St. Clare's careers adviser wins national award

Congratulations to St. Clare's Careers and Higher Education Adviser, Liz Reece, who has been awarded the first Christine Thomas Award for Innovative Practice in Careers Education and Guidance by the national Association for Careers Education and Guidance (ACEG).

Liz, who is the full-time qualified careers adviser at St. Clare's, has developed the College's successful careers and higher education programme to support the needs of students who are studying or preparing to study the International Baccalaureate Diploma. She is assisted by a specialist U.S. counsellor, Paul Sinclair.

The programme, rated as ‘outstanding' in the last ISI inspection report, is continuously modified through student feedback. It develops students' career management skills by helping them to focus on their interests and it assists them to explore options in education and work. Students are taken through the application processes they need for universities and other options in the UK and around the world, having access to superb paper and online resources.

Students are also prepared for their wider ‘career' with CVs, interview practice and one-to-one guidance. Emphasis is placed on helping students to analyse the transferable skills they are developing through their IB programme and extra-curricular activities, and support is given all year round.

Liz also delivers training to international IB coordinators at the St. Clare's IB Institute Teacher Workshops and liaises with university advisory groups.

Paula Holloway, Principal, said: “Liz Reece has more than 26 years of experience as a careers adviser and is a well-deserved winner of this award. Her knowledge in the field is outstanding and our students benefit greatly from the guidance and support that she provides to enhance their lives.”

Vince Barrett, President at ACEG, said: “Liz's great strengths were in the innovative and reflective nature of the processes she described in supporting IB students, the tailoring of that provision to meet the needs of learners and the inbuilt systems for continuous evaluation and improvement.”

Liz was presented with a cheque for £350 and certificate at a ceremony at the Methodist International Centre (MIC) in Euston, London.

She said: “I am so delighted to receive this award for the careers education and guidance programme that I have developed for IB students. I often refer to the IB Learner Profile with them but also apply it to my work as I have to be, for example, an inquirer, knowledgeable, principled, reflective and of course caring and balanced. I have also had to be a risk-taker!”.

January