Year 11 Work Experience

On the 4th October 2010 over three hundred year eleven students left the comfortable, safe walls of Whitchurch High and entered the ‘real world’. It was time for them to complete their one week work experience and get a taster of what it is like in the working world. They had prepared by contacting employers to find out what time they would be starting, what they could do for lunch and what they should be wearing. The latter of these was probably highest on their agenda. Over tow hundred employers would be greeting our GCSE students on the Monday and we would like to thank them for giving of their time to enable our students to engage in the world of work.

On Monday 4th students had travelled as far as London for their placement and as near as the main street in their village. Students became vets for the week, leisure centre workers, magazine editors, primary school teachers and many other roles were taken on by our students during the week. It was certainly a time to consider whether you wanted to wait until the week after to get your hair cut or your car fixed, but the feedback from employers suggested otherwise.

A number of staff ventured out of Whitchurch throughout the week to pay visits to our students. Sometimes greeted by a nervous look from the student in the workplace but often welcomed by a reassuring smile that suggested they were having a good time and enjoying being an employee.

Mr Hopkins and Mr Rooke set out on an adventure on the Thursday that was as gruelling as the journey made by the hobbits in Lord of the Rings.(Well, almost that tiring) They were armed with cameras and video cameras and a lot of questions to ask our students and their employers. The journey started at a foggy Ridgeway Golf Course, on the border of Cardiff and Caerphilly.

It was 09:00 and Mr Rooke was slowly removing the lens cap from his camera when a golf buggy appeared from the dense fog. The faces of Jack Sewter and Jack Hoskins were grinning with a sense of satisfaction after spending the last hour clearing the dew off the greens ready for the days play. Back over the mountain and, perilously close to Whitchurch lower school site, we made a quick right turn and pulled up outside Elglwys Newydd Primary.

A collection of former students had decided to return to their primary school and face their old teachers for the week. The primary school pupils had obviously enjoyed having extra help in their lessons this week and James Edmunds and Jenny Bearpark posed for photos as proof. A quick stop to see Jade Creed assisting the stylists in Aztec Hairdressers and we were off to the Llandaff North to drop in more students.

Hawthorn Juniors was our next stop and we were privileged to walk around their newly refurbished school. All of the students there were totally engaged in the lessons that were taking place and obviously liked and appreciated by the pupils and teachers there. We even had the opportunity to watch a fencing class and see Kay Yorath take on the Year 4 students. As we made the short trip to James and Jenkins our stomachs were rumbling. It had been a busy morning. Corey Lewis and Marcus Cole were working hard in the bays and we were assured that the grease on their overalls had not been quickly rubbed in when they saw us walking toward them.

The big city was in site and we were soon in the centre at Stadium house, the home of BT in South Wales. Lee Wright at BT had already visited the school as part of employer visit sessions in Year 11 PSE lessons. Lee was spearheading a BT initiative with our school which involved taking fourteen of our students for work experience. They had certainly been busy during the week. They had created their own product, marketed it and even presented in front of actual BT directors.

The fourteen students spent time in the various BT call centres at Stadium House and the feedback from every BT employer they worked with was extremely positive and we should be proud of the way in which they represented the school. Amongst others we had time to see Bethan Haines and Sherna Adenwalla at Buzz Magazine. The girls had the opportunity to work with the editor of the magazine and even produced an article which has been featured on the Buzz website. We also saw Kyle Baird and Jack Minto working hard in HMV, the staff member was impressed with their skills throughout the week and it looked like the boys were working themselves into part time jobs.

Other members of staff gave of their valuable time to visit hotels, nurseries, restaurants and shops and the feedback was really positive. It was clear that this week had been a real eye opener for our Year 11 students and we hope that many will now have a better idea of what direction they want to take in their lives when they leave Whitchurch.

A big thank you to all those involved in the work experience journey this year. So much hard work has gone into the experience and I know that the students have appreciated this unique opportunity of leaving what they know as the ‘real world’ and entering the world of work.