Derby secondary Alvaston Moor Academy is calling on local businesses to give students a chance to get a taste of possible careers by holding its first ever work experience week.
The 880-student school in Bracken’s Lane is planning on sending around 160 year 10 students into local companies during the week starting on May 22.
The opportunity to do work experience is commonplace amongst many secondary schools but this is the first time it has happened at Alvaston Moor.
Now senior leaders want to hear from local businesses and organisations which would be willing to host the academy’s students for part or all of the week.
Academy assistant principal Dan Ingram said students were “desperate” to gain insights into the world of work but many lacked the kind of networks that can be very helpful to young people wanting to get a leg up into a career.
He said: “We want the students at Alvaston Moor Academy to have good careers. We want them to aspire to having a good job when they are older, whatever that means for them. We have got high aspirations for the young people at our school.
“For us, it’s about giving our students cultural capital. Work experience is very important to give people a sense of what doing a job is like. It’s about getting a feel for it: the conversations that happen, and the skills that are needed which are not just about academic success but also about interacting with other people and negotiating. These are things it is so valuable for young people to observe.
“We want our students to be able to come back and say that what we are doing here at Alvaston Moor Academy has a point and that having a job when you are older is what it’s all about.
“The students are desperate to do this. They are so keen. We run a careers session after school on Fridays and it’s very popular – that’s young people wanting to stay behind after school at the end of the week and find out about how to get a good job.”
Mr Ingram said it was much more important to the school that young people were given meaningful work experience opportunities, and that this could easily mean one or two days in a workplace and not necessarily a whole week.
Currently, many students at school are struggling to get work placement opportunities, lacking the contacts and information that are often needed for a young person to get their foot in the door.
Mr Ingram said: “The students at this school need help, frankly. They are bright. They don’t have the same support networks, often, that other kids have. These are exactly the sorts of people that businesses in the area should be helping.
“We should be supporting our young people and I’d love to hear from any businesses and organisations in Derby which could host one of our students for even a day of that week, to give them a meaningful sense of what the world of work is all about.”
Any business which would like to support Alvaston Moor’s Work Experience Week from May 22 – 26 is asked to get in touch with the school on enquiries@alvastonoor.co.uk. You can Tweet your involvement using the hashtag #AMoorworkex
