Careers Education, Information and Guidance (CEIAG) Intent:
At Ovingham Middle School, we provide all of our pupils with a carefully-planned programme of careers education from year 5 to year 8. Our careers programme ensures that pupils acquire the necessary knowledge, and have access to specific resources, so that they can not only strive for the career of their choice, but also make informed choices about their future lives.
Our core HEART values underpin all that we do. We encourage all of our pupils to aim high and strive for excellence, whilst promoting the value of teamwork and highlighting the necessity of co-operation within the workplace. Our programme is robust, develops resilience and provides pupils with a broad worldview. Honesty is key and we talk to pupils openly about certain careers from the point of view of how “futureproof” they may be. Additionally, we introduce pupils to the importance of having a healthy work/life balance and also study “Green Careers”, again, reinforcing the idea that the job title and the associated salary are not the only aspiration that pupils should nurture. Where possible, we strive to include and involve external stakeholders, including employers and further education institutions to provide a broader perspective for our pupils.
Our CEAIG Lead liaises with an external Regional Careers Coordinator, who specialises in career provision across all the middle schools within Northumberland. To ensure that pupils are ready for their next steps in education and beyond, we monitor and assess the resources and provision of our careers programme via regular external audits with the Regional Careers Coordinator using the Compass+ tracker system in accordance with Gatsby Benchmarks.
Through our work with the Regional Careers Coordinator, we have utilised an Enterprise Advisor (EA): an external business professional who has previous experience of working with schools, providing both guidance and external networking opportunities from the world of work. This has been a positive development for OMS and we have used this invaluable resource to help coordinate our first Career Fair.
The ethos within OMS is that we should remain open-minded to every and any chance to develop the career education of our pupils: recently we had an external professional visiting the school for the day at the invitation of the Modern Languages department to talk about French Crepes. While the visit was an opportunity for the children to learn some French from a native speaker and to savour some of his native fayre, it also provided children with a fascinating insight as to how a person could leave his native country, settle in the North East and develop a successful business based upon his passion for introducing the cuisine of his homeland into his adopted city.
Other high-value interactions that our children have with external professionals include:
- Author Visits organised by the English Department: as well as hearing about brand new books, children learn how aspiring writers came to be successful authors.
- Annual Career Fair with 12 external professionals visiting school.
- Sport Ambassadors and Role Models coordinated by the PE Department.
- Opportunities for girls to discover careers in Science, Mathematics and Engineering through STEM visits.
- Broadening children’s experience of Technology through Robotics visits.
CEAIG Lead:
Mr P Addyman
Tel: 01661 833215
Special Events:
Year 8 Career Fair:
Ovingham Middle School’s Second Career Fair, April 2025: 12 external professionals, representing a diverse range of careers, industries and education providers visited school to interact with the Year 8s, who were given a fact-finding sheet to maximise the learning opportunity during the afternoon.
Year 7 Local Transport Consultation:
A representative from the Local Authority visited for the afternoon in December 2024 and involved the whole year cohort in a detailed discussion and feedback session based upon their experiences and recommendations for sustainable and safe local travel.
Year 6 STEM Lego Engineering Day:
In June 2025, the Higher Education Ambassador from the North East Raising Aspiration Partnership attended school to do a practical workshop session with our current year 6 cohort – just the kind of fun learning experience that pupils really thrive upon!
Crêpier Visit, (whole school):
In July, we had a visit from a crêpe-maker from France. He talked about his varied career, got the children speaking French and informed us all about traditional French pancakes.
| We are always thinking about careers at OMS: | |
| General Provision: | ● Afternoon registration: CBBC Newsround including regular class discussion of diverse range of careers mentioned.
● National Careers Week, each year we have dedicated PSHE lessons for each year group and all staff display “My Career Path” information in their rooms. ● Following Staff Training during dedicated CPD session, all staff continue to refer to careers and career paths in all appropriate lessons. ● Careers Corner – dedicated area for careers literature and information within the school library – coming soon! ● Careers in the NHS annual presentation team with Year 8, December each year. ● Summer Fair and Christmas Fair: enterprise experience as pupils work in teams on projects that help them to generate money for school funds. Pupils have traditionally come up with a very broad range of activities, with the Summer Fair typically prioritising more outdoor-based activities. ● Northumbria Fire Service, Water Safety Awareness, annual summer visit. ● Diversity training to Year 7 and Year 8 from two external diversity role models, one of which completed a careers profile for the school. ● Author Visits: coordinated by the English Department. Authors are encouraged to talk about their path to becoming a writer, as well as discussing their latest book. ● Professional Sportsperson / Motivational Speaker: coordinated by the English Department. Recently we have had Nicola Adams, Olympic boxer speaking in KS2 and KS3 assemblies. ● Northumberland County Council, annual visit KS2 and KS3 assemblies, 22nd November 2023: “The Importance of Road Safety”.
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| Academic Year | Provision within PSHE Curriculum |
| Year 8 | 4 hours: 4 x 1 hrs.
Lesson 1: My Dream Job Lesson 2: What jobs are good for the environment? Lesson 3: What is expected in a job interview? Lesson 4: How do you build a career profile?
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| Year 7 | 4 hours: 4 x 1 hrs.
Lesson 1: Knowledge Search: what is a Curriculum Vitae? Lesson 2: Writing your own CV. Lesson 3: interactive lesson to write my own CV. Lesson 4: interactive lesson to build my career profile on-line. |
| Year 6 | 4 hours: 4 x 1 hrs.
Lesson 1: Thinking about my future. Lesson 2: Jobs Vs Career. Lesson 3: What could I be? Lesson 4: What job might I like to do? |
| Year 5 | Personal Development Programme: Friends Resilience – places a strong emphasis on team working, focus and determination to achieve goals.
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Everybody is involved in CEAIG!
Students
At Ovingham Middle School we are committed to not only providing a diverse career programme that stimulates the aspirations of all of our pupils from year 5 through to year 8, but we are actively striving to increase both the breadth and the depth of our offering to all pupils.
To this end, we aim to provide pupils with as many opportunities as possible during their time in school so that they not only develop a good understanding of what is available to them, but also where to find key information. This way, OMS pupils have the best possible chance of reaching their full potential in later life: the earlier that pupils start thinking about the options that stimulate them or allow them to perform to the best of their abilities, the more chance they have of finding a fulfilling vocation. We also strive to instil in our pupils the confidence to be able to make informed decisions, both in the present and in their future lives.
Pupils are introduced to and are encouraged to regularly use age-appropriate, career-focused web resources such as: icanbea.org.uk, icould.com, careerpilot.org.uk, BBC bitesize as well as specific government websites providing details of qualifications and apprenticeships.
Pupils will have access to a range of activities to inspire them, including employer talks and visits, as well as motivational talks and assemblies. Additionally, with the help of the Regional Careers Coordinator and our Enterprise Advisor, we are looking to expand our offering to include careers workshops and fayres, as well as a broader contact with people from outside school who have a passion for sharing details of their work with children.
We encourage children to grab every opportunity with both hands as it is never too early to start thinking about their future pathways.
Parents
As a parent, or carer, you are a key stakeholder in nurturing the career ambitions of your children: either through influence, guidance or example, the value of the input from adults at home cannot be underestimated. That is why it’s important to be prepared and feel confident when they come to you for advice. Please read all areas of this website so gain further insight into our careers provision within in school. Below follows a brief overview that you may wish to link in with your own discussions:
In year 5, pupils will study the Friends Resilience programme during their PSHE lessons. This ties in within the Careers structure because it places a strong emphasis on team working, which is obviously a key requirement for the world of work.
Parent discussion: you could talk about and provide examples of effective team work within your own workplace.
In year 6, an emphasis is placed on getting pupils to think about jobs that they had perhaps never previously heard of, or considered before. Pupils also start to think about lessons they like at school or skills that they already possess may be useful in a future career.
Parent discussion: has your child started to think about jobs they want to do? They may be interested in a more traditional career, like being a vet; conversely, the skills required to host a social media channel, (like YouTube), may prove invaluable in a non-too-distant future! Food for thought and conversation.
In Key Stage 3, pupils think more deeply about how their current skills and experiences may be useful in the future world of work. They also gain an understanding of the Curriculum Vitae and the interview process, as well as creating on-line accounts that will allow them to search for – and save – jobs of specific interest to them.
Parent discussion: what are your own experiences of writing a CV, applying for a job, changing jobs, getting a promotion? If you started looking for a job now, how/where would you look? These could be fruitful areas for discussion and you could ask your child to show you the online job resources they have been using in school.
What help can you give to pupils outside of the school environment? Young people today have more choices than they have ever had before, but they also have more factors affecting these choices, such as an increasingly competitive job market or escalating fees for higher education: all the more reason that they need good advice from those with their best interests at heart.
We encourage you to talk to your son/daughter about careers that they are interested in. Find out what they know already and encourage them to further explore the online career resources that they have been introduced to at school; introduce them to a diverse range of relatives, colleagues and family friends so that they have the widest possible exposure to positive and nurturing influencers.
Please refer to our comprehensive list of useful online resources, (detailed within this webpage), to help you to further facilitate your conversations at home. And, of course, you should always feel free to contact the CEAIG Lead within school if you have any further queries
Teachers
Included within the Staff Training CPD programme at Ovingham Middle School, a dedicated session is included that is conducted by our External Regional Careers Coordinator. During this session staff are updated on developments in career education – both locally and nationally; additionally, the importance of, (and opportunities for), discussing links with the world of work and associated vocational pathways are emphasised: every lesson, in whatever subject provides the possibility for teachers to mention future options to children.
Looking for inspiration? Please contact your CEAIG Lead within school if you need any assistance in integrating careers links into your lessons – remember it can be quite a subtle discussion; the main objective is to get our pupils thinking about their future options. One great example of this is how the English Department frequently bring visiting authors into school to read their latest books to pupils – within these sessions, the authors will always introduce themselves and provide an overview to the children of how they came to be a successful writer – surely a source of great inspiration to many of our creative and imaginative minds!
As well as showing children CBBC Newsround in afternoon registration, we will also present a daily slide providing details of careers within many diverse industries.
Employers
Through our work with the Regional Careers Coordinator, we have been assigned an Enterprise Advisor (EA): an external business professional who has previous experience of working with an individual school with the scope of providing both guidance and external networking opportunities from the world of work. The EA is currently working with the Careers Lead to facilitate the school establishing and building links with key stakeholders in the local business community, including creating the first Ovingham Middle School Careers Fair.
Could you be a part of this? Do you have experience of starting, growing and managing your own business? Or are you part of a forward-thinking, locally-based company that is keen to establish an inspirational relationship with the next generation of scientists, engineers, designers and managers?
- How might supporting a local school benefit my business?
- Can help towards fulfilling your corporate social responsibility.
- Helps to raise awareness of your industry and to inspire the next generation.
- Increases awareness of your business within the local community.
- Can help to shape the skill set of the next generation.
We are naturally very interested and open to new employers interested in coming in to support our careers programme at Ovingham Middle School. Please get in touch if you have anything to offer.
School Career Policy (including Provider Access Statement):
