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OFSTED and COMPASS +

December 17, 2023

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Broadoak Academy Compass Plus Case Study

The careers leader at Broadoak school reported on how she used Compass + for the evidence requested during their recent OFSTED inspection.

The school have focused on developing a strong careers programme ensuring that it is inclusive and accessible for all students. They have progressed from fully achieving 2 benchmarks in June 2022 to 7 in their latest compass evaluation in November 2023.

Broadoak upgraded to Compass+ last academic year and have increasingly used this to record all careers activities so that there is clear evidence of all the great work taking place.

They also started to roll out the future skills questionnaire to learners in year 11 to establish a baseline of career readiness.

Their recent OFSTED inspection was very data driven.

The inspector requested evidence from the careers leader to demonstrate that careers activities were inclusive to all learners especially pupil premium and free school meals.

The careers leader was able to use Compass + to clearly evidence that careers activities included PP and FSM pupils.

The inspector even requested further evidence from Compass + in order to show how the tool could track an individual student’s ‘journey’ from Year 7 – 11 and monitor all of the careers related learning they had encountered during their time at secondary school.

Head Teacher Danny McGilloway commented that the evidence from Compass + “made a considerable difference to the outcome of the inspection in terms of Careers.”

Georgia Wilde Broadoak Academy Careers Leader said “There was a significant focus on the tracking and monitoring of Careers Related Learning and activities. Had I not had the Compass+ tool and been able to evidence the work I was doing in this way, I would have really fallen down here. They  particularly like the ability to filter the students who were PP, EAL, SEN etc as this was an area of interest for them. Compass+ having that feature meant I could lay my hands on this information quickly and clearly.

Whilst inputting the information can be laborious, it shows that when it comes to times you are needing to produce evidence of your work, the tool is invaluable in these situations, and absolutely worth having.  

What Schools Say About Us

Being part of the Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub has been pivotal to the development of careers provision in our school. The Hub have shared good practice across their members resulting in a stronger focus on good quality provision. The annual event enabled the hub to share their vision of School Improvement Through The Lens of Careers and looking beyond the Benchmarks. It was a fantastic opportunity to share different models of school improvement and strategies to further develop careers provision to enhance the future opportunities of our young people.

Mrs A Spencer, John Taylor High School

What Businesses Say About Us

It it superb to be able to speak with local schools, colleges, and businesses in Stoke and Staffs and show how important the partnerships are to bring the skills of the future. Educating those who educate the ones shaping the aspirations of young people is essential for the industry to grow and be more sustainable.”

Alison Tucker, St Modwen