Work Experience Co-ordinators & Practitioners Guide

What is Work Experience?

Work experience (sometimes called work-related learning or experiences of work) contributes to a young person’s achievements, engagement, skills and progression. Successful work experience:

significantly increases motivation, self-esteem and attendance
develops key and employability skills
helps learning to be applied in wider contexts outside school, with benefits for young people’s future progression.

There is rapid growth in vocational learning and the range of work-related qualifications. This is accompanied by a growing expectation that young people aged 14-19 will learn, at least partly, in the work place as part of the new diplomas.

Research, by Connexions West of England, shows that employers are strongly committed to providing work experience for young people for a variety of reasons:

It is a service to the community, fulfilling a company’s commitment to social responsibility.
It provides opportunities for staff development.
It generates good publicity for the host company.
It gives the company a potential source of recruitment and apprenticeships.
It improves young people’s understanding of an employment sector.

WORK EXPERIENCE (Block placement)

Typically students in Year 10 or 11 (aged 14-16) spend five to ten consecutive days with an employer.

Benefits to young person:

Skills gained from researching and organising the placement.
Improved understanding of the employer’s sector of industry.
Personal experience of the demands and responsibilities of being an employee.
Improved awareness of routes into careers
Improved confidence and independence.

Benefits to schools and employers:

Enables schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors, to support curriculum development.
Enables schools to collaborate with employers on ways of accrediting work experience.
Provides curriculum enrichment and mentoring opportunities for schools.
Provides a mutual understanding between employers and educators.
Enables employers to disseminate information about employment opportunities for young people.
Gives employer’s staff personal and professional development opportunities.

EXTENDED WORK EXPERIENCE

Extended work experience (EWE) is an opportunity for students at Key Stage 4 to develop their personal, social and employability skills through a work placement where the focus is on the learning aspect of the experience. Extended work experience has grown from work experience but as its name suggests, the length of time spent on a placement can be greater than the one or two week block work experience. In Year 10 EWE should take no more than 40% of a student’s Accredited Learning Programme. The proportion of a young person’s time spent on EWE could increase in Year 11, following a review of the individual student’s needs, but should always leave sufficient time for the student to follow their agreed Accredited Learning Programme.

Benefits to young person:

Enables them to gain substantial experience of the adult working environment whilst still benefiting from the school curriculum.
It fulfils requirements for a range of work-related and life skills qualifications, and can lead to accreditation.
It enhances students’ progression to further learning and employment.

Benefits to schools and employers:

It enables schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors and to collaborate with them on ways of accrediting experiences of work.
It improves mutual understanding between employers and educators.
Leads to benefits such as curriculum enrichment and mentoring opportunities for schools and improved recruitment for employers.

BLOCK AND EXTENDED WORK EXPERIENCE

The education Business partnership at Connexions West of England, the West Of England Education Business Group (EBG) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) provide a range of support materials, services and guidelines to those involved in organising and advising Key Stage 4 students taking part in both Work Experience and Extended Work Experience. (Link to Best Practice and Resources - Guidelines for Extended Work Experience, Guidelines for Staff briefing Young People who go out on Work Experience, Mentor’s Record of Young Person’s Progress, Teachers’/Tutors’ Guide: Work Experience Certificate Log Book and Log Book Plus, Tips for Success – The Work Experience Log Book, Work Experience Certificate Log Book, Work Experience: A Guide for Schools, Work Experience Certificate Log Book Plus, Work Experience Tasks)

A step-by-step guide to managing a work experience programme in the West of England area.

Introduction

This guide will help you deliver a programme that will ensure compliance with health and safety requirements as well as promoting a high quality programme which will help students gain as much as possible from their work experience.

In addition to the step-by-step guide below, it is recommended that you refer to other areas of this website where you will find a wealth of information.

To help you plan your programme you may find it useful to use the ‘Year Planner’.

Step 1 - Write to Parents/Carers

Write to parents/carers and explain what work experience
is about and also to request consent from parents/carers for young person to take part in a work experience programme and give dates for WEX parents evening.
Refer to the ‘Parent/Carer’ area of the Experiences of Work website for general background information.

Step 2 - Parents/Carers evening

Arrange parents/carers evening to expand work experience procedures (invite good work experience providers, get young people in to talk about last year’s experiences, arrange for photos, log books to be displayed etc.)
Refer parents to the ‘Parent/Carer’ area of the Experiences of Work website.
Tell parents/carers what they can contribute, including helping with WEX Log Books, finding placements or offering placements.
Emphasise that the experience is about understanding the world of work.
Identify any students with special requirements.

Step 3 - Launch work experience with students

Ensure students (aged 14-16) understand the purpose of work experience in terms of understanding the National Curriculum, development of key and employability skills, development of personal and social skills, future learning and career decisions.
Run assembly. Ideally, including input from last year’s students.
Interview all students, or those students having difficulties in getting placements.
Explain use of WEX Log Books (including certification), Kudos, Plan-it etc.
Run preparation programmes.
Identify students with special requirements.
WEX Online Plus users to organise staff training and ‘student launch’.
Refer students to the ‘Student’ area of Experiences of Work website for useful background information.

Step 4 - Find Placements

Encourage students to identify a placement in conjunction with staff, using the approved list of employers available through the WEX Online system.
Contact potential placements by writing letters, making telephone calls, asking family and friends, contacting employers direct or using WEX Online Plus (if the school/other work experience provider is using this system). (Link to Download Forms). Placements with close family members are not recommended.
Any students who have not found a placement three months before the start of the work experience week must use the approved list of employers which can be found through the health & safety box on the homepage of WEX Online or WEX Online Plus

Step 5 - Obtain consent from parents/carers and employers

Written consent for all placements must be obtained from employers, parents/carers and students by completing the consent forms available from WEX Online or WEX Online Plus.
Keep all forms relating to WEX placements for seven years. This is a legal requirement. (Link to Download Forms).

Step 6 - Arrange for unapproved placements to be vetted for health and safety

Using the WEX Online system, send information for any company not currently on the approved list of employers to Trident (Link to Useful Contacts) at least eight weeks before the placement takes place (12 weeks for placements outside of the West of England area, 15 weeks for placements in London).

Step 7 - Ensure Child Protection

Send a list of work experience placements to the school’s Child Protection Officer and ensure that the choice of placement for each individual young person is considered appropriate.

Step 8 - Ensuring safety and welfare of individual students

Send a copy of the green Risk Assessment form to employer and remind them that they must provide a copy to the young person and send a copy to you. Note that in order to comply with HASPS 10 requirements the risk assessment is in relation to the specific individual student. Ideally it is recommended that this takes place prior to the start of the placement. If this is not possible it must take place on the first day as part of the induction.
Send a letter of thanks to placement providers for agreeing to host a student(s). Also provide details about the student(s) including information about Work Experience Log Books and any relevant medical or personal information. (Link to Download Forms)

Step 9 - Inform parents/carers of confirmed placement

Send a letter of confirmation to parents/carers and ensure any relevant information with regard to special requirements etc. has been passed to the employer.
Send a completed copy of the Risk Assessment form to parent/carer.

Step 10 - School to carry out work experience preparation

Ensure:

Full preparation of all students takes place, to include health and safety briefing, emergency procedures, employer’s expectations and the purpose of the placement. Use “Check it Out” as guidance and visit health and safety area of experiences of work site for further materials.
Students have completed pages 3-10 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book or Log Book Plus prior to their placement.
Students know which parts of the Log Book have to be completed whilst on placement.
Students know the deadline for handing in Log Book.
Encourage students to identify personal targets and outcomes they wish to achieve through a work experience placement.
Consider using the Extended Work Experience Task Sheets to support other areas of the curriculum. (Link to Best Practice and Resources - Extended Work Experience Tasks and link to log book area for EX WEX tasks.)
Ensure students are well prepared by having details of the following: school and placement contact names and numbers, arrangements in case of emergencies, travel arrangements, lunch arrangements, appropriate dress and working hours information.
Allocate staff to visit students whilst out on placement.

Step 11 - Ensure contingency plan in place

Ensure that there is a contingency plan in place to cover accidents, emergencies and last minute cancellations of placements.
Decide who will monitor the placements and how this will be done.
Ensure companies have the school and an out of hours telephone number to ring in the event of emergencies.
Ensure that there are school activities in place to cover any last minute cancellations of work placement.

Step 12 - Carry out appropriate monitoring whilst the placement is taking place

Arrange to visit the student at their placement. Employers appreciate this level of involvement. If a visit is not possible then a courtesy phone call should be made.
Check students’ progress on targets in Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus– look at their evidence.
Complete the relevant section (page 17) of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus.

Step 13 - Send letter of thanks to placement provider after completion of placement

Ensure students send a letter of thanks to placement providers. (Link to Download Forms - Thank you letter from student to work experience provider.)

Step 14 - Student debriefing and post-placement activities

Ensure any reported accidents/incidents or concerns regarding a placement are passed to The Local Authority, Connexions West of England and Trident from Edexcel.
Carry out exit interviews and debriefings with students to see if targets and outcomes have been achieved and if improvements can be made to the system. Check that Log Books are completed to meet moderation criteria.
Encourage students to review their work experience and complete pages 4, 6, 7 and 15-16 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus.
Complete Teacher/Tutor – End of Placement comments on page 17 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus.
Check that log books are complete and that evidence is in the pouch at the back.
Remind students about the deadline for handing in their Log Books.
Ensure students add work experience to their CV.
Make action points in Individual Learning Plan based on work experience.
Students could produce a poster/leaflet promoting a particular career showing skills, qualities, salary, qualifications needed etc.
Students could do a short presentation to their tutor group about their placement - what they did and what they learned about the world of work.
Give teams of students problems to solve or company situations/scenarios to manage, students can be given specific roles within the team and they can present their decisions to the rest of the group.
Photos taken whilst visiting students could be used in a display to promote work experience to other year groups, at Open Evenings etc.
Ask students to participate in an assembly to promote work experience to the next year group.

Step 15 - Ensure Log Books are moderated

Contact CWE to arrange moderation and certification if using the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus.

Step 16 - Inform Trident from Edexcel of any companies that no longer wish to be used as work experience placement providers.

In order to keep the system as up to date as possible, please ensure information about companies that no longer wish to be used as work experience placements are passed to Connexions (mperks@connexionswest.org.uk) so that they can be removed from the relevant lists.
Pass any changes to contact details of any companies used to Connexions (mperks@connexionswest.org.uk).

This Good Practice Guide has been produced by the LSC for work experience assessors, offering guidelines to assess suitability of placements in terms of health and safety for the young person.

WORK EXPERIENCE ONLINE (WEX Online Plus)

WEX Online Plus is a web-based system, funded by the Learning and Skills Council, that is used by some schools to enable students (aged 14-16) to search and apply for one or two week block work experience placements. There is also the facility for staff to manage offline student applications for both block and ExWEX.

What WEX Online Plus offers

The system allows students to apply online for work experience placements that match their skills, abilities and interests.
Students can access detailed information about all placements, including job descriptions, location, etc.
Students can view a record to show the progress of their applications.
Students can prepare CVs.

How it supports teachers

Teachers approve student placements before they are sent off to employers.
Teachers can use the system to manage both on-line and off-line applications for work experience and see how applications are progressing.
The system will provide management information on the types of placements chosen, names and addresses of placements, tutor group lists etc.
The system will ensure that all placements are appropriately health & safety approved.
The system will allow teachers to manage their credit allocations.

Future Plans

Students will be able to prepare letters to send to employers in support of their application.
There will be a link to ‘Plan-it’, the on-line system for managing decision-making and progress through learning, life and work

OTHER EXPERIENCES OF WORK (CASE STUDIES)

CLUSTERED WORK EXPERIENCE PLACEMENTS

These fall into two categories:

1. Clustered approaches within an organisation. In this model various departments jointly host a placement, enabling the placement to offer a wider experience of the organisation.

2. Clustered approaches between organisations in a sector. In this model, employers in a similar field of work offer a themed approach to a placement, each hosting a young person for a single day or two, rather than a longer block of time. (Link to Case Studies)

Benefits for young people:

Experience of a sector that might otherwise be difficult to get into, eg media, medical, etc.
Experiences of work that have focus and challenge.
Effective support from host employers.
Learning experiences that develop employability skills (communication, working with others, improving own learning, problem solving) as well as developing sector specific skills.
A better understanding of the industry, and the ability to make more informed choices about qualifications and progression.
Raising aspirations – as Rashid puts it, “I wanted to be a mechanic. Now I’ve done this work experience, I know that I can be imaginative and there is other work I could do.”

Benefits for employers:

The ability to host experiences of work for more young people without heavy additional workload.
Positive publicity and fulfilment of commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Customer feedback, leading to more effective marketing.
Developing opportunities for staff in managing/training young people.
Information about the needs, aptitudes and outlook of young people.
More effective recruitment from the emerging workforce.

CURRICULUM-FOCUSED PLACEMENTS

Work experience placements are used to fulfil specific requirements of the curriculum, for example, diplomas. (Link to Case Studies)

Benefits for young people:

Bring the curriculum to life by relating it to the world outside school.
Improve motivation by helping students to see how their learning could be applied in the future.
Raise achievement and motivation.
Enable students to gain substantial experience of the adult working environment while benefiting from the school curriculum.
Enable students to make cross curricular links, supporting one subject with learning from another.

Benefits for schools and employers:

Enable schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors, and to collaborate with them on ways of accrediting experiences of work.
Focus the placement so that employers find it easier to plan their support for the student and make the experience as productive as possible.
Improve mutual understanding between employers and education providers.

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<< To front page Home Newsletter Coordinators/ Practitioners Guide Health and Safety FAQs Promoting Diversity Best Practice and Resources Case Studies Download Forms Useful Contacts Accessibility Wex Policy Click here to login to WEX Online Plus	Work Experience Co-ordinators & Practitioners Guide What is Work Experience? Work experience (sometimes called work-related learning or experiences of work) contributes to a young person’s achievements, engagement, skills and progression. Successful work experience: significantly increases motivation, self-esteem and attendance develops key and employability skills helps learning to be applied in wider contexts outside school, with benefits for young people’s future progression. There is rapid growth in vocational learning and the range of work-related qualifications. This is accompanied by a growing expectation that young people aged 14-19 will learn, at least partly, in the work place as part of the new diplomas. Research, by Connexions West of England, shows that employers are strongly committed to providing work experience for young people for a variety of reasons: It is a service to the community, fulfilling a company’s commitment to social responsibility. It provides opportunities for staff development. It generates good publicity for the host company. It gives the company a potential source of recruitment and apprenticeships. It improves young people’s understanding of an employment sector. WORK EXPERIENCE (Block placement) Typically students in Year 10 or 11 (aged 14-16) spend five to ten consecutive days with an employer. Benefits to young person: Skills gained from researching and organising the placement. Improved understanding of the employer’s sector of industry. Personal experience of the demands and responsibilities of being an employee. Improved awareness of routes into careers Improved confidence and independence. Benefits to schools and employers: Enables schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors, to support curriculum development. Enables schools to collaborate with employers on ways of accrediting work experience. Provides curriculum enrichment and mentoring opportunities for schools. Provides a mutual understanding between employers and educators. Enables employers to disseminate information about employment opportunities for young people. Gives employer’s staff personal and professional development opportunities. EXTENDED WORK EXPERIENCE Extended work experience (EWE) is an opportunity for students at Key Stage 4 to develop their personal, social and employability skills through a work placement where the focus is on the learning aspect of the experience. Extended work experience has grown from work experience but as its name suggests, the length of time spent on a placement can be greater than the one or two week block work experience. In Year 10 EWE should take no more than 40% of a student’s Accredited Learning Programme. The proportion of a young person’s time spent on EWE could increase in Year 11, following a review of the individual student’s needs, but should always leave sufficient time for the student to follow their agreed Accredited Learning Programme. Benefits to young person: Enables them to gain substantial experience of the adult working environment whilst still benefiting from the school curriculum. It fulfils requirements for a range of work-related and life skills qualifications, and can lead to accreditation. It enhances students’ progression to further learning and employment. Benefits to schools and employers: It enables schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors and to collaborate with them on ways of accrediting experiences of work. It improves mutual understanding between employers and educators. Leads to benefits such as curriculum enrichment and mentoring opportunities for schools and improved recruitment for employers. BLOCK AND EXTENDED WORK EXPERIENCE The education Business partnership at Connexions West of England, the West Of England Education Business Group (EBG) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) provide a range of support materials, services and guidelines to those involved in organising and advising Key Stage 4 students taking part in both Work Experience and Extended Work Experience. (Link to Best Practice and Resources - Guidelines for Extended Work Experience, Guidelines for Staff briefing Young People who go out on Work Experience, Mentor’s Record of Young Person’s Progress, Teachers’/Tutors’ Guide: Work Experience Certificate Log Book and Log Book Plus, Tips for Success – The Work Experience Log Book, Work Experience Certificate Log Book, Work Experience: A Guide for Schools, Work Experience Certificate Log Book Plus, Work Experience Tasks) A step-by-step guide to managing a work experience programme in the West of England area. Introduction This guide will help you deliver a programme that will ensure compliance with health and safety requirements as well as promoting a high quality programme which will help students gain as much as possible from their work experience. In addition to the step-by-step guide below, it is recommended that you refer to other areas of this website where you will find a wealth of information. To help you plan your programme you may find it useful to use the ‘Year Planner’. Step 1 - Write to Parents/Carers Write to parents/carers and explain what work experience is about and also to request consent from parents/carers for young person to take part in a work experience programme and give dates for WEX parents evening. Refer to the ‘Parent/Carer’ area of the Experiences of Work website for general background information. Step 2 - Parents/Carers evening Arrange parents/carers evening to expand work experience procedures (invite good work experience providers, get young people in to talk about last year’s experiences, arrange for photos, log books to be displayed etc.) Refer parents to the ‘Parent/Carer’ area of the Experiences of Work website. Tell parents/carers what they can contribute, including helping with WEX Log Books, finding placements or offering placements. Emphasise that the experience is about understanding the world of work. Identify any students with special requirements. Step 3 - Launch work experience with students Ensure students (aged 14-16) understand the purpose of work experience in terms of understanding the National Curriculum, development of key and employability skills, development of personal and social skills, future learning and career decisions. Run assembly. Ideally, including input from last year’s students. Interview all students, or those students having difficulties in getting placements. Explain use of WEX Log Books (including certification), Kudos, Plan-it etc. Run preparation programmes. Identify students with special requirements. WEX Online Plus users to organise staff training and ‘student launch’. Refer students to the ‘Student’ area of Experiences of Work website for useful background information. Step 4 - Find Placements Encourage students to identify a placement in conjunction with staff, using the approved list of employers available through the WEX Online system. Contact potential placements by writing letters, making telephone calls, asking family and friends, contacting employers direct or using WEX Online Plus (if the school/other work experience provider is using this system). (Link to Download Forms). Placements with close family members are not recommended. Any students who have not found a placement three months before the start of the work experience week must use the approved list of employers which can be found through the health & safety box on the homepage of WEX Online or WEX Online Plus Step 5 - Obtain consent from parents/carers and employers Written consent for all placements must be obtained from employers, parents/carers and students by completing the consent forms available from WEX Online or WEX Online Plus. Keep all forms relating to WEX placements for seven years. This is a legal requirement. (Link to Download Forms). Step 6 - Arrange for unapproved placements to be vetted for health and safety Using the WEX Online system, send information for any company not currently on the approved list of employers to Trident (Link to Useful Contacts) at least eight weeks before the placement takes place (12 weeks for placements outside of the West of England area, 15 weeks for placements in London). Step 7 - Ensure Child Protection Send a list of work experience placements to the school’s Child Protection Officer and ensure that the choice of placement for each individual young person is considered appropriate. Step 8 - Ensuring safety and welfare of individual students Send a copy of the green Risk Assessment form to employer and remind them that they must provide a copy to the young person and send a copy to you. Note that in order to comply with HASPS 10 requirements the risk assessment is in relation to the specific individual student. Ideally it is recommended that this takes place prior to the start of the placement. If this is not possible it must take place on the first day as part of the induction. Send a letter of thanks to placement providers for agreeing to host a student(s). Also provide details about the student(s) including information about Work Experience Log Books and any relevant medical or personal information. (Link to Download Forms) Step 9 - Inform parents/carers of confirmed placement Send a letter of confirmation to parents/carers and ensure any relevant information with regard to special requirements etc. has been passed to the employer. Send a completed copy of the Risk Assessment form to parent/carer. Step 10 - School to carry out work experience preparation Ensure: Full preparation of all students takes place, to include health and safety briefing, emergency procedures, employer’s expectations and the purpose of the placement. Use “Check it Out” as guidance and visit health and safety area of experiences of work site for further materials. Students have completed pages 3-10 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book or Log Book Plus prior to their placement. Students know which parts of the Log Book have to be completed whilst on placement. Students know the deadline for handing in Log Book. Encourage students to identify personal targets and outcomes they wish to achieve through a work experience placement. Consider using the Extended Work Experience Task Sheets to support other areas of the curriculum. (Link to Best Practice and Resources - Extended Work Experience Tasks and link to log book area for EX WEX tasks.) Ensure students are well prepared by having details of the following: school and placement contact names and numbers, arrangements in case of emergencies, travel arrangements, lunch arrangements, appropriate dress and working hours information. Allocate staff to visit students whilst out on placement. Step 11 - Ensure contingency plan in place Ensure that there is a contingency plan in place to cover accidents, emergencies and last minute cancellations of placements. Decide who will monitor the placements and how this will be done. Ensure companies have the school and an out of hours telephone number to ring in the event of emergencies. Ensure that there are school activities in place to cover any last minute cancellations of work placement. Step 12 - Carry out appropriate monitoring whilst the placement is taking place Arrange to visit the student at their placement. Employers appreciate this level of involvement. If a visit is not possible then a courtesy phone call should be made. Check students’ progress on targets in Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus– look at their evidence. Complete the relevant section (page 17) of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus. Step 13 - Send letter of thanks to placement provider after completion of placement Ensure students send a letter of thanks to placement providers. (Link to Download Forms - Thank you letter from student to work experience provider.) Step 14 - Student debriefing and post-placement activities Ensure any reported accidents/incidents or concerns regarding a placement are passed to The Local Authority, Connexions West of England and Trident from Edexcel. Carry out exit interviews and debriefings with students to see if targets and outcomes have been achieved and if improvements can be made to the system. Check that Log Books are completed to meet moderation criteria. Encourage students to review their work experience and complete pages 4, 6, 7 and 15-16 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus. Complete Teacher/Tutor – End of Placement comments on page 17 of the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus. Check that log books are complete and that evidence is in the pouch at the back. Remind students about the deadline for handing in their Log Books. Ensure students add work experience to their CV. Make action points in Individual Learning Plan based on work experience. Students could produce a poster/leaflet promoting a particular career showing skills, qualities, salary, qualifications needed etc. Students could do a short presentation to their tutor group about their placement - what they did and what they learned about the world of work. Give teams of students problems to solve or company situations/scenarios to manage, students can be given specific roles within the team and they can present their decisions to the rest of the group. Photos taken whilst visiting students could be used in a display to promote work experience to other year groups, at Open Evenings etc. Ask students to participate in an assembly to promote work experience to the next year group. Step 15 - Ensure Log Books are moderated Contact CWE to arrange moderation and certification if using the CWE Work Experience Certificate Log Book/Log Book Plus. Step 16 - Inform Trident from Edexcel of any companies that no longer wish to be used as work experience placement providers. In order to keep the system as up to date as possible, please ensure information about companies that no longer wish to be used as work experience placements are passed to Connexions (mperks@connexionswest.org.uk) so that they can be removed from the relevant lists. Pass any changes to contact details of any companies used to Connexions (mperks@connexionswest.org.uk). This Good Practice Guide has been produced by the LSC for work experience assessors, offering guidelines to assess suitability of placements in terms of health and safety for the young person. WORK EXPERIENCE ONLINE (WEX Online Plus) WEX Online Plus is a web-based system, funded by the Learning and Skills Council, that is used by some schools to enable students (aged 14-16) to search and apply for one or two week block work experience placements. There is also the facility for staff to manage offline student applications for both block and ExWEX. What WEX Online Plus offers The system allows students to apply online for work experience placements that match their skills, abilities and interests. Students can access detailed information about all placements, including job descriptions, location, etc. Students can view a record to show the progress of their applications. Students can prepare CVs. How it supports teachers Teachers approve student placements before they are sent off to employers. Teachers can use the system to manage both on-line and off-line applications for work experience and see how applications are progressing. The system will provide management information on the types of placements chosen, names and addresses of placements, tutor group lists etc. The system will ensure that all placements are appropriately health & safety approved. The system will allow teachers to manage their credit allocations. Future Plans Students will be able to prepare letters to send to employers in support of their application. There will be a link to ‘Plan-it’, the on-line system for managing decision-making and progress through learning, life and work OTHER EXPERIENCES OF WORK (CASE STUDIES) CLUSTERED WORK EXPERIENCE PLACEMENTS These fall into two categories: 1. Clustered approaches within an organisation. In this model various departments jointly host a placement, enabling the placement to offer a wider experience of the organisation. 2. Clustered approaches between organisations in a sector. In this model, employers in a similar field of work offer a themed approach to a placement, each hosting a young person for a single day or two, rather than a longer block of time. (Link to Case Studies) Benefits for young people: Experience of a sector that might otherwise be difficult to get into, eg media, medical, etc. Experiences of work that have focus and challenge. Effective support from host employers. Learning experiences that develop employability skills (communication, working with others, improving own learning, problem solving) as well as developing sector specific skills. A better understanding of the industry, and the ability to make more informed choices about qualifications and progression. Raising aspirations – as Rashid puts it, “I wanted to be a mechanic. Now I’ve done this work experience, I know that I can be imaginative and there is other work I could do.” Benefits for employers: The ability to host experiences of work for more young people without heavy additional workload. Positive publicity and fulfilment of commitment to corporate social responsibility. Customer feedback, leading to more effective marketing. Developing opportunities for staff in managing/training young people. Information about the needs, aptitudes and outlook of young people. More effective recruitment from the emerging workforce. CURRICULUM-FOCUSED PLACEMENTS Work experience placements are used to fulfil specific requirements of the curriculum, for example, diplomas. (Link to Case Studies) Benefits for young people: Bring the curriculum to life by relating it to the world outside school. Improve motivation by helping students to see how their learning could be applied in the future. Raise achievement and motivation. Enable students to gain substantial experience of the adult working environment while benefiting from the school curriculum. Enable students to make cross curricular links, supporting one subject with learning from another. Benefits for schools and employers: Enable schools to build a network of employers across a range of sectors, and to collaborate with them on ways of accrediting experiences of work. Focus the placement so that employers find it easier to plan their support for the student and make the experience as productive as possible. Improve mutual understanding between employers and education providers. back to top
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