Work Experience is an integral part of the CEIAG programme and educational entitlement of each pupil. All Year 10 pupils will be expected to spend a full working week in the world of work.

It will be planned to assist the pupils’ personal development, by involving them in a working situation where they have identifiable working roles and where they will come into contact with patterns of work and social relationships which will differ from those encountered at school.

It should be noted that the purpose of work experience must not be seen as a preparation or means of entry to any particular job or careers but rather as a way for pupils to gain insight into the world of work, its disciplines and relationships.

Work Experience is also about enriching the curriculum and making it more relevant in preparation for a rapidly changing world. It will be an experience for everyone which when shared with their peers and drawn out by subject teachers, will give an insight into the world of work and help connect school learning to it.

All pupils will be visited (or at least contacted, along with employer) by a member of staff during the Work Experience placement. Employers will be asked to complete an evaluation form which will be shared and fed back to all pupils.

In 2020-2021, we faced the challenges of COVID lockdown and many employers were still working from home when we returned to school.

We were determined that Deptford Green young people should still have the opportunity to develop their transferable skills, showcase their creativity and make the links between their LORIC skills, curriculum subjects and the world of work….so we brought work experience to school.

Our young people were outstanding and were challenged to use their literacy, numeracy, oracy, team work, time -management and initiative in a professional context. They benefited from a full week that included a real-life brief, mock interviews, meetings with employers and exploration of post-16 options.

See more here:

Work Experience Programme at Deptford Green - YouTube

Students’ quotes:

“ I liked everything about the week, would not change a thing”

“I learned to work in a team, improved my time management and used my organisation to get the project done.”

“ I liked that I worked with people I have never worked with before, some I had not even talked to them once in my life! That’s good because at work you want to be friendly, but maybe you will not work with your friends.”

“I like that you got a different perspective and there was a variety of things to do and explore.”

“ I think I want to be an Interior Designer later, so it was helpful to find out more about the role and the best was to work in a team and collaborate.”

“ At first, when we heard we were doing something to do with construction, it was a barrier- not going to lie- and many people did not want to do it. But actually it was interesting, and we learned a lot of skills and to work together. The presentations were a great end to the week.”

Sarah Baxter, trustee of the Monday Charitable Trust says:

“I was delighted to be invited to take part in the panel hearing some of the presentations from Year 10 at the end of their week’s project.

I was hugely impressed by all the presentations I saw. Everyone had worked really hard, contributed terrific ideas and worked well as a team. They all took the project seriously.  It was encouraging that they were aware of things like sustainability and the environment but the most heartening was how they had thought hard about how best to benefit their wider community.   You should be very proud of them.

Monday Charitable Trust is very glad to be able to fund such worthwhile projects. I very much hope that some of the young people who took part last week may decide to take up a career in architecture, design, engineering or project management. They have a lot of talent and deserve to do well.

Please pass my thanks and congratulations to everyone involved.”