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Improving our North East Ambition – in conversation with Marie Jobson, Churchill Community College

Thanks to Marie Jobson, Careers Leader at Churchill Community College, for providing this blog post about the launch of North East Ambition on Friday 14 July:

Friday was an amazing day. It feels as though all the elements are coming together to really drive careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) forward nationally with the Good Career Guidance Benchmarks at the heart of real change. It was fantastic to see the range and number of delegates who attended the launch of #NorthEastAmbition.

It was a privilege to share our learning and experience as a school to encourage and support other schools wherever they are with their own CEIAG planning. There was a real sense of buy-in from schools, colleges, employers and of course the North East LEP to secure good career guidance for each and every young person in the North East. It was critical to hear from CCC Executive Headteacher, David Baldwin, that “It is not about money, it is about vision and ambition”. He also highlighted that the Benchmarks framework can drive that ambition in schools and colleges.

I cannot wait to start phase two of the Benchmark journey. This will involve working with schools regionally and nationally on how we can continue to improve CEIAG provision at Churchill and how we can support others.  The latest CBI report on skills reflects green shoots in how young people are being prepared for the job market and reaffirms the need for business and education to work together to ensure young people are best prepared to fulfil their own ambitions and add to the planned growth for the region. Catherine Boland of printed.com also highlighted this at the event and underlined the need for education and business to learn each others’ language and priorities to drive forward change. As a school CEIAG lead I feel that the support of employers in the region is overwhelming and has been crucial to our success within the pilot and will be pivotal to #NorthEastAmbition

It was a proud and sobering moment to hear from young people at Churchill about how critical this work is for each and every young person. Their views on the Benchmarks and on careers education remind us all about why CEIAG has to be at the heart of each school and college.

Students from Churchill Community College give their view on careers education