I don't want ds to do work experience.

[Alouisee]

He's in year ten and has been told that for two weeks in July he must find a placement. He has contacted two bike shops but they havn't even replied.

I'm not keen on pushing him to contact lots of potential placements just so he can become an unpaid slave for a fortnight.

I feel that the school like to clear the decks in the summer with the residentials taking place and work experience happening. I'm quite happy to arrange some tutoring for him for those two weeks but I'm feeling a bit of a chicken about telling the school that work experience is for their benefit and not for the benefit of my son.

Anyone a teacher and got an opinion or a parent and been in this situation.

Op. You never explained that he wanted to go into mining! Of course he can't go down a mine until 16, actually I think it might be older than that ;)

I've heard that too, Titanic, along with the fact that they respect students who've bothered to earn money themselves whilst at school and that they would rather a student spent a gap year in a real, dull job than going to the antipodes 'on mummy and daddy's money' (that last is verbatim).

OP, there are plenty of kids in rural areas who get paid jobs, it's very short-sighted to prevent him doing a paper round which he clearly wants to do because you feel he has to work like an automaton 'to get results'. That paper round, if sustained, could be worth more to him than a couple of extra grades - but you'd probably find it made not a jot of difference to his grades in any event. Indeed your insistence on work and more work is highly likely to backfire.

FWIW mine have done extra work experience in holidays and half-terms beyond the school set weeks and a significant portion of each of their Personal Statements have been pretty much based on what they did, learned and observed (and the PS's have all produced the desired result). The eldest referred back to some of her work experience in her application to one of the top City law firms and again, it yielded results.

If your objection is that work experience will be dull, make some suggestions for placements that you don't think will be dull! (though as lots of posts have said, dull has a quality all of its own :)). As for the justification that giving him lifts will mess up your day....

It takes a huge amount of effort for schools to administer the work experience programme, and schools need to deal with the logistics of all the things going on in different year groups - that's exactly why all the groups are out at one time. Sensible and efficient, so why not?

Am I the only person who thinks that WE in mining sounds very interesting? I wish I had done that when I was younger! My WE was filing books in the stacks of a library, and I learned a lot about arriving on time, dressing for a job, breaks, pacing myself, getting on in teams, being the butt of banter, talking to strangers etc Nothing fancy and nothing much different from working in a greasy spoon, but actually really really important life lessons.

If your son is extremely average and he has to work extremely hard to get good results, it is even more important to build up his CV in order to compete with people with better grades.

He can stand out by mentioning interesting WE on his CV which proves he is a go-getter and grafter. Working in a greasy spoons as a 15 year old, does make you stand out in a very positive way, as it is exactly the person they are looking to employ.

Work experience is good for your child. It will teach him what it is like in the real world. There are so many skills he can learn from work experience that he cannot learn in the classroom.
He needs to be rounded in life, he needs to be able to relate to adults, he needs to see what a real job entails.
Even if he has a boring job for two weeks, it will still teach him something. Let him do it...teachers will not appreciate you saying that you will get extra tutoring for him instead of work experience.
Somtimes work experiences can be related to what the child wants to do later in life other times it can't be facilitated for whatever reason but that still is not a reason to opt out.

Could he do work experience with the tutor?

I would have thought if he is only average and has plans for a non-average career it would extra important for him to start as early as possible adding extra job seeking skills; he will need something to give him an edge over and above those other students who achieved his GCSE results with ease.

Dd is also hoping to work in a career that she cannot possibly gain direct work experience in at her age. But there are literally hundreds of jobs where she can get general work experience skills: the skills involved in getting the placement in the first place, in developing initiative and ability to deal with other adults who are not there specifically to look after her and have no special training in doing so. All those are transferable, if the actual details are not.

I agree with all the other posters about the value of work experience.

You will also make your son a laughing stock amongst his friends if you stop him doing it because he can't get a job that is 'good enough for him' and make him work with a tutor instead.

Sorry about the quote marks, didn't mean to imply that you had actually said this.

misshappiness makes a good point: your ds is not only going to have to explain the lack of WE on his CV to future employers, he will also have to explain it to his mates- so will it be "my mum didn't think there'd be any jobs good enough for me" or "I'm the only one in the school who can't afford to take time off revision"? Either way, it won't make him look very big- which does matter to teen lads.

Don't get why people think WE at 14 is important for a cv, really?? Who on earth would care what a child did at 14?

Brian - graduate applicants i interviewed had an amazing amount of stuff on their CV's. Mind boggling, but it is really, really competitive out there. Anything which adds to all round skills and demonstration of these is important.

Strictly - fair enough, think I'm just old At mine all they care about is 24 points a 2.1 at least and the results from the recruitment centres.

I appreciate it has other benefits though - learning exactly how dull some jobs are is good to know and also getting there on time/dress code/working with others etc.

I don't agree that we is important for his cv, but I completely agree thatvany kind of we, whether it be washing up, office tea boy, whatever is important for life skills.

Most teenagers don't have the best jobs, but they learn the value of money earning their own and they learn about teamwork, punctuality and many other things listed by pp's.

It does sound like you are being precious about any kind of work for him. I also don't see why he can't have a job while doing a levels. It doesn't have to be too many hours, but would make a massive difference to his cv.

one girl I teach was a published author by 13, has skuba diving qualifications, has been to Africa as part of a charity holiday and has been on work experience in a hospital for a year....

She is exceptional but that's just one of any in my state comp who impress me.

Go, compete....

doh! not any but many

oh, and yes, her first WE was medical related....

LOL Migrating - i have seen application forms with all that stuff on and go . Just amazing what some of these kids have done.

Brian, i think we are in the same industry and agree re Qualifications getting them through the first hurdle, but when demonstrating competencies at interview, experiences of 'proper work' are pretty important. Well at least for our lot. Maybe not with our rubbish competitors

Same here Sazz, I am astounded at some of the CVs I have seen, I don't think I'd even get an interview if I was applying for my job now, it is very very competitive out there!!

Having said that at interview a lot of them didn't live up to their CVs which was disappointing.

Brian my friends Dd with a first got turned down for a job because her A levels weren't good enough. It's madness out there.

Yes... I also don't think I would stand a chance sarting out now

Not with that spelling Migrating

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