Year 10 Work Experience

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE

BY RACHEL WHITWORTH (CAREERS ADVISOR)

At BHCS we want to give students as many real life experiences as possible as part of their education: interview techniques and community service in Year 9, and then building on this with Work Experience in Year 10. This year was a bumper year for placements, with over 95% of our students participating in some sort of work experience - be that a few hours in a specialised setting, or a whole week in a workplace.

The placements were as varied as our students - primary schools, law firms, an architect, a radio station, a plant nursery, real estate agents, while others worked with electricians, plumbers, mechanics, hairdressers, and a surgeon to name but a few.

So why does work experience matter while students are still at school? Well it’s a great opportunity to see a different learning environment. When students step into a workplace they are not only observing the work, but learning skills that they just cannot get from a textbook, or online.  Work experience can also boost academic performance - suddenly lessons learnt at school make more sense in a workplace environment, joining the dots between classroom theory and real-world application. Also, the discovery of a career that interests them may also motivate them to do well in subjects needed for that career.

It’s not just about the work itself either, meeting new people is equally important - the connections students make could be really useful for their future career. Asking questions of the professionals they meet can give them insider information about careers and roles in industries students may not have even thought about. Workplace etiquette is also something that many students learn about on their work placement.

We hope all our students will benefit from their work experience this year, and a huge thank you to all the staff who visited or called our students while on placement.