To refuse to let dc go on work experience with school?

[Workexperiencetree]

Bear with me.
Last year DC1 was in a mixed age group. As a result when the year tens were sent on work experience year nine went too.
Dc1 found a placement their self (they didn't get help) in February and on the Friday before they were supposed to go in July school had not sorted any of the risk assessment forms. DC1 had been in contact with the placement on a regular basis and ended up looking rubbish as the placement were waiting for months for school to get in touch which they did demanding everything be sorted immediately for dc to start.

Some children couldn't find a placement and stayed in school. They carried on lessons and revision sessions as normal. Some children only did one week so got a week of revision. This affected DC1 end of term exams as they missed two full weeks.

This year DC1 is in year ten and has been told they have to go again. They are going in February so realistically we have around five weeks to find a suitable placement and as they want to work in schools most are now closed until the 9th January .

Dc has done two full weeks of a mixed role from reception to community work to teaching type roll. Dc also volunteers every week in a position working similar to what they want to do as an adult.

Wibu to insist DC1 stays in school?

It might not be specifically applicable to an employe 10 years down the line - but isn't real life in terms of working important? The fact that most jobs are mundane, you may have to turn up 8-5 and be bored all day? Education is not just about qualifications, but also about informing/experiencing real life..*

I have never had a mundane job that involved turning up from 8-5 to be bored all day. If the work experience teaches children that work is boring then I certainly don't see how it is beneficial (unless it inspires them to work harder at school so that they have an interesting career that doesn't involve being bored all day).

The point of going to school is mostly to obtain qualifications rather than "experience real life". Obviously, pupils may as well do work experience if the alternative involves sitting around twiddling thumbs but in year 10, that is unlikely - there are usually much more useful things pupils could be doing (e.g. revising for exams).