YEAR 10 STUDENTS EXPERIENCE THE WORLD OF WORK.

We were delighted that so many of our Year 10 students were able to undertake work experience in May. 

Participating students spent up to three days on placements, the first time Year 10 students have taken part since before the Covid pandemic. 

Students worked across a wide range of industries and organisations including construction trades, retail, IT, engineering, animal care, marketing and education and we saw students travel all over the country to undertake their placements. 

As a school, we are committed to changing the concept of work experience to ensure that as many of our students as possible can engage with employers. These experiences can take a variety of different forms to suit the individual student. We hope to continue to work with local employers in order to increase the number of students who have the opportunity to experience a workplace each year. We also took a group of students on a visit to local employer Swale Scaffolding and hope to increase the variety of opportunities on offer in future years. 

Ruth Hamer, Careers Adviser said: “The students who took part in work experience this year have been outstanding. The feedback we have received from employers has been so positive – students have been engaged, polite, hard working and have got involved with all sorts of fantastic projects. All the students have been fantastic ambassadors for the school and we could not be more proud of them.”

Jamie Pemberton, Careers Leader said: ‘’Launching work experience again after the pandemic with a year group of over 200 students was always going to be challenging. Many employers have changed the way they work and not everyone is available to host the traditional in-person work experience any more. We decided to trial the process with the option for students to undertake a three day placement if they chose to take part, which has been really successful. All students I have spoken to after their experience have been very positive. I am very proud of our students and I would like to thank Ruth, the Year 10 tutors, parents and employers for their support in this process.’’

We are hugely grateful to all the employers who gave up their time to support our students. Work experience is such a beneficial opportunity for young people to give them an understanding of the work environment and what employers expect, to be able to explore possible career options and to increase their self-understanding, confidence and independence – all skills they will need when they leave education. 

Thanks again from the Richmond Careers Team!