Work Experience

Experience of work at St Katherine's

A vital part of Careers Education is Experience of Work (WEX).

Why do work experience?

Work experience gives young people the opportunity to develop valuable skills needed in the workplace. It increases their awareness of the working world and the expectations employers have of employees. Through taking part in WEX students can gain skills and experiences in the following areas:

Meet and interact with new people
Gain future contacts/network
Develop employability skills, such as team work, presentation skills, critical thinking
Find out more about a particular industry or profession
Help make informed choices about future career ideas
Experience travelling to and from work
Gain a better understanding of the working environment
Improve self-confidence
Utilise written and verbal communication skills within a work environment
Learn the importance of punctuality
Gain experience for a CV
Identify skills, strengths and areas of development

St Katherine's WEX Programme 2024/25

In 2024/25 WEX will take place for ALL Year 10 and 12 students.

The Year 12 Block WEX programme for 2024/25 will run between 16th - 20th June 2025
The Year 10 Block WEX programme for 2024/25 will run between 30th June - 4th July 2025

The programme has been launched to students and full details and information regarding the WEX process, including an extensive Database of Employers, have been provided in the Work Experience Google Classroom.

WEX offers an amazing insight into the world of work and can support students to develop vital soft skills as well as influencing career choices. As such it is the expectation that ALL Year 10 and 12 students take part.

Please ensure the WEX placement is finalised by the 24th February 2025.

Unifrog

We are using Unifrog (www.unifrog.org) to manage the administration of the work experience programme – for example collecting information from the employer about their Risk Assessment and Health & Safety policy, as well as getting agreement from yourselves for the placement to go ahead.

Some important logistics:

Students need to agree the placement with the employer first, and then students will get the ball rolling by adding the placement to their Unifrog account (they’ll find the Placements tool on their Unifrog homepage).
The Unifrog system will then email the employer, the parent / guardian, and the school, to collect the necessary information and permissions. For the process to work, it’s essential that students add the initial information about the placement accurately.

Finding out more:

Next steps:

Please read the placement guides on Unifrog, and then start contacting possible hosts for the placement.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

As part of St Katherine’s ethos, we encourage all students to access this valuable opportunity. If you have any concerns regarding sourcing an appropriate WEX placement that will be able to meet your son/daughter's needs or would like further advice or support, please do get in touch. We aim to work in partnership with yourself, the Learning Support team and employers to ensure that your son/daughter has an experience which is tailored and beneficial to them.

Contact/ support

Please view the support documents on the school website regarding WEX, however, if you have a specific question relating to work experience, please do get in touch.

We are always looking for interesting and varied experience of work opportunities for our students. If you are a business owner/decision maker and are able to offer a Work Experience placement please contact us.

All contact regarding WEX should be directed to:

Mrs Anna Duncan

CST WEX Coordinator

Tel: 0117 205 1605 ext 229

Email: skworkexperience@skdrive.org