Our offer
Our Ethos
At The Malling School, we are committed to inspiring, guiding and empowering every student to make informed decisions about their future. We strive to provide a high-quality Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme that raises aspirations, broadens horizons and equips students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to achieve their full potential. At the heart of our careers strategy is our commitment to ensuring that every student receives impartial, personalised guidance, enabling them to make well-informed choices and achieve the very best outcomes.
Our Intent
TMS Career Journey - Click to download
Our careers programme is designed to:
- Deliver high-quality, impartial CEIAG that provides students with information about the full range of education, employment and training pathways, recognising that every student's journey is unique and guidance should be personalised.
- Work closely with universities, further education colleges, apprenticeship providers, employers and other trusted partners to provide students with a broad range of meaningful careers experiences.
- Provide all students with a progressive careers programme through the curriculum, personal guidance, employer encounters, workplace experiences, events, visits and enrichment activities, in line with statutory guidance and the Gatsby Benchmarks.
- Support students at every key transition point by providing accessible careers information, advice and guidance for students, parents and carers through a variety of formats.
- Continually review and develop our careers programme using the Gatsby Benchmarks as our framework, ensuring our provision meets the needs of all learners and reflects national best practice.
Measuring the Impact of Our Careers Programme
We are committed to continually evaluating and improving our careers provision. The impact of our programme is monitored through a range of quantitative and qualitative measures, including:
- Compass+ Gatsby Benchmark evaluations to assess and review our provision against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.
- Destination data to monitor students' progression into further education, apprenticeships, employment and other sustained destinations.
- Student, parent, employer and staff feedback, gathered through surveys and evaluations following careers activities and events.
- Careers guidance evaluations to assess the quality and impact of personal guidance interviews.
- Participation and progression data, including engagement with careers activities, employer encounters, work experience and post-16 and post-18 progression.
- Future Skills Questionnaires completed by students in Years 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13, enabling us to measure the development of career readiness, aspirations and employability skills throughout their time at The Malling School.
The information gathered is used to inform future planning, identify areas for development and ensure that our careers programme continues to evolve to meet the needs of our students and the expectations of employers, education providers and statutory guidance.
Meet our link Careers Consultant from The Education People – Louise Rochford
I have worked in the Education Sector since 2012, Level 7 qualified in Careers Management since 2016. I have created, facilitated and delivered careers activities and Careers Advice to students across a diverse sector, supporting schools, colleges, PRU’s and secure education settings to deliver extensive CEIAG.
I have a strong belief that young people that are encouraged to understand their own unique set of skills, qualities and interests and to continually reflect on these to support self-discovery and aspirations, will provide a diverse and sustainable workforce for our future. I am therefore passionate about providing all young people with the tools, support and guidance during their schooling years to enable them to fulfil their potential.”
WORKING WITH:
Introducing Unifrog
In keeping with our commitment to provide students with outstanding careers guidance and tailored support when choosing their next step after school, we will now be using Unifrog; an award-winning, online careers platform. All students will have access to this excellent website.
Unifrog brings into one place every undergraduate university course, apprenticeship, and college course in the UK, as well as other opportunities, such as School Leaver Programmes, MOOCs and every college at Oxford and Cambridge. This makes it easy for students to compare and choose the best university courses, apprenticeships or further education courses for them. They can also explore exciting opportunities further afield by looking at English-taught undergraduate programmes available in Europe and the USA.
Additionally, the platform helps students successfully apply for these opportunities by using Unifrog to write their personal statement, applications and CVs and guiding them through the process, allowing teachers to give live feedback.
Students access the platform by clicking a link in their welcome email, where they create a password and can begin using the platform. They login to Unifrog using their email address and password and they can do so from any computer, tablet or smartphone. We would encourage you to use the platform with your child so you can support them through the process of deciding their next step.
The Malling School is proud to be working with The Education People’s Specialist Employment Service to embed the supported employment model, adding value across all current careers provision. The contract aims to raise aspirations for SEND students and further enhance school’s careers information advice, and guidance programme. The supported employment in school’s contract will help mainstream schools across Kent support SEND students through transition and to prepare them for the world of work and into sustainable careers.
KMPF
The Kent and Medway Progression Federation, supporting the aspirations of young people together.
The Malling School has been a KMPF Partner School since 2011, our Progression Mentor is Mrs Helen Cable.
• KMPF is a collaborative partnership of higher education providers, colleges, schools and community organisations working to make sure young people from all backgrounds can see and reach their potential
• KMPF aims to support all learners in years 7 -13 to develop the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions around progression to higher education
• Their intensive widening participation outreach programmes focus on supporting young people from underrepresented backgrounds
• KMPF is also there to provide information, advice, and guidance for anyone from Kent and Medway who needs support exploring their post-16 and post-18 education options
• They work together with our partners to evaluate the impact of the KMPF programme of activities, contributing to national policy-making in relation to widening participation for disadvantaged young people.
Year 7 and 8 Careers
During Year 7 and 8 you will spend time finding out about yourself and what you are like. You will have careers lessons in Period 1 to help you with this. By the end of Year 8 we hope you will understand the need to aim high and keep your options open. Your career choice may not stay the same as you as you go through school so we want you to know how to research and find out about a variety of jobs, not just the ones you already know about; we will show you how to do this.
There is a careers page on the school website and this has links on it to careers research and personality assessment websites – Take a look and try them! It is also important that you know who you can talk to about careers. Miss Willis is the Careers Adviser for years 7 to 11 and her office is in reception. You can see her at break or lunchtime (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday), email her directly or ask your form tutor to speak to her. Your parents can also make an appointment to see her (with you there). Her e-mail address is willisa@themallingschool.kent.sch.uk or, they can ring 01732 840995 (ext 250). Remember – aim high, reach for your potential and never give up.
Year 9 Careers
Year 9 is the year that you make your option choices about the GCSEs and BTECs that you will study. Your Period 1 careers lessons in Year 9 will prepare you for this by showing you how to identify which subjects and courses are best for you. You will also have an options evening where you can find out all about the subjects offered and how you can make good decisions. There will also be some university trips for different subjects. By the end of Year 9 we hope you will understand the benefit of keeping your options open and having a back-up plan. Your career choice may not stay the same as you as you go through school so it is good not to restrict yourself at this stage; the exams you take in Year 11 could affect what you can do after that. There is a careers page on the school website and this has links on it to careers research and personality assessment websites – have a look! It is also important that you know who you can talk to about careers. Miss Willlis is the Careers Adviser for years 7 to 11 and her office is in reception You can see her at break or lunchtime (Monday, Tuesday or Friday), email her directly or ask your form tutor to speak to her. Your parents can also make an appointment to see her (with you there). Her e-mail address is willisa@themallingschool.kent.sch.uk or, they can ring 01732 840995 (ext 250).
Year 10 Careers
During Year 10 you will find out about the different options you have once you finish Year 11. These are called post-16 options. You will be asked to make your applications to your post-16 choices early on during year 11 and so we need to make sure you start getting prepared for this in year 10. In your Period 1 careers lessons you will look again at your personal strengths, how these match careers and the goals you have set yourself. What do you need to do to achieve your goals and what are the different ways of getting there? There will be trips to university on different subjects and people to talk to you in assembly and in class about apprenticeships, college and sixth form. All of Year 10 will complete an online careers assessment to help you to match your personality traits and preferences to suitable careers. During Year 10 you will spend some time preparing a CV and developing interviewing skills. This will help to prepare for our Mock Interview Day where all of Year 10 will have the opportunity to have a ‘mock job interview’ with a real employer. Feedback will be available after the interview to help you to prepare for future interviews. By the end of Year 10 we hope you will understand the options you have and be prepared to accept responsibility for what action you must take to reach your goals. Miss Willlis is the Careers Adviser for years 7 to 11 and her office is in reception. You can see her at break or lunchtime (Monday, Tuesday or Friday), email her directly or ask your form tutor to speak to her. Your parents can also make an appointment to see her (with you there). Her e-mail address is willisa@themallingschool.kent.sch.uk or, they can ring 01732 840995 (ext 250).
Year 11 Careers
This is a very exciting time – let’s make sure you are well prepared. Year 11 is the year in which you must action the plans you have set for yourself. Are you going into the sixth form (The Malling School or a different school), moving on to college or an apprenticeship? You will be given a lot of help and guidance in your Period 1 careers lessons and there will also be assemblies on how to make applications and make sure that you have a back-up plan. By the end of Year 11 we hope you will feel confident about your next step and that it is right for you. You will understand what ‘employability skills’ are and how important these are alongside qualifications. You have access to the Careers folder on Teams where there is a huge amount of information that will help you with all things to do with careers – future applications, college, apprenticeships, all careers etc…
Miss Willlis is the Careers Adviser for years 7 to 11 and her office is in reception. You can see her break or lunchtime (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday) email her directly or ask your form tutor to speak to her. Your parents can also make an appointment to see her (with you there). Her e-mail address is willisa@themallingschool.kent.sch.uk or, they can ring 01732 840995 (ext 250).
Sixth Form Careers
In the Sixth Form you will be given help developing your career plans and carrying them through. You will have assemblies and group sessions on topics such as Student Finance, Higher Apprenticeships, Open Day planning and the UCAS process. In Year 12 you will attend the Higher Education Exhibition. We also organise annual trips to the Employability and Skills Apprenticeship Fair, ‘Meet an Employer’ days and Healthcare: The Academy at Maidstone hospital. We run a yearly ‘Employability Day’ for the whole of the sixth form where you will get the chance to meet an employer, have a mock interview, develop your CV and research your post-18 options. To help you with research we have put a ‘Sixth Form Careers’ folder resource on Teams where you will be able to access handy guides on a variety of topics including job search, applying to university, personal statements and much more. Make sure you have a look at this at it will save you a lot of time. Mrs Elexander is your dedicated, specialist careers adviser for your time in sixth form. You can pop in to see her at break or lunchtime or book a guidance interview with her. If your parents want they too can make an appointment to see Mrs Alexander (with you there) and her e-mail address is lisa.alexander@themallingschool.kent.sch.uk or telephone 01732 840995 (ext 261) Remember – aim high, reach for your potential and never give up.