Woodbrook Vale School is committed to providing a planned programme of Career Education Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) to all its students from Year 7 onwards. 

We have a Careers Advisor who is employed by our school, so a specialist service for Career Guidance & Careers Education can be accessed at any time by our students.

All careers activities are arranged in line with the school’s safeguarding policy which can be found in the ‘Policies’ section of school website here.

Our Careers Library is stocked with the most current resources including the latest further education prospectuses. On our website you will find lots of useful and informative links relating to Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance.   

We produce a weekly newsletter focused on careers with opportunities, information and initiatives for our students. The archive of newsletters can be found on the school website using this link - 

A specialist piece of careers software called unifrog is available to all students using the link below. The software allows students to explore different careers and investigate potential college or university courses, apprenticeships, build their personal statement and C.V.  Parents can have their own logins to unifrog to support their children with their career planning.

If you have forgotten your password then use the ‘Forgotten your details?’ link on the unfrog homepage or email Mrs McSwiney for more info.

Any queries then please see Mrs McSwiney (Careers Leader) or Mr Hynes (Deputy Headteacher).

Careerometer: A tool to compare jobs

Use the Careerometer to compare different jobs — salary, working hours, etc.

Click the dotted square. Type in the first career that you think you might be interested in and select from the drop-down list, then add your second and third choice to see the comparison

Provider Access

Each student through their time at Woodbrook Vale School has access to:

• Independent and impartial career guidance
• Help centred around their individual needs
• Access to a qualified Career Guidance Practitioner 
• A structured, broad, balanced CEIAG programme in Years 7-11 that is integrated into the curriculum within the school
• Information to allow the student to make well informed choices and decisions

We provide opportunities for students to attend various events throughout the year which helps to enhance our CEIAG programme. We also provide career specific assemblies, presentations, visits and taster days for our students.

If you are an education or training provider who would like to share your opportunities with our students then please contact Mr P Hynes (phynes@wbvs.co.uk) in the first instance. We will ensure that your request is appropriate for our students and then can arrange a suitable session that may be part of a dedicated careers (Personal Development) lesson, an assembly or an existing calendared school event. There are a variety of spaces that can be used for such sessions that include classrooms, the lecture theatre, the drama studio or the dining hall. We have the full range of audio-visual facilities and wireless Internet access available in all school spaces.

EMPLOYER AREA

Local businesses – we need your expertise!

At Woodbrook Vale we are busy growing your employees of the future.  We need your help to raise their career aspirations, develop their employability skills and learn more about the exciting industries in Leicester and Leicestershire.

If you want to inspire our students, we are open for business! We welcome opportunities to strengthen our business support network with employers like you. Helping to inspire young minds and transform attitudes through a range of activities and opportunities is the foundation of an excellent careers programme as set out by the Gatsby Foundation’s eight Benchmarks of good practice and the Careers and Enterprise Company.

Woodbrook Vale is pro-active in connecting with the business community across the county and has the support of the Leicester and Leicestershire Careers Partnership to drive the connection between careers education and the business sector.

Ways to get involved:

• Be part of our Mock Interviews with Year 10 or 11 students and help them structure their CVs.
• Get involved in extracurricular clubs and activities.
• Give an inspiring talk based on your industry or job role.
• Provide a coaching/mentoring service through a structured programme.
• Run a hands-on workshop with activities relating to your area of expertise.
• Be part of our discussions about pathways after school, e.g., apprenticeships.
• Help champion specific issues and challenge barriers in the workplace around gender stereotyping, disability, etc.
• Help bring a subject lesson to life by linking it to your industry.
• Offer a work experience placement for students at your business premises.
• Become an ambassador supporting employment routes for young people with special educational needs and disabilities and offer a work experience placement that is co-supported by the school.
• Provide a Supported Internship opportunity.

What to expect

By getting involved you will not only be supporting future workforce development and helping to broaden the minds of the young people but you will also be developing new skills for your staff, forging community links and building a positive profile for your company.

We will support you throughout your visit to us to ensure we maximise the use of your valuable time.  Our Careers Leader is Margot Mcswiney and you can contact her by email - mmcswiney@wbvs.co.uk or telephone 01509 557560

Our Careers Leader will:

• Be your main point of contact for all enquiries.
• Organise pre-meets/discussions/information for activities you sing up to.
• Provide you details of the local arrangements including parking, facilities and our safeguarding policy.
• Conduct a short evaluation with you to ensure we are getting things right.
• With your permission, add you to our network and keep you up to date with future activities.

Careers Strategy

The school’s careers strategy can be found below.

There are 8 Gatsby Benchmarks which are the key areas for supporting students in terms of the careers education in schools. Further information about the Gatsby Benchmarks can be found here

Destinations Data 

Please use the link below to see the table for our destinations data.