6. Work Experience

Work Experience and Provider Access Log 25/26

Date(s) of activity	Year Group	Name of Provider	Sector	Activity Details	Student Comments	Total time for activity
24 – 28.11.25	Yr11	Premier Inn	Hospitality	Housekeeping duties Customer service	Showed strong teamwork and communication skills with colleagues, was a good experience but not for me.	20hrs
24-28.11.25	Yr11	Droitwich Auctions	Retail	Preparing items for auction	Good experience showed enthusiasm for learning new skills. Worked effectively as part of a team.	25hrs
24 – 28.11.25	Yr11	Hillend cattle farm Malvern	Agricultural	Feeding and caring for the cattle	Demonstrated responsibility when handling livestock, worked well as part of a team.	45hrs
16 & 17.12.25	Yr11	Internal Culinary skills within school	Culinary skills	the ability to prepare and cook food, encompassing core techniques like knife work, heat application (roasting, sautéing, etc.)	Was good to have first had experience from the food tech teacher within the school, preparing food for the school Christmas dinner.	12 hrs

Experiences of workplaces

Every student should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing/ work experience so they can explore their career opportunities and expand their networks.

By the age of 16, where appropriate, every student should have had at least one experience of a workplace, additional to any part-time job they may have.

Why this matters:

Students who have a SEMH plan may need some simple changes to learning, work processes and environments.
Transition preparation is a key benefit as this can be a particular challenge. With proper support, young people can develop the appropriate skills to cope with these situations.
Research shows that work experience is effective in enabling young people to make successful move from school to further education, training or self-employment.
Work experience can demonstrate the capabilities of young people while providing them with first-hand knowledge of the working environment.
Businesses are looking for more than just qualifications.
Employers, value a positive working attitude, an understanding of a business and its customers and real work experience. All of this can be developed whilst still at school.

School practice:

School will ensure work experience where appropriate. This could be inhouse or external as it is a real work location. It will support an appropriate balance of challenge and support for identified pupils. Internal work experience can provide opportunities to help them develop work related skills, confidence and self-esteem.
School will agree the level of support necessary for the student and employer. If necessary, then school could provide training for the employer.
After the work placement a full debriefing for the employer, school and student to help improve on future work experiences.
School will provide a 1:1 support throughout the external work experience, unless agreed otherwise.
Students may complete their work experience over a course of a year, term, half termly, weeks or a day dependent on their needs.

Meaningful work experience at Riversides School

External:

Local barbers
Local hotel-reception
Working with the Duckworth Trust-litter picking
Office work-administrational duties
Local shops-customer service
Local cafes-waiting, preparation, serving
Farm placement-caring for animals, cooking, working on machinery, working in their onsite shop

Internal:

TA in Primary
Site manager-painting and decorating, upkeep of the grounds, general maintenance
Food Tec-food preparation
Construction/ Bush Craft-utilising a range of skills to create items to sell
Online support

Other experiences:

Employer visits into school
Visits to a range of companies
Apprenticeship talks to all Year 10 and 11 students
Enterprise event-Christmas Fair-all students design, make and sell items at our fair. They then look at how they could have improved their outcomes

We will always strive to find work experience to suit our students’ interests, goals and needs.