31/10/2017

Year 12

2017-2018 Work Experience

Information Booklet

Name ………………………………………………………………

COACHING GROUP ..................................................

31/10/2017

The information in this booklet should help you and your parents/carers prepare for Work Experience.

How Work Experience is Organised

Work Experience is compulsory for all year 12 students.

School use a company called Xperience to oversee work placements.

Xperience arrange all the Health and Safety checks that are required by law for Work Experience placements.

In school, Work Experience is co-ordinated by Mrs Davis and information is fed out to students via coaches and letters/phone calls home.

This booklet contains information on which paperwork needs to be completed.

Students are asked to find their OWN PLACEMENTS if at all possible. There is a deadline for this as Xperience need 8-10 weeks to arrange the bookings. The reason for this is to allow Xperience ample time to organise the ESSENTIAL Health and Safety checks that will need completing prior to the placements starting. A form for Own Placements (OP1) is available which your child has a copy of.

It is also possible for students to access the Xperience database, to search for examples of placements on their database.

Dates of Work Experience

Level 2 students – Every Friday throughout the school year

(must have arranged placement by October half term)

Level 3 students – 1 week placement Monday 9th July – Friday 13th July 2018

(must have arranged placement by Christmas)

Travel Your son/daughter is expected to make their own travel arrangements to their work experience placement. If you have any concerns regarding independent travel then please contact the School’s Work Experience Co-ordinator Mrs. Davis to discuss this further. In the unlikely event the placement is terminated and the employer does not want the student to remain on the premises, school will inform parent/carer with immediate effect so clear instructions can be given to the employer about collection of the student and method of travel back to school.

Lunchtimes It is likely your son/daughter will not be supervised during lunchtimes whilst on their work placement. Therefore the student may choose to leave the employer’s premises. If this poses a problem, please ensure you contact school to discuss possible alternative arrangements.

31/10/2017

Other information about work experience

Work Experience can be in any industry the student chooses. Work experience gives an

insight into different types of jobs within a particular area and helps to develop skills in a real work setting. It provides opportunities to learn how to adapt to new situations, work with adults and to be treated as an adult. In addition it will develop self-confidence, improve communication, improve interpersonal skills and Work experience can sometimes lead to an offer of employment.

Work experience is all about students experiencing the world of work and learning about transferable skills that can be taken from one job role to another e.g. communication skills, team work, organisational skills etc.

Contacts via family members or friends of the family are often the very best leads to good placements. It is not what you know, but whom you know!

Some job roles are impossible to experience as a young person due to insurance or health and safety reasons. Examples of this might include:

o Being a doctor, however a student could possibly find a placement in a hospital or medical centre and at least experience the sort of environment they might expect to work in when they are older.

o Construction industry roles e.g. carpenter, electrician etc. These may still be possible but the types of duties the student would be expected to perform would be limited due to not being able to use certain machinery or tools and would rely on observing many tasks being carried out rather than actually being “hands on”.

Primary schools are often very popular choices for students, especially those who might consider teaching or working with children as a future career. Schools also offer administration placements and even caretaking ones! However, it is essential that early approaches are made as places are taken up quickly by students from this and other schools.

A placement can also be chosen for its interest value. Students interested in sport, for example, could approach professional sports clubs but it is worth noting that many of these will only take students who have some links via academies etc. It is still worth a try and, in the past we have had students at Leeds Rugby, Yorkshire County Cricket, Bradford City etc.

Health and Safety checks can throw up issues that will prevent a student from taking up a placement. Even if this is a family placement, students will not be allowed to go on placement if the insurance is not valid or there are Health and Safety issues.

Whilst on work experience students are representing Co-op Academy Priesthorpe and should therefore act responsibly and professionally at all times. There may be periods of time during the work placements when students may find the work challenging or not as interesting as they thought it would be, this is in fact what working in the real world is all about. Students should be reassured that these feelings are completely normal and should be made to feel proud that they have got through a full week of work and conquered lots of new encounters. Everyone who completes the full weeks Work Experience will receive a certificate to confirm that they have taken part, which is great achievement that can be used when applying for jobs, college, university or apprenticeships.

31/10/2017

What happens now?

OP1 forms made available to students who find their Own Placements (spares can be found at the end of Mrs Davis’s desk in the OC). See an example in this booklet.

Students should be actively involved in this process and should be looking for placements. They can ask friends and family, write letters to local companies (use yell.com for research), and visit companies in person. The time between September and Christmas will pass very quickly and students must start the process as soon as possible if they hope to find a good placement.

Students should complete an Interest Form, these must be completed fully and returned to school as soon as possible.

Assistance can be given if students need to write letters to employers or construct a CV by Mrs Davis.

Once forms are handed in to Mrs Davis, school submits the forms to Xperience, who then arranges the Health and Safety checks.

Once all checks have been successfully completed the student will receive a Job Description form, which details the types of tasks that can be expected to be carried out and other important information. Once the Job Description has been received the student needs to contact the placement and arrange a Pre Placement Interview, where they will meet their supervisor who will go through what they are expected to wear and other important information for their first day. The Job Description needs to be signed by the employer, the student and parent/carer to confirm that the placement can go ahead and returned back into school at least 2 weeks before the placement starts. The student CANNOT go on their placement until this signed Job Description arrives back into school.

School will issue each student going out on placement with a Work Experience Journal that is filled in throughout the placement. It contains sections for the Employer to provide some written feedback (which is extremely useful for university/college/apprenticeship applications) and for the student to record the types of activities carried out.

It is likely that some students may be “rejected” by placements, this can be for many different reasons such as not supplying evidence of Employers Liability Insurance. Issues surrounding this will be dealt with on an individual basis.

.

31/10/2017

5 Ways to Get Work Experience

1. Ask Around – have you really asked everyone you know? What

about your parent’s car mechanic, your local supermarket, or even your auntie’s office? Keep an open mind and expect the unexpected because you never know what roles might turn up – your mechanic might need help with the accounts or your supermarket might want help with social media or marketing!

2. Volunteer – Take a look at the volunteering charity vinspired.com.

They’ve got lots of volunteering opportunities all over the UK and volunteering can be a great way to get some brilliant work experience.

3. Approach Each Employer Like They’re “The One” – Doing

the same cover letter over and over again with the employers name changed isn’t going to work! Your application needs the “wow” factor. Explain why you’re interested in working at their company. Be positive and say nice things about the company (everyone loves a compliment!).

4. Use The Web – some companies have a strict application

process. Visit their website and see if they have a careers/job section. This may contain important information about the companies work experience process. Leeds Bradford Airport, the police, Banks and many other companies use an application process.

5. Apply Early – work experience is VERY competitive! Some

industries particularly medically related placements get snapped up well before Christmas! You may even have to go for a selection interview to make sure you are the right person for the placement. Even if you manage to pick up a placement that wasn’t your first choice, feel proud of yourself, it might just open your eyes to a career you hadn’t thought about before.

31/10/2017

Examples of Work Experience Forms

WORK EXPERIENCE 17-18 EMPLOYER FORM

REQUEST FOR A HEALTH & SAFETY VISIT

Thank you for offering to host a work experience placement within your organisation. Your commitment to providing this opportunity for a young person is an excellent way of supporting their learning and future career choices. Xperience support employers and schools in co-ordinating approximately 7,000 work placements each year. If you wish to get involved in any other education business link activity or have any queries regarding work experience, please do not

hesitate to contact us on 01274 439600.

EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY INSURANCE INFORMATION For the purposes of work experience, students will be covered under your company's Employer's Liability Insurance.

If you only hold Public Liability Insurance and will be taking out the additional insurance please let the school know and/or

indicate here :

Please provide information on your current Employer's Liability Insurance policy below or include a copy of your certificate with this form

Insurance Company:

Policy Number:

Expiry date:

NO PLACEMENT CAN PROCEED WITHOUT EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY INSURANCE BEING IN PLACE AT THE TIME OF THE WORK EXPERIENCE PLACEMENT

Company / Placement Details

Company Name: Contact:

Address: Position:

Telephone Number: Signature:

Mobile Number: By signing I agree to a health and safety visit being made and I consent to my company details being held on the Xperience database for the purposes of work experience and work related learning activity.

Email address:

Type of work student will be doing:

Student Details (to be completed by the student/school)

Student Name: Start Date:

End Date: Work Pattern: : (e.g. one/two weeks / one day per week)

Have you supported Xperience / School in accommodating students previously? YES/NO

Are you happy to support Xperience / School in accommodating students in the future? YES/NO

Please return the form completed to

*School Name *Telephone Number

*School wex contact *Email address

Form OP1 Cross Boundary CBF1

31/10/2017

Example of a speculative letter asking for Work Experience

Students Full Address

Inc. Postcode

Employers Name Full Address In. Postcode Dear…………. (name of manager) or Dear Sir/Madam I am a Year 12 student at Co-op Acdemy Priesthorpe in Leeds. I am hoping to undertake a Work Experience placement starting on …………. I am writing to you as I am very interested in finding out about the work you do as I am looking at this as one of my possible career options in the future. (students can also add their own reason here) My interests include…………(spend a little bit of time explaining about what your interested in and how this would relate to the placement) In school I am studying the following subjects and I have included my estimated grades: Subject Actual/Estimated Grade Maths A-C, A-D, D-G etc English Science (include all others) I would be grateful if you would consider my request for Work Experience and let me know if this would be possible. If this is something that you can offer me, I will need some further details from yourselves as I have a form that school requires, which I can bring in for you to complete. Further information can be obtained from Mrs. Davis (Co-op Academy Priesthorpe CEIAG Co-ordinator) on 01132574115 ext 243. I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely (if you know the persons name) or Yours fainfully (if you have used Dear Sir/Madam) SIGN HERE Print FULL Name Include an email address or phone number that the company can contact you on.

31/10/2017

If you need help to find a placement

You can use the Xperience database to have a look at the types of job roles that are available.

Please see Mrs Davis for the up to date log in details

www.wexonline.co.uk You must use this in the internet explorer browser, it is not compatible with chrome or safari

1. To search for a placement, you will need to know the following: -

- The company classification you are interested in e.g. C Administration, business, clerical and management (for more specific classification codes visit RMShared Docs – Careers & Work Experience – Year 12-13 Work Experience)

- The postal area(s) you are willing to travel to - Dates you will be going out on placement (for a one week placement the start and end date

will both be the same, the very first day of the placement)

2. Once you have all this information you can enter the information into the relevant fields and click continue. For example if you were looking for a mechanical placement within LS10 and you were going on placement w/c 02/06/2014 for one week, you would enter as shown on the following page and click search.

If you would like to select multiple post code areas click the first postcode you would like along with the Ctrl key and then the next postcode

31/10/2017

3. This would then list all mechanical placements within LS10 postcode with a possible available placement for the dates you have selected.

4. Click View Description and this will then show you the basic information on the placement this employer is offering to students You can click on go back and continue to search as many different fields as you wish.

31/10/2017

5. The important information that is required is the Company Reference Number. Make a note of any company reference numbers that interest you on your Interest Form. See Mrs Davis if you are wanting more information about a specific placement or to try and book you onto a placement – note it is not guaranteed that you will get a place using this method.

6. Once a placement has been agreed with a company, you will receive a Job Description form

from Mrs Davis Read the Job Description form and sign the back page. Ask your parent/carer to read and sign the back page too. Contact your employer straight away and arrange your Pre Placement Interview. Take your Job Description to the interview and ask your employer to sign it too. Return the signed Job Description form to Mrs Davis in the OLC at least 2 weeks before your placement is due to start.

7. Once we have received your signed Job Description you are ready to start your placement

31/10/2017

Example form

STUDENT WORK EXPERIENCE INTEREST FORM

Please complete this form as accurately as possible to assist the Work Experience Co-ordinator in helping you with work experience

Personal information

Coaching group_______________________ Forename___________________________Surname_________________________ DOB__________________Age_____________ Home Postcode:________________________________ Do you have any health issues, which may affect you at work?___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Favourite Subjects:

_______________________ _________________________ _________________________ ________________________ Interests and activities in and out of school (e.g. teams, clubs, hobbies etc)

Any previous Work Experience or part-time job?

What is your main career aim (at the moment) after you finish education?

Do you have somewhere that will take you on work experience?

Yes ☐ If yes what is the name of the company? __________________________________________________________

No ☐

Which sort of placements would you be interested/not interested in going to? e.g. bank, solicitor, clothes shop, office admin,

teaching assistant, sports coach etc.

Interested in Not interested in

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

You need to decide how you will get to your placement i.e. bus, train, walk, lift etc. Please identify which areas you can easily get to and which areas you will be unable to travel to:

Would like a placement in these areas Cannot travel to these areas

Local e.g. Pudsey, Farsley, Bramley Local e.g. Pudsey, Farsley, Bramley

Bradford Bradford

Leeds inc city centre Leeds inc city centre

Other…………………………. Other………………………….

Visit the Xperience database www.wexonline.co.uk and list below any Company Reference Numbers from the Xperience site that you are interested in, in order of preference:

31/10/2017

Some examples of placements carried out in 2017

Accounts Assistant Administration Assistant

Banking Clerk Assistant Book-Keeping Assistant

Café Assistant Car Sales Assistant

Childcare Assistant Classroom Assistant

Clerical Assistant Design and Printing Assistant

Finance Assistant Garage Assistant

Hair Salon Assistant IT Assistant

Library Assistant Maintenance Assistant

Marketing Assistant Nursery Assistant

Observing Physiotherapist Pharmacy Assistant

Production Assistant Reception Assistant

Shop Assistant Stablehand

Teaching Assistant Football Coach

Web Site Assistant Dental Assistant

All these placements were carried out in a variety of work places across Leeds and Bradford. They included: - Local Primary and High Schools Local Estate Agents West Yorkshire Police Helijet Aviation Barclays Bank Local Nurseries Bradford Council Pets At Home Leeds Teaching Hospital Yorkshire Building Society Local Solicitors Local Travel Agents Local Hairdressers Leeds City Council Local Pharmacies Tesco Stores Bradford City FC Co-op Academy Priesthorpe

31/10/2017

Work Experience Checklist

1. In September/October, visit/write letters to local companies that you would like to work for requesting work experience

2. Ask company to complete an OP1 form and hand in to Mrs. Davis

3. Once your placement is confirmed, collect your Job Description from Mrs. Davis

4. Arrange a Pre-placement visit to your placement and get your Job Description signed

5. Hand in signed Job Description to Mrs. Davis

6. Contact your placement by phone 2 weeks before you start to remind them you are coming in

7. Attend your placement and complete your work experience journal