Work Experience

During the summer term, all of our Year 10 students spend one week on a work experience placement. The dates for Work Experience this year will be 13th to 17th May 2024.

The Department for Education (DfE) definition of work experience is "A placement on employer’s premises in which a student carries out a particular task or duty, or range of tasks or duties, more or less as would an employee, but with an emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience."

Our aims for the work experience programme are:

  • developing students' employability and leadership skills
  • creating enthusiasm for work and specific careers
  • building relationships between our school, employers and students

Parents of Year 10 students will receive a letter and further information on work experience in the Spring term.  Students will also have a special assembly on work experience with tips on how to secure a placement and what to do next.

We actively encourage students to find their own placements. The benefits of students finding their own placement are that they have control over the type of work they would like to do.  It may be something they are thinking about as a career or just something they are interested in and would like to try. If students have difficulty in finding a placement, or knowing where to start, they can contact the school's Work Experience Coordinator, Mrs Edgington at eedgington@ridgewayeducation.com or Careers Lead, Mr George.

Once a placement has been found, we ask that a form be completed by both the student's Parent and the Employer by Friday 15th March. The links to the relevant forms are shown below:

Parent Consent Form: https://forms.office.com/e/h6ip9viTLM

This form needs to be completed by one parent or carer of the student going out on work experience, once a placement has been found.

Employer Placement Form: https://forms.office.com/e/diXNiD5qRX

This form needs to be completed by the employer offering the placement to provide details of the tasks the student will be doing and any health and safety measures in place. 


Takeover Challenge

As a school, we are keen to seek opportunities to develop our students' employability, leadership skills and resilience and believe that the more opportunities a student has to gain experience of the world of work, the better. 

The Takeover Challenge is a brilliant opportunity for students to organise three days of work experience where they will "takeover" the workplace. This opportunity is available to students in Year 9. The takeover placement could be in a career sector that interests them or in a workplace in which they would like to experience - perhaps with a family member. It is a great way to learn new skills and build a career network, whilst having a really fun and memorable day.

Year 9 Takeover: Wednesday 8th to Friday 10th November 2023

Parent and Employer forms need to be completed by Friday 13th October 2023. The links to the forms are shown below (please note these forms are not the same as those above for Year 10 Work Experience):

Parent Consent Form: https://forms.office.com/e/Pkmhv3QAWD

This form needs to be completed by one parent or carer of the student going out on work experience, once a placement has been found.

Employer Placement Form: https://forms.office.com/e/TNM3WBzzNq

This form needs to be completed by the employer offering the placement to provide details of the tasks the student will be doing and any health and safety measures in place. 

 

Employers

Are you an employer or employee who could help our students by offering them meaningful and worthwhile opportunities to learn new skills, gain experience of the world of work, create enthusiam for careers and learning and develep contacts? If so, we would love to hear from you.

We offer a number of opportunities to get involved throughout the year including workshops, meet the employer events, Takeover Challenge and Work Experience. If you think you can help, or would like more information, please contact our Work Experience Coordinator, Elianne Edgington eedgington@ridgewayeducation.com or Careers Lead, Stuart George.

We would also like to keep employers informed of these and other Careers opportunities and initiatives we provide that are enhanced by employer involvement, through our Employers database. Click here to kindly add yourself to our Employers Database.

 

Documents

Work Experience Date  
How to find a placement 26th Jan 2022 Download
WEX letter to Yr 10 parents Jan 22 31st Jan 2022 Download
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