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Careers education
The Dixons Cottingley Academy careers programme aims to provide all students with regular access to employers, expert guidance and workplace experiences to support students in making informed and educated decisions about their next steps. The careers programme is an integral element of the Dixons Cottingley Academy curriculum and careers information is interleaved with subject specific content.
The Academy aims to ensure that all students receive a minimum of 6 encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships and aims to host careers fairs to increase exposure and build differentiation in careers experience.
Our commitment to careers provision extends beyond the legal minimum entitlement for students and is underpinned by the Gatsby framework with a commitment to meeting all eight benchmarks.
The intended outcomes of the careers programme include, but are not limited to:
- Students will undertake various work related experiences
- Students will reflect upon and refine their aspirations
- Students will increase their knowledge of education, training and career opportunities
- Students will develop a career plan to help them achieve their sentence and realise their potential
If you have any questions about the careers programme at Dixons Cottingley Academy, please contact our careers team using the information below or by calling the academy on 01274 089900 or email info@dixonsco.com
Resources
Key Careers Staff & Contacts
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David Hutton (Assistant Principal) Dhutton@dixonsco.com | Tom Post - Director of Curriculum Phase (Y10 & Y11) Tpost@dixonsco.com |
Karen Hodgson (Careers Advisor) - KHodgson@dixonsco.com
For full details of our careers programme for the current academic year, download the 'Careers Policy' at the bottom of this page.
Additional Careers information
Independent Careers Adviser
We engage with SkillsHouse Careers & Technical Education who supply external Career Consultants to work with our students and initially explore students' current perceptions of future career supporting them through application processes and ensures they are taking the appropriate next steps into education, employment or suitable alternative using feedback from their grades and teachers: this is followed by an informative session of possible options and actions for students to undertake. Every student in Year 11 is entitled to an independent careers advice meeting. A summary of each interaction with the team at SkillsHouse Careers & Technical Education is shared with the Year 11 student on their UNIFROG account, with key next steps for the student to undertake.
Information for employers
We are always looking to invite employers from different sectors to come in and work with our students. If you are interested in hearing more about the opportunities that you could get involved in, please get in touch with our careers leader at: Dhutton@dixonsco.com
Dixons Cottingley Academy Destinations
We are committed to supporting all of our students, not only during their time with us at Dixons Cottingley, but also in their Post-16 options and beyond. We are so fortunate that many of our previous students come back to Dixons Cottingley to share their experiences of their next steps and this is an invaluable message for our current students. If you are an alumni of Dixons Cottingley Academy and would like to come back to share your story, please get in touch with Mr Hutton by email at Dhutton@dixonsco.com we would love to hear from you and arrange for you to come back and speak to our current students.
Careers Education Review:
The careers education programme at Dixons Cottingley Academy is constantly under review and refinement. A formal, annual review takes place each August when we publish the Careers policy which sets out the intended careers programme for the academic year ahead.
The next annual review is scheduled for December 2024.
Gatsby Benchmarks
Careerometer
The Careerometer is useful for students that are still unsure of their future career path. It allows them to explore and compare key information about occupations help of learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.
It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.
Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.