Year 10 Work Experience 2020-2021
Why work experience?
Work experience is not necessarily about trying out your own career choice, but finding out about working life and employability skills. It will help you to learn more about the world of work; this means understanding the workplace, working with other people, improving your employability skills and being able to communicate clearly with adults. It does not necessarily have to be connected to what you want to become but can also help inform and give vital experience when making decisions on future career choices. Our year 10 students have recently completed their work experience and have said how beneficial it was and how they felt they had developed their employability skills as well as finding out about career pathways they had not previously considered. The feedback from the employers was extremely positive and highlighted how well these students conducted themselves throughout the placements.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, it will not be possible for Year 10 students to take part in our normal Work Experience placement programme. However, we would still like the opportunity for Year 10 to be involved in a collaborative project with a business to experience the world of work, even though this will take place on school site for this year.
Our Year 10 Virtual Work Experience programme will take place across two days during week commencing 24 May 2021. The exact details regarding the programme are still being confirmed; however, the provisional programme will be:
DAY ONE: Virtual Work Experience Day
On this day, students will improve their employability skills, as part of our work with Skills Builder, by taking part in a business challenge set by Financial Services firm, Lloyds Bank.
During the day, students will ..
- be introduced to the project and set a simple task to reflect on their teamwork skills.
- be introduced to the business, experience a virtual tour and prepare questions for the final employer interaction session
- develop a solution to the business problem
- prepare a short pitch to explain their solution to the problem
- have a live Q&A session with the employer, present the business solution and receive real-time feedback from the employees
DAY TWO: Careers Explorer Day
On this day, students will …
- have the opportunity to hear from a retail business leader as part of a key-note speech.
- set-up their own careers profile with our colleagues from Global Bridge.
- take part in a CV writing workshop with our Enterprise Advisor
- find out more about Further Education in a carousel activity, involving Southmoor Sixth Form, National Apprenticeship Service, Sunderland College and Newcastle College
- interact with businesses and employers
- visit a virtual Careers Fair
There are plenty of other opportunities to take part in virtual Work Experience placements through the following organisations. New placements are added continuously so it is important that students check the websites regularly for suitable opportunities:
- Speakers for Schools https://www.speakersforschools.org/experience-2/vwex/. There are many placements available with national employers that students would not normally be able to access. These placements can be completed online and will often be over one day, several days or a week. Students can sign-up using the website, search for available placements, apply and receive further information if successful.
- Springpod https://www.springpod.co.uk. Students can set up a login to access the work experience placements and apply for suitable opportunities.
Work Discovery Sunderland
Work Discovery Sunderland is a pioneering scheme which was created by Sunderland’s Economic Leadership Board and the Business and Schools’ Task Group who recognised the need to forge stronger links between companies across the region and Wearside’s future workforce.
Activities include workshops, careers fairs, business challenges, company visits, talks from employers, all offering students an insight into the world of work – helping them to discover new opportunities and encouraging the students to gain the skills to improve their employability.
Work Discovery Sunderland includes three main programmes:
Work Discovery Week:
This is an annual programme of informative and fun activities offered to our Year 10 students. The event gives students access to some of the city’s biggest employers.
Sector Days:
Our Year 10 and 11 students are able to get involved in sector days throughout the year for industries including: health, utilities, hospitality, engineering and manufacturing, retail, ICT.
Guest Speaker Days:
Year 9 students are able to attend guest speaker days throughout the year, giving them the chance to listen to motivational talks by leaders from some of the North East top businesses.
Work Discovery Sunderland is also partnered with the Industrial Cadets Scheme, which allows students taking part in Work Discovery to work towards either a bronze or silver level Industrial Cadet award.
Take Your Child to Work Day
As part of Sandhill View Academy’s work related learning curriculum we would like to offer the opportunity to all Y9 students to take part in a “Take Your Child to Work Day “on Tuesday 14th May. It is an opportunity for students to spend a day with an employer or other organisation, allowing them to experience as far as possible the hours, working conditions and regulations they may encounter when they go to work themselves.
We do understand that for a variety of reasons it may not be possible for every Year 9 student to take part. To ensure students have equality of opportunity we would suggest asking relatives or friends if they would be able to accommodate students who are not able to accompany a parent or carer to work.
If a suitable placement is still not available, students will need to be in school following normal lessons or other activities. Parents should use their own judgement about where their child goes. However if parents/carers work at home or alone, it is unfortunately not a new learning experience or environment, therefore it is not suitable.
We hope that as many students as possible will be able to accompany and work shadow a parent/carer throughout a normal working day. Students will travel to and from work with their parent/sponsor and will be covered by the insurance and ‘Health and Safety’ procedures of the organisation they are visiting and we will be asking for copies of this before they attend. Students will be provided with a “Take Your Child to Work Booklet” which they should complete during the day. There will also be a small section to be completed by the person being accompanied or shadowed.
Please complete the attached document below should you wish for your child to take part in this opportunity and return it to your son’s/daughter’s group tutor.