Dear parents, carers and students
RE: Year 10 and 12 Work Experience Weeks
- Year 10: Monday 10 July – Friday 14 July 2023
- Year 12: Monday 10 July – Friday 14 July 2023
We are delighted that once again our Year 10 and Year 12 work experience will be taking place in July for one week. For most pupils this will be the first opportunity they have to experience the world of work and to gain valuable experience that will serve them well as they begin the journey towards university and/or employment. Many universities and employers require that applicants have completed a work experience placement and therefore this week is a vital part of their preparations for life beyond the Academy.
As part of the process, your child will have the choice to either (a) organise their own placement or (b) select from the available options. You can let MEBP, our work experience, know which they will do by completing the online form here.
Action
Key Date
Students who are sourcing their own placements will be required to enter the following information onto the Link2 website:
- The company they have confirmed their placement with;
- The person they have confirmed with;
- The telephone number of the person they have confirmed with;
- The email address of the person they have confirmed with;
- The kind of work they’ll be doing, eg banking, engineering, hairdressing etc.
MEBP will follow up all such placements to carry out a health and safety check and create job descriptions.
Placements which are not only considered high risk in terms of health and safety but are also outside of Kent cannot be guaranteed – please provide details as early as possible.
Deadline: 26 April 2023
After 20/5/22 MEBP cannot accept any further ‘own’ placements and students will need to select one from the system. To access the system, follow the instructions above then go to search on the top blue menu to make your selections – select four options in order of preference.
Students need to read all of the job descriptions thoroughly, including how to get there, before selecting.
MEBP will populate Link2 with sufficient placements for every student who has not sourced their own placement and the system will ‘Go Live’ at the end of office hours on this day
Live: 12 May 2023
Deadline: 26 May 2023
The School Co-ordinator will finalise the students’ selections, ensuring the placements allocated are suitable to the students’ abilities and needs. After the time allotted to this the system will lock and no further selections or alterations can be made.
Immediately after this Job Descriptions and Parental Consent Forms are to be produced through the system and sent to all parents/carers – these MUST be signed and returned to the school before placements commence.
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If you are having trouble logging in please contact suzanne.taylor@hundredofhooacademy.org.uk
Unavoidably, a small number of employers cancel placements at the last minute. MEBP will notify the school as this happens and the affected students will be required to reselect from those placements still available.
Yours sincerely
Miss S Taylor | Careers Coordinator
Frequently Asked Questions
Students are strongly encouraged to arrange their own placements (with some parental assistance) which are subject to Health and Safety checks by Medway Education Business Partnership. They also arrange appropriate job descriptions with the company you put forward. However, MEBP can also provide work experience placements for students on behalf of the school, where necessary.
We want students to organise their own placements wherever possible. The whole experience the students gain outweighs placements where they are asked to just select from a provided list. From company research, identification and selection, approaching and communicating with an employer, self-organisation, regular travel and attendance, to log book completion. This all builds confidence and provides students with the satisfaction that they completed the process independently, and really helps inform a career path.
It also provides students with relevant work experience that they have organised, which in an increasingly competitive job market helps to equip them with the confidence for University interviews or Apprenticeship and job applications. Previous students have communicated how beneficial their Work Experience was, although it was not necessarily realised at the time. Having to seriously think about their careers, explore different types of career paths, employer contact and gain a valid work experience, focused their minds on the options open to them. It also provided relevant experience for their University applications and Personal Statements, Apprenticeship applications and CVs.
Students on Work Experience have also benefited from Companies going on to offer them student Internships whilst at University, summer and weekend work and Degree Apprenticeships based solely on their week with them. It is the start of the students’ understanding of the real working world and highlights the importance of effective communication and networking.
For students who do not manage to organise their own placements, we provide them with a selection of MEBP local placement’s to choose from. These are also beneficial, and give sound work experience however they may not offer the breadth of subjects or career paths the student may wish to experience.
Yes, we currently pay £35 per head for all our students to attend Work Experience. On top of that we pay a further £35-75 a head (industry dependent) for each student who organises their own placement, for a Health and Safety check on the business they wish to attend. We do not ask for a contribution from parents but we just ask for students to attend their placement.
Yes, if your son or daughter does not organise an own placement, they can make up to 4 selections from the MEBP list subject to availability. These are allocated on a first come served basis and are available from the beginning of May.
Students often do not understand what a placement has to offer until they have tried it. In most cases they have originally chosen it and need to be encouraged to attend. The basic idea of work experience is to gain an experience of work in some form and although they may think it is not the ideal placement for them, they will learn. Indeed they often learn more from an experience outside their expectations and comfort zone.
Students’ first point of contact is Miss Taylor, who can be reached at the school by email on suzanne.taylor@hundredofhooacademy.org.uk
You must contact the school immediately. The school will contact MEBP. Legally students attending work experience are still involved in a school activity.
The work experience Coordinator, supported by school colleagues, will make every attempt to contact all placements during work experience week.
This is a log book designed for the student to record the daily activities and experiences of their placement and that helps them to identify and develop specific skills. There is a section for employer feedback and parental feedback. The book is handed in at the end of the placement to Mrs Hill. All sections must be completed.
This is further to the Log book and is a certificate issued to excellent students. To apply for this students must inform Mrs Hill of their intention to obtain it, complete a separate section in the Log book and write a report on their placement, with evidence of interviews and further information concerning their placement.
Yes – we will make provision for those entitled to free school meals. Please contact Mr Whatley