11 th July – 15 th July 2016

WORK EXPERIENCE “Work experience may be defined as a placement on an employer’s premises in which a student carries out a particular task or duty, or a range of tasks and duties, more or less as an employee, but with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience” DfES (Feb 2002)

Work Experience is not…. cheap labour a skive from school a holiday for your teachers a path to a sure job

WORK EXPERIENCE is a chance to: Meet new people. Find out more about industry and commerce. Experience travelling to work. Exercise more self- discipline and responsibility. Improve your self- confidence. Improve your social skills. Learn the importance of punctuality.

Why go on work experience? To understand the pros and cons of working. To get more information about types of jobs. To gain an insight into possible career paths. To see what working would be like. To learn new skills. To work with people of different age and social groups.

Effective work-based and work-related learning can help you to become: successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective contributors to society and work.

During your work experience you will be improving your skills and learning new skills. For example, you may learn how to talk to a range of people on the telephone, and therefore learn a wide range of communication skills. You may be a good listener and continue to improve your listening skills. You will get the opportunity to use some of the skills you have learnt from your school subjects. What skills will you learn?

Transferable skills are learnt in one situation, but they can be used in a variety of situations in the future. For example, you may learn how to answer the phone correctly when on work experience and use this skill to answer the phone when you get a job. Transferable skills

o A partnership approach – involving students, parents/guardians, the school and employers. o Placements should be well planned and prepared. o A meaningful work experience can help influence career direction. o There is an effective reflection and self- evaluation to reflect on the experience.

 Ideally matched to individual career aspirations.  YOU should be pro-active in your search for a work placement.  YOU should be viewing work experience as a learning experience – not a holiday!

 Start searching for your placement ASAP. Other schools do work experience around the same time as us so competition for places gets fierce!  You can organise placements by approaching a potential employer in person. If you are struggling, please see Miss R Morgan and she will help you- we can use the Careers Wales website.

 If you wish to organise a placement yourself, you must fill in the “Own Placement” form. This has been ed to you already and can also be found on the school website and show my homework.  If you do use the Careers Wales website, the school will notify Careers Wales who will complete Health and Safety Checks – which can take up to 12 weeks!  You must ask employers who are not on the database if they have Employer Liability Insurance. They need this for you to be able to work there. However, this is not needed if you are working with a relative.  Please both documents to

If you need any help with your work experience placement please contact: Ms R Morgan (Work Related Education Co-coordinator) on