To think sending (academic Yr 10 pupils out on a weeks work experience is a waste of time).

[smokepole]

I can understand the point of work experience, for some pupils but surely the more academic pupils would be better off having the week in the classroom. My DDs 2 grammar form teacher agreed with me, along with all the difficulty in finding work placements and insurance implications. It surely can be of limited benefit for students who will mostly go in to higher education. I believe schools should be able to decide which students, would benefit from work experience . The schools should also be able to decide to opt out of the scheme, if they think there 15 year old pupils would benefit more in a classroom environment.

On the other hand for non academic pupils, it can be a pleasant change.
This was the case for pupils from DDs 1 secondary school, who in many cases actually enjoyed their week in industry. It is also more relevant to those students as most will not go in to higher education and therefore, helps them gain relevant experience early.

[BackforGood]

YABVU to think that the benefits or otherwise of doing work experience are in anyway related to the academic abilities of the youngster.

[smokepole]

Streaming. DD1 had a very positive experience when she completed the year 12 week and has found employment as a result.

I say year 10 is to young now, for various reasons not least because of insurance/ health and safety issues. It is also very relevant that the school leaving age is in reality 18 not 16. this is the reason why year 12 is the more appropriate age for work experience.

The comment about non academic ( its got nothing to do with being thick or bright) pupils benefiting more , well perhaps they can enjoy seeing something different. The work experience could also be linked to vocational qualifications for students pupils going down that route. ( What about sending some students for a week to a UTC) . They would be able to try their hands at specialist education not usually available in mainstream schools.

My DDs attitude was very good, It was not because of any entitled or lack of work ethic, there were legal restrictions on what as a 15 year old girl she could have done. My DD would have been perfectly able to have done the work, but legally not allowed to.

Tilly. I was thinking about starting a thread titled:

"Am I unreasonable" To think my brother is a "shit" to spend £130K on a Porsche and not pay my mortgage or pay DDs Uni fees. Ha Ha Ha

[taxi4ballet]

Work experience is about learning that a job is a job. It may well be mind-numbingly boring... that's why employers pay employees to do it. How will an 'academic' youngster know whether accountancy is for them unless they have actually experienced beancounting?

Work experience is all about discovering that a JOB means doing that job properly. It is work.

Employers aren't interested in giving you marks out of 100 for your efforts, they just want the job done.

[sashh]

You are talking out of your arse OP

If someone is thinking of becoming a Dr then I would pref they found out they can't stand the sight of blood at school than after 2 years of theory at uni.

Also education is about more than 'being academic', any experience at that age is useful.

[IrianofWay]

Goodness, how extremely patronising.

FWIW DD is on a week's work experience this week. She has just done her mock GCSEs and has got mostly As so I think she counts as 'academic'. As she is going to use her academic ability to be a vet she is spending her week at a vets! How is that a waste of time?

I really don't understand what you are getting at OP, unless you think all yr 10s get to work with horny-handed sons of toil and practice tugging their forlocks at the local gentry.

[BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted]

I work for a company which is happy to provide a week's work-placement for school students. Arrangements are made so that each one gets the most out of it that possibly they can.

Any young person, academic or not, should find an introduction to the world of work a useful experience. Even if it means they decide that what our particular industry does is of no interest them (creative and spectacularly difficult to get an entry-level paid position in). Some students value what they are offered and a rare few don't realise the fantastic opportunity they are being given and waste their time with us.

Even talented and hard-working graduates have to start real work eventually. If the school aren't terribly good at finding decent placements for their students they need to try harder. If even their own parents don't understand the value of a placement it's hardly surprising when their children don't value it either. I think such parents are fools.

[SapphireMoon]

I think work experience probably good for all children. As a teenager our school didn't do this but I had holiday jobs which included cleaning pub toilets etc. Also bit of sandwich making, dog walking, filing as well as babysitting. No child should think themselves above any form of work experience however academic they are.
Good for children/ teenagers to get a glimpse of work and society outside school.
Can you imagine how up themselves some children could get if think above work experience? Get them cleaning toilets and stacking shelves!!!

[IrianofWay]

Can I just add that DD has had more than enough of the classroom this term. The pressure has been piled on endlessly to get them through these stupid mocks. And work experience is reminding her why she's going through all this hassle in the first place.

In fact my unacademic DS1 was the one who got the least from WE. In fact for him it was an utter waste of time,

[BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted]

"Can you imagine how up themselves some children could get if think above work experience?"


Some of them already are! None of this grafting 40 hours a week for years on end to earn some kind of advancement. A few of them think they should start as the Managing Director on a hundred grand a year at 18 when they actually know FA and can contribute a great deal less than FA.

[SapphireMoon]

Agreed Bitter.. there is an unfortunate arrogance in some youth [I know that sounds patronising but I believe it is true].
Mens pub toilets are not pleasant and my 16 year old self did not enjoy it. However, at no point did I think I was above it.

[jessabell]

They stopped doing it when son year 10. Wish they hadnt as sister had the experience. It shiws them what the real world about.

[bigTillyMint]

A week? Ours have to do two

I didn't do any back in the Dark Ages, although I chose to volunteer in a Primary school on a Wednesday afternoon in sixth form as I wanted to be a teacher.

FWIW, my friends DD (who was moaning a lot about it before) just really really enjoyed her 2 weeks in a shop/café.

[magpiegin]

From reading a number of threads on here I think a lot of parents are in for a shock when they realise that the real world of Higher education and work might not be rosy for their academic children. There are lots that can't hack it and end up with normal 'entry level' jobs. There will be a lot of crossover between the people you call academic and the ones less so in the next 5-10 years so I don't think their needs in year 10 when it comes to work experience should be different.

[SapphireMoon]

Yup, not all graduates end up with glittering careers.
I certainly didn't but seem to have survived!
Not rich but heh ho...

[gamescompendium]

I think it's probably good for most children. It's a pain as an employer though, we take on quite a few work experience kids but in a week they can't do much except watch people do their work (I'm a scientist). Year in Industry (or a year working between school and university) is a much more valuable experience IMHO, we have time to train the students up to do real and valuable work. The good students have lots of experience to show other employers when they graduate as well (I know, I was a year in industry student many years ago, it's one of the most valuable things I ever did).

[Delphiniumsblue]

Those going into higher education are going to have to work!

[AllHailTheBigPurpleOne]

YABVVU
I was an academic year 10 pupil once. I got sent on work experience in a zoo. I loved it.
I got 4 As at A level. Got my first class degree and......
got a job in a zoo again.
If it hadn't been for work experience at school I would never have even known it could be a career.
Best. Job. Ever.

After my little one turns three I fully intend to chase that
Area of work again.

[Hakluyt]

They always used to say that a lady should be able to do all domestic tasks- how else would she be able to direct her staff?

[SapphireMoon]

???
Hakluyt

[MsVenus]

I work in a very professional environment where we get lots of work experience kids. I am surprised at how clueless a lot of them are about how to dress & conduct themselves in a work environment regardless of educational background.

OP where do you think these special academic pupils will go to work eventually after leaving the hallowed halls of academia?

Back in the general workplace doing jobs like everybody else.

[MrsBW]

I was very 'academic'

My 2 weeks work experience made me realise that what I wanted to do as a job at 15 didn't suit me At All.

It was a very valuable experience

UABVVVVU.

[cricketballs]

Work experience isn't just about the career you are interested in, it is more to do with the reality of life! Whether that means making the tea as you are the bottom of the ladder or not.

year 10 is the perfect time for WE as this gives them the reality of what the world is like, what they are due to face before they make wrong decisions re work ethic, post 16 choices etc

[morethanpotatoprints]

I think the academic ones need it more tbh.
They may be bright but that doesn't mean to say they are practical and quite often it is the bright ones that employers complain about.
some have no common sense and need to be spoon fed, whereas the less academic are quite usually practical with good common sense.
at one time they were known as academic idiots and many employers were doubtful of employing them.

[SapphireMoon]

Years and years ago I worked for some time as a health care assistant in a hospital. The snottiest looks and remarks I got were from student [taking degree] nurses.
I think somehow, children should have instilled in them, that all jobs are of worth and being academic does not make you better than anyone else.
I was pretty academic [not that they knew] but this was the job I was doing and I put my all into it. It made me furious to see how these young upstarts looked down on men and women, sometimes twice their age.

[BakingWithToddlerand3YO]

Congratulations, my very first