The Careers Programme is tailored to meet the needs of our students, sequenced appropriately, underpinned by learning outcomes, and linked to our School Development Plan.  The Careers Programme includes multiple experiences of workplaces and opportunities to receive independent careers guidance.  Our aim is to raise the aspirations of our students and enable them all to achieve their full potential.

Workplace experiences encourage students to explore career opportunities and expand their networks.  Real-world experiences help students to build confidence, employability skills, and a sense of purpose.  Our progressive programme aims to provide students with multiple experiences of workplaces by the age of 16 and at least one further such experience by the age of 18.

All our students have the opportunity to meet with a suitably qualified career guidance professional to receive impartial careers information, advice and guidance, including information on the range of education or training options.  These meetings are available for all students.  They are timed to meet their individual needs, and especially when significant study or career choices are being made.

Industry Talks and Guest Speaker programmes exist to ensure that our students receive at least six encounters with a provider of technical education or apprenticeships, and timed to inform students when they progress to the next stage of education or training.  All students are encouraged to attend these encounters, which take place within standard school hours.  We liaise with providers to ensure the relevance of the information delivered and students are always given the opportunity to ask the providers questions.

We engage with our alumni, parents/carers, and the wider community with the aim of bringing curriculum subjects to life so that students understand the relevance of their academic and enrichment experiences to their future success.  We welcome enquiries from anyone that would be interested in supporting our Careers Programme to enhance the experiences and aspirations of our students.

Here is a link to the most recent summary of the Annual Careers Provision at Churston Ferrers Grammar School.

Quality assurance and continuous improvement is part of our Careers Programme planning and includes regular feedback from a range of stakeholders, alongside the reviews of progression data.  Evaluation of our Careers Programme is accomplished through a variety of methods including feedback from students, parents/carers, teaching staff, employers, careers guidance professionals, and any other staff that support our students.  Adaptations and improvements to the Careers Programme are proposed and adopted, as required.

Our Careers Programme is formally reviewed using the Compass Evaluation Tool.  This review is conducted by the Careers Leader, with support from an Enterprise Coordinator (Devon, Plymouth and Torbay Careers Hub).  The Evaluation demonstrates our commitment to, and progress towards, meeting all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks.  The Evaluation results are reviewed by our Senior Leadership Team representative (Assistant Headteacher (Student Development)) and our Careers Link Governor.  You can view our most recent Compass Evaluation Result here.

Destination data is provided on the Government website.  

Our Careers Policy was updated in May 2026 and will be reviewed again in May 2029.  Our Provider Access Policy is next due for review in October 2026.  We are keen for employers to support the activities listed in our Provider Access Policy and within the Annual Careers Provision summary document.  Employers who are interested in supporting any of these activities should contact our Careers Leader to discuss the most suitable opportunities.