THE ROBERT BURNS ACADEMY

Who are we?

Gillian and Elaine are the School Careers Advisers based at Robert Burns Academy. They work for the national careers service, Skills Development Scotland (SDS). SDS Careers Advisers work in partnership with every state secondary school in Scotland, delivering career guidance to enable young people from S1-S6 to develop their Career Management Skills.

For more info on SDS, please visit our website:

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do

Gillian and Elaine work in close partnership with the school to ensure that every young person will leave Robert Burns Academy feeling confident about their career choices and aware of the career options that are available to them.  We are based in the school and throughout the year pupils can access one-to-one coaching sessions to explore options, discuss ideas, set actions and develop their Career Management Skills. 

We welcome appointments with parents/carers where we can discuss issues and your child’s ideas to help them develop their Career Management Skills.

What are career management skills?

The world of work is changing fast. New opportunities pop up every day. And these days, you’re unlikely be in one job your whole life. So be ready to face unexpected changes.

Having the right information or knowing how to get it, helps you make decisions about what to do.

That’s where Career Management Skills (CMS) come in. They help you understand yourself and the world around you and take control of your career with all its potential opportunities.

The Careers Advisers at Robert Burns will focus on the key CMS themes of Self, Strengths, Horizons and Networks when supporting pupils to make confident and positive decisions about their next steps.

To find out more about Career Management Skills you can view:

https://youtu.be/TbC2ACjm_oU?si=GYn9eK01KdpYshyq

How to get in touch:

Pupils can make an appointment to see their School Careers Adviser by simply popping up to the Careers Room in the school. We are based in the Maths Department (2^nd floor of C-Block).

Pupils can also scan our appointment QR code to request an appointment:

 

 

 

Alternatively, pupils can speak with their Guidance Teacher. Gillian and Elaine work closely with the Guidance Team at RBA to ensure that all pupils have access to career guidance and advice when they need it.

We would also encourage parents & carers to reach out to us and get in touch.

Our contact details are:

Elaine Whates

elaine.whates@sds.co.uk

Tel: 01563-601-237

Gillian McMahon 

gillian.mcmahon@sds.co.uk

Tel: 01563-601-240

Useful websites and resources for pupils and parents:

My World of Work is Scotland’s career information and advice website. It’s brought to you by Skills Development Scotland (SDS). The site is designed to support everyone develop their career management skills, no matter what stage you’re at in your career.

Please visit: https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk

In particular, we would like to highlight the online support available to parents and carers found here:

https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/parents-carers

Other useful online resources include:

UCAS— https://www.ucas.com

PlanitPlus— https://www.planitplus.net

Apprenticeship.scot— https://www.apprenticeships.scot

Prospects – https://www.prospects.ac.uk/