Recently our Year 12 students undertook a week of work experience. Over 100 secured in-person placements, with the rest of the year group taking part in a week of virtual encounters hosted by our careers platform Unifrog. In this blog, three of our Year 12 students share their experiences of the week.

Izzy spent the week learning about the world of publishing:  

I did my work experience in an independent Sheffield company who write an events magazine, Exposed, a business magazine and cookbooks. I organised it by asking a family friend who owns the company. Though I don’t necessarily want to go into Journalism, it’s a potential pathway as I’m interested in English Language. I wanted experience in a setting where I was able to try some writing, as well as develop the general skills of an office workplace. Overall, it was really worthwhile as I had a go at a variety of tasks, some which I wouldn’t think to do or even have access to. The team was very flexible and encouraging – I gained genuine confidence in my writing abilities and felt I started to develop a personal style. I also researched, proof-read and edited for the company, all of which felt like genuinely valuable tasks (not just filling time), and I got helpful feedback from a variety of people. Being in the office also meant I worked more independently, took responsibility for the experience and how much effort I put in and stepped out of my comfort zone in meeting new people. 

Seb, on the other hand, opted for the virtual experience. In particular, he enjoyed the day run by Tesco: 

My favourite part of the work experience week was the Tesco Meal Deal Day. Part of this was designing meals that are healthy and easy to grab for people who struggle to eat breakfast in mornings. I also made sure to make the packaging sustainable and based the main ingredients around the foods most wasted in supermarkets. Overall, this was a really fun and productive day – it really felt like I was designing something for the real world.

And finally, Jim utilised the week to gain in-person experience of contrasting workplaces and different types of engineering: 

I did my work experience at two different companies with two days at each. First I was at Mott Macdonald, a civil engineering firm. The task was to research five different sites across the country for building a small modular reactor (a kind of nuclear reactor that can be mass produced off site enabling them to be cheaper and safer as they are smaller). We had to consider ground conditions by looking at borehole records, the risk of contaminated land by looking at old and new maps, flood risk by looking on the government website, transportation and grid connections to the site and any environmental concerns to consider on the site. We also had to research what a small modular reactor is and attended meetings with real engineers to ask questions and receive help. At the end we presented our project to some of the engineers who were in the office that day.  I chose to do this as I am interested in studying engineering at university and it gave me an insight into working in an office as well as the kind of work that civil engineers do. I organised it by speaking to my dad who works at Mott Macdonald and he helped to organise and coordinate it. For second half of the week I was at a much smaller company called DICE which specialised in structural engineering. During this time I used software called Tekla Structural Designer to design a 15 story steel building and its foundations so that it could withstand both wind and gravity loading. I first had to learn how to use Tekla by following online tutorials, through trial and error and asking for help, then I had to convert a floorplan into the actual building. To organise this experience with DICE I again had the help of my dad, who put me in contact with DICE and I then filled out the necessary information on Unifrog. After this placement I now can use Tekla and have an insight into how things work in smaller companies.

We were delighted to receive many emails of praise for our Y12s from the employers who hosted them. Here are short excerpts from two of these: 

I hope that Eli is as happy with his work experience with us as we have been to have hosted him. He has hit the ground running and worked with genuine enthusiasm, professionalism and attention to detail.

I am delighted to inform you that Jorjia’s work experience placement at RMC Academy was a huge success and she was an absolute pleasure to have with us for the week. Jorjia exceeded in all tasks given and was as always a role model to our younger students and very efficient, prompt and thorough in her work at all times. 

After a number of years of virtual employer encounters, this has been High Storrs’ first foray into in-person work experience post-Covid. The success of this will be built upon next year: work experience weeks are planned for students in Year 12 and Year 10.

Laura Newell, Assistant Headteacher – Director of Sixth Form