Work Experience
Experience of the world of work, providing opportunities for young people to learn directly about working life and the working environment, enables pupils to make links between what is studied in school and its relevance to the world of work.
Schools need to consider how best to integrate provision into the curriculum to ensure effective preparation and follow up the ways in which such activities contribute to pupils' education for work, including the development of core skills.
Why Do Work Experience
Employer Benefits
- Your company's image will be enhanced through supporting your local community, school and young people.
- You will gain a better understanding of education, which will help you improve your recruitment processes.
- Your employees' motivation can be improved e.g. personal satisfaction arising from helping a local school and its Students. Indeed the Student may be a child of one of your employees, or even your own.
- Opportunities for staff development can increase, as employees are given an opportunity to develop new skills, and improve interpersonal skills in areas such as communication, planning, organisation and coaching, e.g. through the planning of the placement content and supervision of the Student.
- Contributing to developing skills in the next generation of the workforce - you will contribute to more motivated, educated, trained and enterprising young people - who may be approaching you for employment in the future!
- You will be helping young people to achieve a greater understanding of the world of work, and of career opportunities available in the local labour market."
- You will be helping them to develop work-related skills generally, whilst giving them specific experience of work in an occupational area in which they are interested.
Students Benefit
- Students find the work experience placements enjoyable, relevant to school studies, and helpful for personal and vocational development. Indeed, teachers often comment on how more mature some of the Students had become after going on work experience placements.
- Work Experience placements can show a young person the importance of personal qualities and the dispositions needed in the workplace generally, and help them to develop new skills, confidences and awareness.
- A work experience placement also gives Students an insight into specific occupational areas, and can help young people to make realistic and informed decisions about work, education and training - in that they get "real-life" experience in a job.
- A Work Experience placement will improve a Students employability skills and provides them with appropriate presentation and dress codes for the world of work.
- Whether the placement is in an occupational area of interest to the Student or not, they will learn from the activities in which they are involved, and link them to core skills which are built into the school curriculum. This assists their academic development.
For Example
Core skills relating to the world of work:
- Communication, understanding and following written and verbal instructions
- Working with others, relating to others in the workplace, e.g. staff, customers.
- Numeracy, helping to check and order stock.
- Using measurement instruments ICT using the Internet, CD-ROMs, the e-mail system and software packages; word processing; preparing documents
Further Information
For further information please contact Marie Phillips or telephone: 01856 873535.
Work Experience Leaflet
Details of why work experience is good for pupils and employers is provided in the document that is attached to the Related Downloads section.