Our Year 10 & Year 12 students have thoroughly enjoyed getting back to work experience this term, with the majority of them having in person placements.
There was lots on offer virtually also, and nearly every student benefitted from some sort work experience placement.
Mrs Kelso, Careers Lead at St Benedict’s said:
“Work experience is a major mile stone for students’ personal development. Following the pandemic we weren’t sure if businesses would be so keen to have students in the work place. The support for our school from the local community has been overwhelming. Our students have had well planned and meaningful placements that have helped them enormously with finding out about the work place and developing their interpersonal skills.”
We have had some fantastic feedback from the employers also, which is always lovely to hear.
Playdays Nursery hosted two students, Joshua Finley and Cora Cooper from Year 10. Jo Phillipson from the nursery said:
“Joshua & Cora two who were on work experience last week were a credit to the school. They were hard working and friendly, they got on well with the children in the nursery and with the staff also. The staff were very impressed with the students and would have them back.”
Courtney Oliver from Year 10, spent her week a Milltech Computers. Dale Harrison from the company said:
“Courtney dealt with customers in the shop, helped price in-store items, and undertook stock taking. We also set her a project of assembling a PC as she had familiarised herself with the components required to build the PC and we were on hand to help with any questions she had, but we left her to get on with it by herself and she completed the project which is something she should be proud of.”
“Throughout the week Courtney was courteous and on time. Anyone would be lucky to employ her going forward and she has a bright future ahead.”
Sienna McNicholas from Year 10 completed her work experience at the local Santander branch. Claire Radcliffe, Branch Manager said:
“She has been amazing so engaged, enthusiastic, used her own initiative, she was inquisitive asked lots of questions and came across very confident.”
“We have kept her busy she helped us to empty the ATMs each morning and evening, completed the ATM tamper check, she has listened to calls being taken in the branch to support our call centre. Observed the cashiers and helped front of house in the banking hall. Assisted with cash banking and observed our G4S collection. Followed our security proctocol, read our robberies attack and threats manual. Checked our merchandise was up to date and displayed correctly. Completed an interview on myself and Gail my Customer Service Advisor.”
“I set her homework on 2 occassions to research 2 of our products, she came in the following day and quizzed us on the products, she kept this fun and engaging.”
“She has been an absolute pleasure to have in branch, a wee super star, she has been a credit to herself and St Benedicts. If I had a Saturday job vacancy available I wouldn’t hesitate to contact Sienna.”
Another group of Year 10 students took part in the ProjX Work Awareness Programme. They were enlisted as BEC consultants on a genuine live project as part of a trailblazing project to create new leaders.
The 10 students formed project teams, spending five days at the Eagle Labs Cumbria based in The Bus Station on Bransty Row in Whitehaven where they were tasked with developing a real BEC project to turn an empty building into a community sound lab and event space that will be managed and run by used by the music charity, Soundwave on BEC’s behalf.
Mrs Kelso said:
“The Centre for Leadership performance have had a great impact on our pupils; thanks to their carefully thought out and well-resourced project. Our pupils gained a complete new skill set and their levels of confidence have increased volumes. Many thanks to Michelle and everyone who kindly gave their time to make this week a huge success.”
Another group of students spent their week with the Sellafield Fire & Rescue team. They achieved a recognised first aid qualification and offered references for future applications. Here they are receiving their certificates from Steven McKeown & Shaun Agnew from Sellafield.
Year 12 student have also been involved in a variety of activities. A group took part in a online placement via Speakers for School with Morgan Sindall.
Kelly Garrigan-Cooper from Speakers for School commented:
“I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to co-host your Year 12 group this week.”
“I work across a lot of different employers and with a vast number of young people and, I have to say, that these young people have been INCREDIBLE. They’ve been polite, hard-working, respectful, showed gratitude and generally just been an absolute joy to work with.”
