Education products

The following range of products are useful tools for those involved in careers education and the co-ordination of work-related learning or work experience for young people.

Business Activity Days

Our programmes can be delivered with the help of professionals from the business community and adapted to have a particular focus. Programmes consist of a range of interactive activities designed to provide insight into the world of work and business and develop valuable skills that young people will need for career progression. For more information click here.

Business Mentoring

Our mentoring programmes can be tailored to support the development of your staff or your students. We will help you source business volunteers, implement a suitable programme, train a school project co-ordinator, deliver mentor and mentee training and provide ongoing support to ensure the success of the programme. For more information click here.

Centigrade

Lower Sixth (year 12) students can take a Centigrade test which matches their interests, abilities and personal qualities with appropriate courses available in Higher Education. This provides each student with a profile of the course areas most appropriate to research and lists the universities and establishments registering suitable courses. It is only the beginning though! Our team would administer this if necessary and work with students to interpret the profile helping them plan further research action.  For more information click here.

Enhancing Employability

Employers increasingly comment upon the ‘lack of work readiness’ and ‘soft skills’ of school and college leavers.  HCS can help you to prepare your young people to make the most of their skills with a number of programmes that can be tailored to support you existing provision and develop the key skills of

• Teambuilding
• Communication
• Problem solving

Programmes can be structured to form part of your alternative curriculum provision or as part of preparation for work experience. For more information click here.

Information, Advice and Guidance

HCS guidance practitioners are fully qualified, experienced professionals who are able to address the specific needs of all your students and work flexibly including text and e-mail support as necessary to accommodate the curriculum and other demands of your school. Our areas of speciality include:

• Options for students in the 6th form
• Option choice at key stage 3 and 4
• Web based guidance packages
• Entry requirements and applications
• Psychometric testing
• Working with parents and carers
• 1:1 careers advice and guidance
• Small workshop groups
• Job hunting clinics

Local Authority schools receive a high quality service from Connexions for holistic information, advice and guidance (IAG). Much of this service is targeted as specific groups as agreed in Partnership Agreements made with Connexions Local Service Managers (LSMs). Unfortunately the funding for Connexions is limited. HCS is able to offer additional costed services but we recommend that you first talk to your Connexions LSM to see whether they are able to find additional resources to support your requirements. For more information click here.

Life Skills Programmes

Our qualified Life Skills coaches can prepare a bespoke programme for you that will help young people toembrace the opportunities that are open to them. We run confidence and self-esteem building programmes that will enable young people to acceptand celebrate their individuality, take responsibility for their future and to understand the power of positive thinking in both theiracademic and personal lives.

Morrisby Profile Testing

HCS consultants are qualified to administer, interpret and feedback on this bank of tests. These are a series of individual tests which help to assess aptitude and work-related personality.  The results provide a valuable insight into student’s ability patterns and the sort of work environment which potentially would suit them best. For more information click here.

Professional development Placements

HCS offers an extensive range of opportunities for teaching and support staff to access placements in the business world. Placements support the development of materials to enhance curriculum delivery, ensure skills and knowledge is current and provide excellent networking opportunities. We can cater for individual requests or co-ordinate an entire inset programme. For more information click here.

Progress File

An innovative and very popular resource, available in booklet format, that enables young people with learning difficulties to track and review achievements. Used by individual schools and local education authorities, and designed with the support of the Department for Education and Skills. To receive a review copy free of charge, please email Nikki Clarke or call on 07818 246652.

Success in Selection

With selective universities adopting interview and selection techniques more commonly associated with the corporate sector, it is essential that  young people need a helping hand in preparing for that all important application and interview.

HCS has recently developed and piloted a programme to compliment the traditional mock interview day offered by many schools.  This programme offers an insight into the interview and selection techniques young people will face, interactive activities to test and evidence their skills, support in completing applications and strategies to enhance self promotion.  The programme also offers a range of tools to support interviewers. For more information click here.

Taster Days

HCS works with a range of employers who can offer support for a variety of opportunities to your young people. There are a range of activities that we can ask them to help with including visits to their business, talks at careers events or on specific curriculum topics and mock interview days.

The Real Game

HCS consultants will work with you to integrate Real Game units into a programme running either on one day or embedded within your personal development curriculum. Students accept the role of young adults through a series of kinaesthetic activities that help them explore issues around expectation, ambition, learning, budgeting, training, earning and career planning. Additional material developing personal finance knowledge and understanding can be included. For more information click here.

Work Experience

Herts Careers Services works with employers to provide 12,500 work experience placements for young people every year.  Work experience gives a young person the opportunity to learn and practise the skills needed to succeed in the business world.  Each young person get to carry out a range of tasks or duties similar to an employee but with the focus on the learning aspect of the experience.