Parents

As a parent, you are in the best possible position to support your child as they consider their options for the future, review their progress and make choices and you have a huge amount of insight and experience to offer. Research has shown that parental engagement can have a powerful impact on young people’s information-seeking and research behaviours, career decision-making and confidence, planning, adaptability, flexibility and employability skills such as team-working and entrepreneurship.

On the other hand, we know that the choices open to your child today may be very different from when you were in their position. With that in mind, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to engage with your child about their options confidently and in the knowledge that the information you have is as up to date as possible.

The Parent Perspective Podcast - Amazing Apprenticeships is an exciting podcast series for you to help you support your child with careers advice and guidance.

General Advice

The most important thing that you can offer your child is the knowledge of where to find the right information. As a starting point, you may like to investigate career options with your child, using the SACU Test, Careerpilot and the National Careers Service. Students are told about these websites at school and more information on how to use them can be found under ‘Careers Research at Home’. Please also see ‘Useful Websites’ for descriptions of and links to information on different careers and career paths, and below for parent-specific careers links and documents.

Contacting the Careers Department

You are also encouraged to get in touch with the Careers Team directly with requests and queries, including regarding personalised careers support for your child. We welcome feedback from parents and students on any aspect of the school’s careers programme. This is valuable in helping us to shape our careers activities.

The Careers Department email address is careers@theblueschoolwells.co.uk, and can also be reached by phone through the school reception. 

In turn, we will keep in contact with details of the school’s careers provision and inform you of important developments in your child’s careers education. Updates on careers activities can also be found on the school’s social media channels. From time to time, we may also send out feedback forms and surveys as well as publicity for external career building activities parents and students may wish to take part in.

Getting Involved with the Careers Programme

We welcome active participation of parents in the school careers programme. Please get in touch with the careers department if you are able, for example, to offer a careers talk about your industry or a training route, a workplace experience, or help with mock interviews taking place in school. We look forward to hearing from you!

Useful links and resources

Helping with careers advice from Parentkind.
Advice for parents on post-16 and post-18 choices from Talking Futures.
Advice for parents from Youth Employment UK.
Advice for parents from Not Going to Uni.
Parent guidance from the Careers Writers Association.
Target Careers information for parents.
UCAS advice for parents about Higher Education.
Future Quest, information about Higher Education for parents.
A short parent’s guide to apprenticeships from the Government.
The Parent Perspective Podcast, to help parents and carers support their children in making more informed career decisions.
Parent packs from Amazing Apprenticeships.
Information about apprenticeship schemes at Hinckley Point C