News

Work Experience for our Year 10 students is always the highlight of the year as the students are out in the big wide world discovering what the world of work is really about.

Each student is tasked with finding their own placement although there is a mountain of help, advice and support available at school from Ms Thomas who runs the Work Experience programme.

Their one week experience takes place at the end of July and is a fantastic chance for students to have a go at their dream job or career and check that it is really what they’d like to do later in life. Sometimes it isn’t but that is also important to enable the students to rethink their plans before it’s too late.

Jobs that students find range from working in a shop right up to spending a week working as part of the Prime Minister’s team – and yes, that really did happen 6 years ago when a student got a placement working at No.10 Downing Street in the week that David Cameron resigned and Theresa May took over!!

Many students are offered future job interviews, references or even job offers when they leave school on the strength of their performance on work experience.

Last July, many businesses were still recovering from the Covid pandemic and for once, not all students were able to find a placement meaning that a small number  spent the week at school with a host of work related visits from businesses and organisations, all with a range of work related activities to try out.

When they are with employers, students have a diary to complete which records everything that they do and observe. These diaries – and any other ‘supporting evidence’ -  are then given in from early September to Ms Thomas who assesses them and gives a written summary with comments on all aspects of their week. These documents and evidence are then summarised in a report that can be shown to colleges etc. along with their Work Experience certificate.

After reading and assessing them, the Academy will be presenting their final assessments to students soon. We have already started the process for students to find their placement for next July, and if your son or daughter is now in year 10, you will already have received an InTouch message inviting you to an information event on 30^th November at 6pm – the same night as our Christmas Fayre!