The journey from school to the workplace will take on a whole new look from this September as The Education Act 2011 comes into force and changes the way in which careers guidance is delivered. Ahead of the new term personal development curriculum specialists, Teaching-Resources-UK.com has updated its selection of careers lesson plans and supporting materials to offer a total of 96 resources developed by Advanced Skills Teachers and reviewed by Gary Forrest of Education for Employability.

Under the new government legislation, careers provision for year 9-11 pupils will undergo a dramatic overhaul with schools placed under a duty to provide independent and impartial careers guidance. While directing that schools must provide careers guidance from external sources, the Act also empowers each establishment to arrange careers education that fits the needs and individual circumstances of their pupils, working in conjunction with external and internal sources.

The careers lesson plans available from teaching-Resources-UK.com are designed to fit the bill perfectly, proving practical and impartial materials to help teachers meet their new obligations. The selection of lesson plans and topics available also help to satisfy the newly inserted Section 42A which calls upon secondary schools, head teachers and teachers to provide careers education that promotes the best interests of the pupils to whom the information is delivered. Requirement 42A also calls upon careers guidance to explore 16-18 education, apprenticeships and training options.

Rebecca Jordan, director of PDC Education which manages Teaching-Resources-UK said, “The changes to careers education in schools are wide-ranging and mean that a lot of previously used material may no longer be suitable. All of our careers lesson plans, workshops and activities comply with the 2011 Education Act, making them an invaluable resource for secondary schools and academies preparing to get to grips with the new regulations for the first time next month.”

The KS3 options in year 9 careers guidance resource is one example of a teaching topic. The section provides a total of four lessons; Options Programme to introduce GCSE subjects, Options Subjects to help students choose options, Deciding on Options which provides a timetabled space in which to explore the school’s own options booklet and the reflective Making the Choice lesson which links the option choices to target setting and year 10.

For older students, topic such as KS4 - Skills for Personal Development which is also split into four lessons are invaluable. This section of lessons helps pupils to develop their research skills, identify their strengths and opportunities for development.

With other sessions on workplace skills, labour market information, gap years and action planning, the careers education lesson plans help to give students the knowledge and capability to develop their own personal well-being and financial well being.

The new careers lesson plans and all supporting materials can be downloaded from www.teaching-resources-uk.com.  

About Teaching-Resources-UK.com: Teaching-resources-uk.com is managed by PDC Education. PDC Education offers secondary schools the chance to enrich their timetable and planning by providing them with a solution to the Personal Development curriculum. Its suite of online teaching resources, form time activities and assemblies cover careers, citizenship, enterprise, PSHE and work-related learning.  Its resources bring specialist knowledge into the classroom – meaning that teachers don’t have to claim to be experts in potentially difficult areas of the personal development curriculum. Many of the resources have been created by teachers with Advanced Skills (AST’s), and have been tried and tested successfully in classrooms across the UK.

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