Work Experience
Work Experience is part of the Government’s Work-Related Learning curriculum in KS5 and provides the opportunity for young people to experience at first hand, but unpaid, the world of work.
We believe that learning from experience is relevant throughout life and for students to experience the world of work has a high degree of relevance to their current educational programme and their long-term interests and aspirations.
This year Work Experience will involve your child doing a full day’s work for one week, in Year 12. We take great care to ensure that all our students are properly prepared for work experience and that they are suited to the placement they undertake. We do encourage students to find their own placements however, if this proves difficult, we can provide suitable placements for them.
Work Experience helps students to:
- Understand and learn how an employing organisation function
- Learn work processes at first hand
- Experience the social relationships at work
- Discover the expectations that employees will have of fellow workers
- Assess how they will adapt to working patterns and relationships outside school
- Gain the self-confidence needed in an adult world
- Develop skills and knowledge for adult life
We are using Unifrog https://www.unifrog.org/ to manage the administration of the work experience programme – for example, collecting information from the employer about their Risk Assessment and Health & Safety policy, as well as getting agreement from yourselves for the placement to go ahead.
Many prestigious placements for example Theatre, Media, Advertising, Magazines, Newspapers and Veterinary surgeries are already allocating placements, and we would strongly advise that your child should apply NOW to avoid disappointment. Personal application is often more successful as it shows commitment to that placement. For those students who wish to apply to Schools please come to the Work Experience Office (T5).
We cannot allow students to work on a one-to-one basis for reasons of complications with Child Protection and we discourage working for family businesses as we find complications with insurance cover.
We ask students to complete a logbook during their work experience and to carry out research into the company or organisation. At the end of work experience the students use this information to evaluate their placement. Students will be expected to complete a work experience survey about their experiences, write a statement about their placement for their final report and write a letter of thanks to their employer.
Work Experience Guidelines
The schools’ Work Experience Department follows the Bromley Education Business Partnership (BEBP) guidelines. Only approved placements will be allowed, and a placement may only take place upon the written approval and consent of the parent/guardian.
New placements are monitored to ensure appropriate programmes of work, health & safety, legal and moral requirements and suitability. A qualified IOSH trained person will check placements prior to the students starting their work experience. Work Experience will not commence if a placement is unsuitable.
The school monitors and supports the students during their work experience placements, to ensure students have a valuable learning experience of the world of work.