Work Experience

Each pupil is required to gain a week's Work Experience in Year 10. Briefings for pupils are held regularly as well as related activities during PSHE lessons.

What kind of Work Experience should I choose?

Work Experience is not necessarily about "doing the job I want to do"; it is about getting some experience of a workplace. This includes:

• Planning how to get to and from your placement (and on time!)
• Working out how much the bus or train might cost, or whether you can walk/cycle/get a lift
• Working with people that you do not know
• Following instructions
• Doing new things
• Being in new places without a friend or family member
• Getting a different view of life
• Understanding more about the world outside school
• Learning new skills

Any work experience looks good in a Personal Statement for 6th form, college or University or on a CV for work/apprenticeship/training programmes!

You could also view the Work Experience Week as an opportunity to discover how you feel about working in an office, for example. Gaining experience in almost any environment is highly valuable, even if you decide that ultimately it is not the career for you. Work Experience is a chance for you to shine - use your personal qualities to impress your employer. You never know, you might get a part time job out of it!

How do I organise my Work Experience?

There are two options:

1. You can arrange your own Work Experience, either through family contacts or by being proactive and contacting companies yourself. The School strongly recommends this option as it tends to be a way to find placements in prestigious and popular sectors, and, in our experience, generally produces the most successful experience. If you wish to arrange something yourself, the placement still needs health & safety approval, and so you need to get permission from your potential employer using (THIS FORM.)

Mr Wintle must have the above form returned to him by Wednesday 20th June 2012.Please note there is no flexibility on this date as our work experience provider has time scales to work to.

2. You can ask the School's partner organisation, MEBP, to arrange Work Experience for you. You will need to keep an open mind about the kind of work that you are offered. You are encouraged to make full use of Webview (http://medway.learnaboutwork.org), an online system. You will need to choose from the range of opportunities available and make a shortlist of 4 - one of which will be allocated to you. You will be given your own personal login details nearer to the time. Students will be allocated placements on a first-come, first-served basis on and after 25th June 2012.

Is there anything I am not allowed to do?

All students at Thomas Aveling are covered under the School's Public Liability Insurance whilst on Work Experience. All placements used must have (and show) evidence of Employer Liability Insurance and will have let their insurers know that a young person is in the work place. Health & Safety Risk Assessments are undertaken on all placements with recordings sent to parents prior to placements starting.

There are restrictions and prohibitions which mean that there are some places which are unable to accommodate young people:

• Agriculture - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Brick presses - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Carding machines - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Dangerous machines - Restrictions on employment of young people on certain dangerous machines
• Dough mixers and dough brakes - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Guillotine machines - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Horizontal milling machines - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Hydro-extractors - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Key, duty to fence - Young people may not be employed to examine, etc. such unfenced machines
• Lead - Prohibition on employment of young people in certain processes
• Machinery attendants - Lubricating, etc. of unfenced machines to be carried out only by persons over the age of 18
• Platen printing machines - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Potteries - Prohibition on employment of young people in certain processes
• Power presses - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Prime movers - Partial prohibition on cleaning by young people
• Tile presses - Restrictions on employment of young people
• Transmission machinery - Partial prohibition on cleaning by young people
• Warehouses - Restrictions on use of machinery by young people
• Woodworking machinery -Prohibition on employment of untrained young people