Careers at AHS
At AHS, we have a comprehensive programme of careers education, advice and guidance. The school measures and assesses the impact of our careers programme on students through the Gatsby Benchmarks and Compass+ Tracker tool. Unifrog is also an important tool for students to record, track and reflect upon their own careers interactions and experiences of the workplace.
Our impartial independent Careers Adviser provides PSHE sessions about GCSE options for all form groups in Year 9, as well as delivering an assembly to Year 10 about post 16 options and offering further sessions when requested. Pupils are invited to group interviews with our Careers Adviser in Year 10 and Year 11 to discuss their next steps, and are able to request one to one meetings if required. All students also have an individual interview with a senior teacher to discuss their post 16 choices.
Students in Year 12 and 13 are given extensive guidance about their possible next steps (including university applications and other post 18 options, such as apprenticeships) by both our sixth form team and our Careers Adviser. Our Careers Adviser also attends consultation evenings for Year 9, Year 11 and Year 12; as well as the information evening on Next Steps for Year 12. Mrs Sutton, our Next Steps and Careers Lead, co-ordinates the provision of support for Sixth Form students in making university and apprenticeship applications, and is available for individual meetings to discuss options.
Throughout the year, a selection of talks on a variety of careers are offered to students. These are great opportunities for students to learn from professionals and ask questions in a wide range of fields and inspire them to their future career goals. In addition, activities take place within curriculum subjects during lessons, co-curricular activities, through trips, during assemblies and form time.
Mrs Sutton, the Next Steps and Careers Lead at Aylesbury High School, would be pleased to hear from anyone who would be prepared to come and speak to our students or may be able to offer work experience opportunities to our students. You can contact her on [email protected] or via the main school switchboard 01296 388222.
Students are also encouraged to join the Careers Google Classroom group. Here students will find out about up-and-coming career talks and information about other in-person and virtual opportunities being offered both locally and nationally.
Key documents:
Careers Policy (via the Governance and Policies section)
AHS Careers Programme (including Provider Access Information)
Key websites:
Unifrog: All AHS students are given access to this destinations platform which enables them to compare university courses, apprenticeships, and Further Education courses. As well as this, the platform has a huge range of additional resources relating to career pathways and wider information about next steps.
Bucks Skills Hub: As a Bucks School, students at AHS are encouraged to make use of The Bucks Skills Hub website which gives local career-related information, including guides to different job sectors, case studies on the world of work, how to make yourself more employable.
Gatsby Benchmarks: As a school we judge our careers programme against the GATSBY benchmarks. There are 8 requirements that every school needs to meet.
