Welcome to the Year 10 Work Experience Page.

Please scroll down to find;

• Key Dates for Year 10 Work Experience
• Information about Year 10 Work Experience
• Some ideas to help you find a placement
• Suggestions where you can get help
• How to let us know about the placement you have found
• Some Frequently Asked Questions – along with the answers
• Our Work Experience Entitlement Statement (updated June 2021)
• Contact email addresses for the people in school who manage the Work Experience programme

Key Dates for Year 10 Work Experience

The specific dates for Y10 Work Experience vary each year.

We will send the dates and all the information via email to parents and carers. This email is usually sent at the end of Y9, or at the very beginning of Y10.

Information about Year 10 Work Experience

At Eckington School, students in Year 10 are able to take part in one full week of work experience.

Work experience offers many benefits and opportunities. In particular, it helps students to:

• Start to develop, and to see in action, the key employability skills of leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication;
• Improve self-reliance, flexibility and the ability to work with others;
• Learn about the world of work and gain an insight into the skills and attitudes required by employers.

Work experience can be incredibly rewarding and has, in past years, been shown to:

• Help students make informed career decisions
• Provide evidence for personal goals
• Develop students Key Skills
• Led to employers writing references for future applications and even offering part-time employment.

Some ideas to help you find a placement

At Eckington School we encourage students to find their own work experience placements and to begin their search as soon as the work experience programme is launched.

Students can access help with this on the Year 10 Work Experience page of the school SharePoint site ‘Careers Research Library Online’

Some ideas how you can help your child find a Work Experience placement:

• Talk about what type of company or organisation they might like to work in and then find out if there are any in your area. This can be done on the internet, or on social media. Don’t forget the importance of asking people you know to help them find a placement too.
• Encourage your child to either e-mail or telephone the company to politely enquire if they could accommodate them for work experience. Help them prepare by thinking about why they are interested in spending a week at the company and also what skills they might be able to bring to the company. Your child can find templates to help with these emails and conversations on the Careers Research Library Online
• Once your child is offered a placement, you can help them by discussing how they will travel to and from the placement; will they take a bus/tram or walk? Will they make alternative travel arrangements?

Suggestions where you can get help

If your child is unsure where they would like to spend their work experience week, there are lots of people and resources available in school to help them. They can;

• Speak to Mrs Warren-Armes at lunchtimes in the Careers Office (in 6^th Form)
• Drop in to see the schools’ Independent Careers Advisor, Mr Holloway, on Tuesdays at lunchtime in the Information Centre
• Talk to Mrs Moor, Eckington Schools’ Careers Leader
• Talk to their Form Tutor, whom they see every morning
• Ask their subject teachers for ideas on work experience related to their favourite subjects in school
• Students can also access a dedicated page on the school SharePoint site called ‘Careers Research Library Online’ (at home, or in school) to research career options and get ideas for work experience placements too

How to let us know about the placement you have found

We encourage students to start securing a placement straight away. Once confirmed, all work experience placements are checked by Derbyshire County Council (DCC) for suitability, insurance cover and a risk assessment performed, before the placement can begin. This process can take up to ten weeks.

Update 2nd September 2022: DCC will only visit work placements within Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and Rotherham. If the placement you have secured is outside of these areas, then you may have to pay a charge for another agency to carry out the visit, and will need to give us at least twelve weeks notice. Please contact Mrs Warren-Armes urgently to discuss the details. s.warren-armes@eck.leap-mat.org.uk 

 

Once the employer has agreed the placement, you or your child must complete the Work Experience Booking Form (available from Mrs Warren-Armes via email, or on paper from the Year office, or Mrs Warren-Armes in school). Mrs Warren-Armes will then arrange for the necessary checks to be done.  There is a deadline for the Work Experience placements to be received. This will also be communicated in the email.

Once all the checks have been completed, and DCC have approved the placement, we then need your consent as Parent or Carer. At this point we will also ask if there are any medical details, or any other supportive information, that you would like us to pass on to the employer.

 

If you would like any further information on Eckington School’s work experience programme, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Warren-Armes in the first instance.

Don’t forget…

… all work experience is useful, even if it isn’t directly related to what your child wants to do as a career. Students should see their work experience not in isolation but as part of their overall education and preparation for adult life. They should use their experiences positively to enhance their studies in school, broaden their knowledge of the world of work and start them on their way to planning a successful future.

Some Frequently Asked Questions – along with the answers

 

Q: Can my child in Year 10 go on work experience with a family member?

A: Yes, however all placements need to get checked by DCC, so we will need all the details in advance – at least ten weeks.

 

Q: I am self employed, can my child work with me for the week? 

A: Yes, however please know that as it’s during school time, you (or the person working with the child) must have current Employers Liability Insurance (ELI) which is valid for the full period of the work experience placement. You may be able to purchase ELI for the duration of work experience, but we must see a valid certificate to get the placement approved.

 

Q: I work from home. Can my child spend their work experience week with me?

A: Yes, however, as it’s during school time, you must have current Employers Liability Insurance (ELI) which is valid for the full period of the work experience placement. You may be able to purchase ELI for the duration of work experience, but we must see a valid certificate to get the placement approved.

Q: My child’s friend is going to a placement, if the company agrees, can my child go too?

A: This will be reviewed on an individual basis. Please email Mrs Warren-Armes to give her the information for discussion with the Leader of Student Development.

 

Q: The placement can only offer my child two/three/four days of work experience during the allocated week. Can they still go? 

A: Yes. Please let Mrs Warren-Armes know the details and she will work with your child to find an additional placement for the remaining days (Yr 10 lessons will be cancelled that week, so your child will need to have a work experience placement for every day). 

 

Q: What about Covid19 restrictions?

A: We will of course always follow the current government guidance with regards to work experience and placements. Any changes to the dates, or plans for work experience will be communicated via email as soon as is practicable. In the meantime, we are planning ahead and preparing for Y10 work experience to take place.

 

If you have a question that’s not covered here, please let Mrs Warren-Armes know – thank you! 

You can also read our Work Experience Entitlement Statement (updated June 2021)

 

Thank you.

Mrs S Warren-Armes (Employer Engagement Manager): s.warren-armes@eck.leap-mat.org.uk

Mrs Laura Moor  (Careers Leader): laura.moor@eck.leap-mat.org.uk