World of Work Week
In June 2022, Year 10 were thrust in to the World of Work Week. The World of Work Week was an immersive experience to the post 16 pathways of education, employment and training that is available to them. This week is part of the careers curriculum that is embedded throughout each year groups personal development journey whilst at Halewood Academy. The World of Work Week will form the basis and foundations of a stable careers programme that allows students to flourish when they commence their face to face work experience that Halewood Academy is committed too. We seek the best for our students, and this is one small example of how it is achieved.
Year 10 were taken through a range of activities and visits over 5 days that ensured they had meaningful encounters with employers, became aware of the labour market information, developed skills they need for the future and attended webinars on how the world of work is changing. Students also took part in sessions that gave them impartial information and advice on their career and educational pathway. The Gatsby Benchmarks that are used to assess the quality of the careers programme that we offer were all well and truly achieved for Year 10 through this experience.
One Day 1 - Students were taken to Cronton College for the annual sampling day. They were able to choose 4 different subjects to study for the day ranging from Beauty to Biology, Motor Vehicle to Media Make Up, English to Engineering and Game Design to Geography. Students were impeccable and 95% of them stated not only that they are enjoyed it, but it helped them understand a possible post 16 pathway available to them with the variety of courses available.
One Day 2 was named “The Preparation Day” for students being recommended for their work experience later in the year. Students took part in an application form writing masterclass which would be used during a personal 1-2-1 mock interview later in the week. Students also had the opportunity to meet 17 employers from various sectors such as Law, Politics, Healthcare, Construction, Engineering, Computer Digital Design, Beauty and the Music Industry. Students were able to have significant in-depth encounters with professionals and discuss what their day job is like, the pros and the cons, along with what was the most popular question of “how much could I earn?”.
One Day 3 was pitched to students as “The Taster Day” and students experienced a range of taster events through a virtual work experience package. Students were able to choose between Mersey Travel, Cadent Gas, The Richmond Liverpool, The Sovini Group, Mersey Care and National Museums Liverpool. Students explored their buildings and had webinars from employees across various jobs within the business to discuss how they got to that job and what it entails. This was a great experience to develop an awareness about various sectors and whether this field of work was appealing to them. Students fed back that 80% found this valuable in helping them source a suitable work experience placement and one stated the experience was “eye opening”.
Day 4 and 5 were known as “Delivery Day” as students were now expected to deliver on the skills, knowledge and experiences they have had into tasks and activities associated with the world of work. Over the course of these two days students took part in a series of quickfire team work sessions to solve “The Quest”. Students also took part in a business and enterprise session very much like Dragons Den. Students had to pitch a new hotel chain to prospective companies and just to add to the pressure of pitching a new idea in front of their peers, this was actually completed to lead professionals across Liverpool based companies. The day also included a Jobs for Tomorrow event where students were able to meet and discuss in depth all aspects of a person job. Students were able to meet representatives from:
- North West Ambulance Service
- Capital One
- Be More
- Career Connect
- Royal Navy,
- Getrag and
- The Ministry of Justice.
Over the course of the 2 days students attended a personal 1-2-1 mock interview with an employer. The business people involved are regularly involved in recruitment processes so students were able to take on board specific advice, guidance and information that will help them when it comes to the real thing whether that be for college, an apprenticeship or employment.
As with most work places students were also able to take part in “The Works Party” event to celebrate their success throughout the World of Work Week in being recommended for Work Experience. The students celebrated in style with a silent disco for the entire cohort. Students developed essential employability skills throughout the week and these will continue to be developed as part of the careers strategy.
Well done Year 10 and thank you.
Mr Harrison
