Sponne School is committed to providing a stable careers programme that is embedded in our PSHE curriculum and tutorial programme.The Careers programme has been developed with consideration of the CDI (Career Development Institute) framework and the Gatsby Benchmarks. We have a named Careers lead (Lisa Bhakta- Assistant Headteacher) who is a member of the senior leadership team and our Learning Leader for PSHE (Mrs A Warner - Level 6 Career Development Professional) has responsibility for the planning and delivery of the careers provision across the school. We work with external providers such as Prospects for independent careers advice and guidance and 1-1 interviews and students are given the academic and pastoral support needed for them to reach their full potential.
Work experience is an established part of our offer for our year 10 students and students have another opportunity for work placements during year 12. We work with organisations such as SEMLEP (https://www.semlep.com/), ASK Apprenticeships, Ahead Partnerships and businesses from the local area to support careers events as well as MEPC from Silverstone Technology Park who deliver STEAM activities for students. Student voice is a key component to reviewing our provision and this allows pupils the opportunities to become central to developing our CEIAG programme.
In March 2024 we achieved our revalidation of the Quality in Careers Standard which fully incorporates the Gatsby Benchmarks. The Assessors report recognising that “CEIAG continues to have a prominent position and the organisation of a stable, coherent careers programme is having a positive impact on learners. The impact includes excellent learner destinations, learners’ satisfaction with the programme and a good retention rate in KS5 and beyond. In addition, the Assessor noted that all learners had high aspirations and were enthusiastic about their future careers.”
The school is also supported by John Allen, our Enterprise Advisor, who helps us to make connections with businesses in our local communities.
Enterprise Advisors
John AllenJohn Allen
John Allen is an ex Sponne School pupil. “My interest in becoming an Enterprise Adviser began when I was invited to attend a couple of student workshops at Sponne and as an ex pupil I felt I wanted to give something back to the school.
I have a varied employment history which has exposed me to a wide range of sectors and business types. I have operated at all levels and now run my own successful company which continues to grow. Working with the careers lead I will be using my business contact to engage with the students to ensure they gain the widest exposure to the opportunities available to them when they leave secondary education.”
Sponne School is part of the South East Midlands Career Hub which aims to support schools, parents and employers to connect and promote opportunities for students. As part of this they have created an Opportunities Padlet which we hope you will find useful.
Careers Policy
Click HERE to view the careers policy
