To not allow DC to go on work experience?

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One of my dc is 14 and is year 9. Because of the school set up (first year they have had year nines and only a handful of them) all year nine and year 10 are all being sent on work placement the same two weeks. DC will do work experience twice again due to school set up.

They have been told ten weeks before the work experience date about it (we did not think dc would do it until next year) and it is blooming nightmare as they are NOT helping them find anywhere or even helping with contacts, the kids have to do it themselves.

I have NO issue with this apart from the fact that from experience you have to apply months and months in advance for anywhere decent and dc knows what they want to be so I resent sending them somewhere irrelevant when dc is struggling academically in some core areas at the moment due to endless supply teachers in a couple of core subjects and some sen.

Soo is it a right of passage to be sent somewhere crap and miss two weeks of school or should I stand my ground and help her find somewhere proper for next year?

I was not expecting them to sort work experience for all pupils but from my experience of working in school we certainly had a list of places pupils had been previously, contact emails and at least tried to help point those who may need help in a relevant direction.

Ohhh judgy, yes I definitely cannot be arsed Motherofdragons, that is why since the message came home on Friday I have helped sen dc to write a decent email and helped them contact all the relevant places within two hours of here where they could go which would be suitable and used contacts through my own work who might be able to help and helped them contact a backup which is totally irrelevant to what they want to do but better than nothing.

DC already has a Saturday job and also helps at events with me so they have work experience of a sort.

Hence why they are desperate to go somewhere relevant to what they want to do.

Placements in the field they want to work in are hard to get and usually months in advance.

and as you can see from my last post I am not being negative in front of dc and doing everything I can to help them...

Unless you have a designated work experience coordinator at your DC's school you are asking a hell of a lot from someone who's likely to double up as teacher or admin assistant and has hundreds of kids to organise. Stop moaning and get on with it.

Can you give us an idea of the field... people here may be able to make some suggestions.

Sorry to be so cynical but although I think WE may be useful in year 10 or 11 I think year 9 is too young , some of them with June or July birthdays may only be 13. It sounds awful but it almost seems like a good way to get year 9s out of school for a couple of weeks.At that age I would rather my dc were consolidating any gaps in the basics before GCSES start in earnest in year 10

Yabu and negative, defeatist and modelling unrealistic expectations to your child.

In the real world of work there are people with post-graduate qualifications working in nmw jobs that bear no relation to their qualifications and experience.

This experience will teach her/encourage:

Motivation
Self discipline
Reliability
Interacting with others in a work environment
Adaptability
Applying what she's learnt in school to work

I've done many different jobs from production line to nursing to administerial management, there are skills that are needed in ALL jobs and skills that are adjustable.

Work experience I did while at school/college included at a school, in a lab and in a call centre.

Don't focus on the career they currently fancy (which is likely to change several times in next few years anyway), focus on the skills and experiences they'd like to acquire and encourage them to apply to companies that can provide some of these experiences.

YABU

it's not about two weeks photocopying and making tea, it's about learning to work with other adults who aren't parents or teachers, about the expectations of the world of work, that they might get away with things in school but won't in the real world

If your child has your attitude, WE is EXACTLY what they need

Okay, I'm going to say YANBU! It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for teachers to do some work with small classes, consolidating and filling in any gaps in the Year 9's education. If it is genuinely a small number, none of the teachers would need to do a huge amount and could still do the things they need to do in that fortnight with the support of SLT to ensure enough 'free' time.

Disclaimer: I know teachers are going to be working hard during work experience and not going to be using the time to put their feet up! I feel however that with appropriate input from SLT this work could still be covered adequately.

How come there are so few year nines but a full complement (I'm assuming) of year 10 OP?

So start looking now for next year so they can get into their chosen sector, and for now, tell them everything can be a learning experience and to make the most of it. Unless you want to homeschool them for two weeks. They'll do nothing if you send them into school.

I don't know if they do it in your DC school but when I did work ex one of my placements fell through so instead we went to school and helped out in the art dept (I asked for it to be the art dept) and also caught up on my mock gcse work in art and any other subject that I needed to catch up in. This was 10 years ago so might of changed the rules!

Oh gosh my daughter is 10 and has learning difficulties and developmental delay, and high anxiety,she goes to a special school, I am really worried about this aspect. I don't know if they do work experience at her school, but I am worried about her when she gets older and what she will do for work, will she work? How she will manage.

Work experience is one of those misunderstood things. Parents seem to think it some form of internship for a future career. It isn't. It's another forum for life skills, adult skills. Having organised it myself for many years I can hand-on-heart say I never met a child who didn't benefit from it. Their attitude complete changed once they returned to school having been treated like adults and given some responsibility. If you cant grasp that, then you are doing your child a complete disservice.

DD had a blast when she did it...really enjoyed a bit of freedom! She (and I) tried really hard to get somewhere and just couldn't - had absolutely no success but school found her somewhere in the end. I'd urge you to encourage your kids to do it if they get the chance.

Ok so IABU fair enough, I am incredibly stressed about it, both my dc have sen including anxiety, ringing up lots of strangers will seem like an impossible task for them, work placement itself is going to be very hard as they really struggle with new places although dc will be fine when they get there.

Several of the applications have come back already as a no due to the high number of applicants and deadline passed already.

I missed out on work experience because my parents CBA to help me sort it out.

TBF school were rubbish too.

YANBU. Two weeks in year 9 is daft. It looks to me to be a way to avoid teaching them for a couple of weeks. Many WE placements are a waste of time for students as they are not allowed to do a lot as they are so young - many things are restricted to 16+. What workplace can provide worthwhile activities for a 13 year old for two weeks? If you wanted to take your child out for a two week holiday the school would probably tell you that missing lessons was harmful to their education.
Ask what the teachers are doing in this time and what they expect the students to be learning.

due to endless supply teachers in a couple of core subjects

Welcome to the reality of the Conservative education cuts. This is not the schools fault. There simply aren't enough teachers.

Wrt work experience, having a placement anywhere is better than no placement.

DS learned a lopt from work experience, despie it being a bog standard office job type place and not remotely connected to anything he wants to do.

He learned to organise himself, to travel independently, to adapt his clothing to the specific norms of the business, and that boredom is survivable. He loved the independence of going out to get his lunch, join in a bit of banter around the office, but also exactly what is appropriate in a work environment and what is not. he learned about a timetable governed by tasks that had to be done, rather than by bells, and he learned the importance of doing even trivial things right in a customer-facing role.

he learned NOTHING that was 'specifically relevant to his future work' and LOTS that was relevant to all work.

However, year 9 is TERRIBLY young.

Ponderland that happened at my DD's school a few years back when she did WE. You could do it at the school if you liked - as a TA in a subject you liked or in the office/student services. My DD2 who has mild SEN elected to do this. Or you could go to the primary school down the road.

When my eldest did it she got WE with a friend in a clothes shop - it was a real eye opener for her. She had to stand all day even when the shop was empty, only got a break every 6 hours, bags checked before leaving, had to clean the shop floor etc. It really motivated my DD do do better at school and she appreciates how hard working in retail is.

They will be doing it in Y9 because the reformed National Curriculum will make doing it in Y10 an exceptionally bad idea. It will NOT be because teachers want a jolly

I am almost sure, any youngster would be more than welcome at a local charity shop, or animal rescue centre if all else fails.

i'd have thought young people , especially those with SN would enjoy either

I did not suggest in the slightest the teachers want a jolly Trifle! and they are doing it in year 9 AND year 10. Year 10s are out at the same time. Year 9s are going because they "might as well" as all year 10 will be out.

Jessbow where we are - none of the charity shops or rescue centres would take year 9's.

Same Dahlaaa
I have already tried a couple of animal type places which isn't relevant but which dc would enjoy and get something from and they have said no as in year 9.

They're very young to be doing work placements IME.

My parents didn't allow me to WE, the roles on offer were rubbish. I worked at my Saturday job for 2 weeks and got paid for it.