Purbeck Year 12: Growing with Work Experience
During February, the whole of our Year 12 cohort completed a week of work experience to broaden their knowledge of different working environments and develop new skills. Placements were incredibly varied and in most cases career-supporting. These included roles at legal practices, accountants, vets, hospitals, schools, estate management including with the National Trust, technology companies and the local Purbeck Film Festival. And while many of these were local, some students travelled to Devon, Surrey, south Wales and London, with another two in Spain and the United States!
We would like to thank all of the employers who supported these placements and helped to further enhance our students’ opportunities.
Here are the accounts of two students, Eliesha (left) and Flo (right).
Eliesha
For my work experience, I went to Dorset County Hospital for two days to do Speech and Language Therapy. It was so interesting to see what the therapists do and their daily activities. All the staff were lovely! I have been told in Year 13 that I can have another opportunity to do a placement in my chosen department in my own time. I think it's great to have been offered this and I will definitely use this opportunity.
For the next two days of my work experience, I went to Lulworth and Winfrith Primary School to be an assistant to the teachers. This was a very interesting opportunity and I really enjoyed my placement. It was a very good, well-organised environment to work in and everyone was very welcoming. Daily activities included helping the children with their classroom activities and helping with a PE session.
Flo Whiting
As an aspiring teacher, I decided to do work experience at Stoborough Primary school (which was also my previous school). From the moment I walked in the doors, the staff welcomed me back with open arms and made a large effort to make me feel like one of them. I spent the week assisting in the Year 3 otter class and slipped into the school environment really well with huge thanks to the warm-hearted pupils and teachers.
My days followed a similar pattern: each morning I would walk down to the school and was greeted warmly by the kind reception staff. I would then join the pupils in morning assembly where they would be introduced to a new weekly theme relating to the school’s core values of confidence, compassion and curiosity. Over my week here, I could see how well the school has centred their learning around these values, helping to shape young children into incredible individuals. After morning assembly, I would spend the morning helping the pupils with their learning which would include topics like English, handwriting, maths, times tables and much more. After a morning of learning, I spent each lunchtime with the teachers and this time gave me the opportunity to discuss how they got into this career and their experiences in teaching. Each afternoon would consist of learning a humanity subject which was really lovely as it allowed the children to explore more creative subjects.
I found this placement really beneficial because it has helped me to visualise myself in this field of work and has made me realise just how much I enjoy working with and teaching children. It was also really beneficial because I had to sort out my own placement, meaning I had to make contact and discuss the details myself which was really good to improve my communication skills. I had a fabulous week of work experience at Stoborough primary School and would highly recommend this placement to anyone considering teaching as a future career.