Dear Parent /Carer
Please be advised that we have officially launched the Work Experience (WEX) process with Year 12 today in an assembly. Understandably, we delayed the launch of WEX from October 2021 until now in line with recent Government guidelines concerning C-19 protocol.
We passionately encourage our students to organise their own work experience placement, wherever possible. The student benefits are greater if it is organised in an area they are considering pursuing a career in. It also gives them valuable experience to reference during a University or Apprenticeship application and for their CV. We strongly advise you to encourage your son/daughter to do as much of the preparation on this as possible.
Previous years have seen 65% of our students successfully attending their own organised placements with the other 35% selecting from a menu of locally sourced placement by the Medway Education Business Partnership (MEBP). We appreciate that some employers may still be covid wary and reluctant to offer places, but hope that by the summer term this will have improved. However, if your son /daughter fails to obtain something independently they can select from an MEBP placement for Work Experience, but please note that their career scope can be limited and availability is not guaranteed. Feedback from students has always been more positive from those who sourced their own placements.
Students are required to complete an ‘Own Placement Information Form’ with details of their chosen placement on a Google form, available under the Year 12 Google classroom Work Experience Tab. It is also available on the School Website under Sixth Form, Work Experience where you can also find the WEX presentation and a number of FAQs that you may wish to read.
Please be aware of the need to adhere to strict deadlines for providing me with Own Placement information. We are contractually obliged to meet these deadlines, which are not negotiable. They are set by MEBP, our agents, who have to carry out Health and Safety checks on each of the workplaces, so that we know that our students are in a safe environment.
For students organising their own placement outside Kent, (i.e. London, but not beyond) the deadline for providing me with the placement information is Friday 29th April 2022.
For students organising a placement within Kent, the deadline is Friday the 13th May 2022.
This is a fantastic opportunity for students to start networking and to gain a worthwhile Work Experience with post 18 Destinations in mind. Students with work experience, rather than an experience of work, will have an advantage over students not undertaking such an event and this will serve them well in a competitive job market.
Students must attend their Work Experience Placement for the whole week and should not book any appointments during their time with the company i.e. driving lessons. The expectation of employers and the school is that they attend full time. Absences must be reported to the school and the employer. Each placement has an organisation fee of £35 which the school will cover. Should a student fail to attend an organised placement we will seek reimbursement for this fee.
For placements arranged by the student (not MEBP) there is also an associated Health and Safety inspection cost (currently £30-75 per head, per placement). Should your son/daughter wish to arrange their own placement we request you support us by making a voluntary donation of £30, via Wisepay, by the placement deadlines noted above. Details on how to pay are on the school website under Wisepay/Shop.
If you experience any problems logging into Wisepay please refer to the “Help Using Wisepay” link at the bottom left of the Wisepay page, or email office@sjwms.org.uk
If you work in an organisation that would be prepared to offer work experience to one of our sixth form students, please contact me with details, by email, to elizabeth.hill@sjwms.org.uk In particular, but not limited to, Legal, Finance, Medical, Veterinary. All of these areas desire relevant work experience on University applications but can be hard for students to obtain.
We hope that you will be able to support the school and your child in this experience. If you or your child have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs E Hill | Work Experience Coordinator
