CEIAG

At St. Dominic’s Grammar School Careers Education Information and Guidance (CEIAG) is an integral part of the whole school curriculum. We take seriously our role in guiding and supporting our students to ensure they have the skills, qualities and qualifications needed to succeed in a rapidly changing employment landscape. CEIAG is inbuilt into the curriculum across the key stages and provision in St Dominic’s ensures that our students have access to meaningful work-related learning that offers opportunities for them to develop and apply transversal skills and personal capabilities. It is our aim to ensure that all our students are well informed about career and progression pathways.

 

We have invested heavily in our CEIAG provision to make sure our students receive the very best support. We recently launched the PeopleHawk platform which will further revolutionise our provision and develop high level links with industry. Our students also have access to the Unifrog platform.

 

At Key Stage 3 careers education is delivered through Education for Employability lessons and in Year 10 this assists the students with making informed subject choices for Key Stage 4 study. Our Year 10 pupils also receive detailed careers information from their subject teachers and Head of Departments as well as attending a Year 10 options evening where parents and pupils receive presentations from the Principal, Mrs O O’Neill, Vice Principal for Curriculum and School Improvement, Mr P McMaster, Head of School Mr D Scott and Head of Careers, Mr O Murray. At Key Stage 3 our students make extensive use of Careers software packages such as JED, Pathfinder and Careers Service NI website. We collaborate with the Careers Service to ensure that all students are offered a GCSE Transition presentation in December. The CEIAG Department collaborates with a range of external stakeholders to ensure that our students experience a wide variety of visiting speakers. By the end of Key Stage 3 each pupil has been supported to develop a Personal Career Plan.

 

At Key Stage 4 all students have discreet careers lessons which enables them to access appropriate careers advice and information. By the end of Year 12 each student has been offered an individual guidance interview with a member of the Careers Service. Throughout Key Stage 4 students receive detailed guidance and support to help them make informed choices for post-16 study. We collaborate extensively with the West Belfast Area Learning Community and as part of our strategic plan our students attend a Careers Convention where they are provided with the opportunity to meet with university staff and industry leaders to explore traditional and new career pathways.

 

At Post-16 level our students are offered an extensive and forward thinking CEIAG curriculum. Students have discreet CEIAG lessons on their timetables and they are given real life exposure to the world of world through workshops, guest speakers and work experience placements. Students have the opportunity to visit university open days and they are guided extensively through the process of university applications and interviews. We encourage our students to aim high and consider all options, including applying for universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and many in the USA.