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Northamptonshire's Jobs & Work Experience Site for Young People
Connexions Northamptonshire
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Work Experience
Work Experience Explained

What is Work Experience?

‘ A placement on an employer’s premises in which a pupil carries out a particular task or duty, or a range of tasks or duties, more or less as an employee would, but with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience.’

You benefit from Work Experience by:  

  • Finding out what skills and attitudes are needed in the work place
  • Exploring your own skills and qualities
  • Developing key skills and undertaking other learning activities
  • Finding out about different job roles within company
  • Getting a general feel for the demands of working life
  • Developing motivation about future opportunities
  • Possibly  receiving an employer report or reference
  • Supporting  vocational courses that you may be studying 
  • Contributing  to your Record of Achievement or Progress file
  • Employment opportunities (part time, holiday etc)

The process:

Veryan:
Most Northamptonshire secondary schools and Connexions Northamptonshire use Veryan, an   online work experience booking and Health and Safety management system.
You can make choices online and the schools use the system to book you into the placement and the central team at Connexions manages the Health and Safety aspect of the placements.
The way work experience is organized in schools may differ and is usually determined by the curriculum and the needs of the their young people.

Briefing:
Schools brief their pupils on all aspects of work experience including, when appropriate, use of the Veryan system. Some schools also hold briefing sessions for parents/carers.
Your school or learning provider is your first contact for any information about work experience.

Making a choice:

There 2 ways of making a placement choice

1.    From the Veryan database, were the employer who has offered Work Experience previously.
2.    Completing a new employer form, were you have approached an employer for a placement but they have not previously offered Work Experience and or not on the  Veryan database.

When making choices you should consider your transport needs, including cost. It is advisable to make a wide selection of choices, not just popular ones, as this leads to an increased need to rechoose. You must be prepared to go to any of the choices that you have selected

1. Employers already on the database

At the school’s discretion, you may be given an individual PIN number which will enable you to access the Veryan website and look at and select the work experience opportunities. The school can then look at the selections and books you into one which is available and  the most suitable for  your needs. This information is down loaded by the central team at Connexions who will check the company Health and Safety status for work experience.

2.  New Employers

For a placement that you find yourselves, the ‘new employer’ form ( available from your school/learning provider)  is completed. The employer should complete the form, including insurance details this should then be returned to school who sign it and send on to Connexions.

Only Employers within Northamptonshire or the bordering counties can be used. Connexions can only carry out health and safety risk assessments locally and has reciprocal agreements with bordering counties. Back



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