Valuable experiences

July 17, 2012 in Featured by humpage.j

Year 10 students are required to participate in Work Experience during July. The purpose of the Work Experience is to help students prepare for the transition from school to work. It provides students with a greater understanding of the world of work and helps shape their expectations, learn new skills which are adaptable to both the working environment and the Academy and help to decide what kind of career paths students may want to pursue after education. This year 97% of students represented the Academy and successfully sourced placements; organised a pre-interview and then completed 2 weeks at a placement which is often linked to their option choices.

We have had a lot of positive feedback from organisations and students alike and we hope this has given students an insight into career paths that they are currently interested in. The pictures show the students on a wide variety of placements and show some of the tasks that they undertook. A wide variety of organisations helped us by providing placements including fitness centres, accountancy firms, graphic designers and a placement at Microsoft in London!

A student who visited a hairdressers quoted, “I have learnt many things which I did not know about hairdressing and I know now I do not want to pursue this as a career. I now have 12 months to explore different options before I have to make a decision”.

Another student who joined a local travel agent said, “I have come out of my shell! It was great meeting new people and I now know how difficult working actually is!”

Employers were “proud” to have Academy students at their companies and I have had many businesses already ask if we will be sending students next year. “Pleasure to have”, “We will miss him” and “She would be an ideal candidate to employ here” are some of the many positive comments I have received during the 2 weeks.

Miss Griffiths

Work Experience Coordinator