Aspiration
Opportunity
Achievement
CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) is designed to prepare students for life by providing the knowledge, understanding, confidence and skills that they need to make informed choices and plans for their future learning and career.
ASPIRATION – At Critchill School we have a diverse, engaging and aspirational CEIAG curriculum. It has been explicitly devised to ensure that pupils can make informed choices about their future whilst also developing the skills and capabilities that they will need for employment and to thrive in all areas of their lives.
OPPORTUNITY – Our CEIAG curriculum provides pupils with a range of age appropriate opportunities, focused on our key priority learning areas. These have been carefully designed to ensure that all pupils develop a broad range of skills which will prepare them for adulthood, the world of work and contributing positively to their community. CEIAG delivery begins in EYFS and themes are revisited and advanced in order to allow for mastery and growth. Activities, learning opportunities and learning intentions recorded in this document should be used as a guide. Staff should ensure that CEIAG learning intentions compliment a pupil’s PLIMs & are profoundly personalised to ensure that we ‘address each pupil’s needs at their point of learning.’ Opportunities & experiences may include: encounters with a range of employers, exploring a range of job roles, challenging stereotypes, reflecting on their individual abilities and planning next steps.
ACHIEVEMENT – Through our CEIAG curriculum we support our pupils to achieve their full potential and be the best that they can be. We measure success holistically, we recognise that it will be different for each pupil and that it can be measured in a number of ways including personal wellbeing, community engagement and sustainable employment.
The school already works with many local businesses to ensure that the curriculum offers lots of opportunities for students to explore the opportunities available to them when they're ready to move on to work or further education. Achieving QCS would further embed preparations for adulthood into every student's life at school. If you are interested to work with us to further extend the range of experiences available to our young people please contact the school.
Commitment to Quality in Careers Standard
I am pleased to inform you that towards the end of the 2025/2026 academic year, Critchill School enrolled onto the Quality in Careers Standard award. We previously gained this award in 2022 which lasted 3 years.
The Quality in Careers Standard is a highly regarded award which is recognised nationally. It serves as a premier benchmark for excellence in career programmes across the United Kingdom. It will require us to go through an independent evaluation by specialist external assessors from licensed bodies.
Everyone at Critchill is thrilled and excited to be re-evaluated for the award and are working extremely hard to ensure we fulfil all requirements to achieve the award.
If you have any questions regarding the award and process involved, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Many Thanks,
Emily Sheppard
Assistant Headteacher/ Working Futures Lead
Good career guidance ensures that all young people, whatever their needs, background or ambitions, know the options open to them and can make the informed choices needed to fulfil their potential. This is particularly important for the more than one million young people in England recognised as having SEND. Far too often, these young people can be held back by negative stereotypes and assumptions about their limitations.
The Gatsby Benchmarks define what world-class career guidance looks like. During Gatsby’s pilot of the Benchmarks, experienced SEND practitioners and national advocates were brought together to form a SEND working group. Drawing on their expertise of developing careers programmes in different settings, in both special and mainstream schools and colleges, they gave the clear message that it would not be appropriate to define a separate set of Benchmarks for students with SEND.
Critchill School is committed to increasing the possibility and probability of paid work for young people with learning difficulties.
Please click here to see the Gatsby Benchmark Evidence