NPCAT Industry Partnership Board

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Foreword

from NPCAT Head of Careers and Employability

The launch of the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (NPCAT) Industry Partnership Board is a strong signal that we are determined to purposefully engage with sector leaders and business partners to gain a meaningful insight into planning and developing a cutting-edge curriculum that ensures we are proactively preparing pupils for a world beyond expectation. This approach is challenging yet highly ambitious. It harnesses great minds from across the commercial and educational sectors to input into the evaluation of provision and future proofs curriculum developments. Ultimately meeting our vision of “Forming lives ready to face the future”. Lisa Lindo NPCAT Head of Careers and Employability

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Introduction NPCAT is one of the largest Multi Academy Trusts in the UK with 15,000 pupils and over 2,500 employees.

NPCAT offers a trust-wide Careers Advice, Guidance and Employability Model - NPCAT FUTUREPROOF. NPCAT engages meaningfully with all stakeholders, employers and industry partners. Our Trust has appointed a head of careers to lead its rich provision of careers advisors and PSHE careers delivery across all six secondary schools and sixth forms: All Saints Catholic Secondary School, York All Saints Catholic Sixth Form, York Sacred Heart Catholic Secondary School, Redcar St Francis Xavier Secondary School, Richmond St Patrick’s Catholic College, Thornaby St Peter’s Catholic College, South Bank Trinity Catholic College, Middlesbrough T6 - Trinity Catholic College Sixth Form, Middlesbrough NPCAT works closely with industry partners and has developed FUTUREPROOF Strategic Partners. We have a deep appreciation of the perceptions and experiences of businesses when working with schools to inform educational practices. The board focuses on how businesses and industry can influence

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the design and delivery of our curriculum, provide work experience and raise awareness of employability and careers for our young people. NPCAT’s adopted position: awareness and understanding of the world of work is integral to the delivery of education. This is best achieved through businesses and schools working in partnership. We are aware of the benefits to industry of working with schools. These include helping close the gap between employers needs and education provision, ensuring enough young people are aware of opportunities within sectors, improve recruitment and inform social responsibility. We identify key areas in which businesses currently work with schools: > Enriching and enhancing the delivery of education including building the world of work in general into education > Planning and providing work experience opportunities > Providing careers information and raising the profile of careers in particular sectors We believe successful partnerships between businesses and schools happens at a local level.

NPCAT FUTUREPROOF Industry Partnership Aims Build partnerships at a local level to: > Enhance and enrich the delivery of education through a range of planned activities > Ensure businesses input directly into the development of skills through relevant experience and challenge in a range of appropriate settings > Increase the flexibility of the timing of work experience opportunities so that quality placements are arranged throughout the school year and are integrated throughout education > Provide up to date information about careers across sectors and raise the profile of careers education for every pupil in primary, secondary and post 16 institutions

To enable this to happen: NPCAT FUTUREPROOF works with industry partners and businesses to make everyone aware of the relevance of business engagement and enhances and enriches the delivery of education.

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Business engagement with NPCAT schools NPCAT is invested in the need for meaningful engagement with industry and businesses, we ensure that our schools engage at a number of levels. In general, businesses can be regarded as: > Consumers when they hire young people who leave school or college > Stakeholders when they provide leadership through their involvement in the design, development, management, delivery and assessment of learning > Strategic partners when there is sustained interaction between a business and NPCAT Engagement between NPCAT schools and businesses takes different forms accounting for a variety of structures: > One to one relationships between a business and a school > One to many relationships between multiple businesses and a single school or vice versa For our pupils to have the essential insight we have a strong network of industry partners

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Partnership between an individual business and an individual school or several schools These types of partnerships are based on a formalised relationship between a business and NPCAT, with named points of contact. Through this relationship NPCAT ensures roles and responsibilities of each party are clearly outlined and a planned cycle or timetable of activity is agreed. This enables both the businesses and our schools to build in the time and resources fully to ensure that all activity adds value for the pupils, the business and the school. The level of activity is dependent on the time and resources all parties have to offer the partnership. Examples of work in this scenario include a careers talk, providing a work experience placement or assisting with an NPCAT FUTUREPROOF careers event, access to NPCAT’s virtual reality suite and input into the NPCAT FUTUREPROOF learning platform. Businesses have identified school partnerships as being helpful and

supportive in enabling businesses and schools to work together. NPCAT provides a service to link our schools and businesses for a variety of activities such as work experience placements, enterprise and careers talks and mock interview sessions. One example of this is NPCAT FUTUREPROOF brokerage of a variety of activities for businesses to work with our schools and colleges. Activities include: > ‘Dragons Den’ events where pupils work on a project to start up a business, work in teams and present to the Dragons (businesses) > Interview days where the pupils apply for jobs, produce personal statements, dress for interviews with businesses carrying out the interviews > Sector workshops > Employability skills workshops

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Industry Partnership Board Through our trust employability and careers model - NPCAT FUTUREPROOF - we appreciate businesses have a need for specific skills, experience and attributes which are vital for young people as they set out to explore the world of work. We have summarised these into five broad areas:

1 Employability skills

Softer skills such as problem solving, team working and interpersonal skills

2 Attributes and qualities

Young people should: • Have a basic understanding of what it means to work and know the basic etiquette • Know how to present themselves at work, how to prepare and present themselves for interviews, know to turn up on time • Have enthusiasm and drive

3 Work experience

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Some form of work experience or direct employer engagement This could include work experience while at school or sixth form college

4 Knowledge base/ qualifications

Young people should have: • An appreciation of the need for qualifications as a minimum in their preferred sector • The applied skills from these areas, not just the theoretical knowledge, the delivery of the subjects should bring them “to life” and show what is learned in the classroom, for example English, Maths and Science applies in a variety of work contexts • An understanding of the full range of post-16 qualifications, eg. T-Levels, A-Levels, apprenticeships, B-Techs and other level 3 courses

5 Careers information

Young people should have a realistic understanding of the career options and opportunities open to them. This includes ensuring young people are aware of the opportunities available to them, including apprenticeships, and have access to up to date information on careers; enabling teachers to gain up to date knowledge and experience of the world of work through careers advisors placements or CPD opportunities

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Industry Partnership Advisory Board NPCAT FUTUREPROOF acknowledges our partners’ needs. We ensure our careers advisors, PSHE team, trust curriculum directors and all those supporting the programme understand the key messages and adapt and reflect this in the provision across the trust. The challenge is to ensure all professionals have a voice in the discussions and a role in actioning how these improvements are realised. NPCAT’s FUTUREPROOF Industry Partnership Advisory Board is best placed to ensure these and other areas can be improved through meaningful engagement between business and school teams. Together, building the world of work into the delivery of education and through a vast range of meaningful experiences, sequenced and planned against clear outcomes.

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4 Through collaboration we can build effective foundations

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Business Requirements We aim to meet our business’ needs providing our young people with the foundations to enable them to move into employment and further / higher education. This foundation must include: > Relevant qualifications in English, Maths and Science as a minimum > Basic understanding of the world of work – interview skills, personal presentation, team working, problem solving > Quality work experience opportunities > Realistic careers information to reflect the opportunities that are available and identifying employment as a viable option alongside further education Through collaboration we build effective foundations and we have summarised these in the following table: Schools Provide foundation knowledge which includes the areas listed below.

Industry Partner Partnership role to work with schools to enable them to deliver foundation knowledge.

English, Maths, Science and IT - young people need to be able to apply these skills.

Bringing these subjects to life through involvement in lessons, talks with pupils, site visits to businesses, providing materials to support the curriculum.

An understanding of the world of work – interview skills, how to present oneself for work, team working, problem solving.

Working with schools to support the development of these skills through a range of mock interview sessions, enterprise sessions and working with pupils on projects.

Accessing quality work experience opportunities.

Providing quality work experience opportunities which benefit the pupils and suit their interests.

Access to careers information, opportunities and options - employment as a viable option alongside further education.

Providing careers information and raising the profiles of careers through sector days, careers talks, careers events and careers fairs.

Releasing careers advisors for CPD.

Offering careers advisors placements, advisor sessions and CPD opportunities.

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Benefits

for industry partners and NPCAT schools Where businesses and NPCAT schools work together we find many mutual benefits depending on the level of engagement. A summary of the benefits businesses identify of their engagement with NPCAT schools is provided below.

Benefits for young people and education

> Ensuring a flow of young people into an industry or sector: making sure enough young people are thinking of careers in particular companies or industries / sectors > Recognising that young people can bring flexibility and new ideas to a company > Help close the gap between businesses needs and provision, by influencing the curriculum, helping set standards and ensuring that young people are better prepared for employment > Affording opportunities for talented young people to be retained within the community

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Benefits for business

> Improved recruitment: greater productivity, lower turnover, reduced training and supervision cost as the result of better matches between recruits and the needs of businesses

> Social mobility: engaging young people from a range of different backgrounds who may not have considered a job in their sector before; engaging disadvantaged young people

> Involvement of existing employees in the mentoring and supervision of work placements or going into schools, improves staff morale and encourages their own development and learning. It is rewarding for staff to be involved in the development of young people and helps improve their confidence and management skills (employee development and engagement)

> Diversity and inclusion: targeting local schools in order to change the demographics of the workforce to reflect local communities > Raising awareness and building reputation: raising the profile of organisations is an important reason for offering work experience placements; raising the profile of a specific sector or profession within the community

> Community engagement: raising the community profile of a business within schools can demonstrate that the business is socially responsible

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Benefits for NPCAT pupils

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Improvement in school performance Businesses highlight the role of business engagement in improving school performance through academic achievement, attainment and engagement of young people. We have many examples of individual young people who are “switched on” to learning through various activities with businesses. This includes young people who realise the relevance of what they are learning in the classroom through working with businesses on projects, and regular work experience providing the routine that young people need to engage them with learning.

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Employment prospects of pupils NPCAT acknowledges engagement with businesses improves the prospects of young people when seeking employment.

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Enrichment and enhancement of the delivery of education NPCAT is determined to have our school curriculum delivery enriched by business engagement in a number of ways. This includes: > Bringing learning to life by engaging with target classes, letting pupils see the relationship a particular subject has with a particular sector of industry in a variety of contexts > Providing materials and resources to enhance the quality of experience for pupils in the classroom and thus remove any notion of being “so far removed”, providing additional assistance for teachers to deliver an industry relevant curriculum > Working with pupils to develop their work skills such as preparation for interviews, mock interview sessions, enterprise days Most often, businesses are involved in a “package” of these activities working with our schools through our FUTUREPROOF partnership. Some businesses carry out discrete activities. We aspire to have businesses purposefully engaged in designing our curriculum and wider enrichment offer.

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Benefits for NPCAT schools

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Providing quality work experience opportunities The majority of businesses involved in the strategic partnership are involved in providing work experience placements and opportunities for young people. In the main, this supports NPCAT schools in offering work experience placements for our young people at ages 14-16 and 16-18. Businesses acknowledge that work experience is important as it helps young people start to make some informed “next step” career choices. Undertaking work experience exposes possible job opportunities and apprenticeships that are on offer in a sector. Apprenticeships are a valuable and viable choice for the future of our young people and this can be enhanced through work experience.

The importance of quality in work experience The essential elements of successful work experience. A quality work experience should encompass the following essential elements:

Essential element

Description

Structured and planned

The business and school plan a structured programme with agreed outcomes that meet the young person’s individual needs

Career opportunities

Show the young person what it is like to work, as well as showing them the different career opportunities a company can offer

Same expectations

All parties (young person, school, business) have the same expectations (roles and responsibilities, shared understanding of the plan of activities and outcomes)

Tangible outcome

There is a tangible outcome e.g. the solution to a business issue identified through a project; confirmation from the pupil that they do want to follow a career in the industry

Mentoring

Employees are prepared and willing to support the young person during their time in the workplace

Evaluation

The experience is evaluated by all parties (young person, Careers Advisors, parents/carers, business) to ensure outcomes have been met

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Providing careers information and raising the profile of careers in a sector The NPCAT FUTUREPROOF careers guidance model is system-leading and deeply valued by industry partners, pupils and parents/carers. It provides up to date careers information to pupils ensuring careers in all sectors are perceived positively by our young people.

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Advisor placements NPCAT industry partners identify that schools recognise the need for good quality careers information and the need to keep their knowledge and experience up to date. A number of the businesses work with our careers division to offer advisor placements or continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities to enable this to happen. Some businesses have provided work placements for advisors from NPCAT to support them to get up to date with industry. Others have organised visits to their offices or sites for teachers to see work in practice. Some businesses also highlighted their interest in brokering opportunities for joint leadership development programmes.

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The NPCAT FUTUREPROOF offer

School Leaders

Teachers

Careers Advisors

Industry Partnership Advisory Board Pupils

Employers

Parents/Carers

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The Offer

> Dedicated link careers advisors > Dedicated calendar of activities > Input into NPCAT Skills Academy > Access to NPCAT Virtual Reality suite for business development and training > Dedicated career days > Direct input into curriculum evaluation and impact assessment > Access to over 15,000 pupils > Brand awareness across all NPCAT media outlets > Brand awareness across Teesside, North Yorkshire and the City of York > Work placement opportunities > Annual input into careers conference > Sixth form partnership programmes

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Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, Postgate House, Saltersgill Avenue, Middlesbrough, TS4 3JP 01642 529200 | npcat.org.uk | [email protected] CEO: Hugh Hegarty

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