Work Related Learning

Work Experience

Pupils at Barrs Court school have the opportunity to participate in work experience placements throughout their time at key stage 4. We aim to give our young people the opportunity to develop their career choices, get a taste of different work, and develop the critical employability skills needed for real working conditions. 

Barrs Court work experience placements:  

• are purposeful and relevant to the young person’s likes, skills and career aspirations. 
• allow the pupils to apply skills learned at college.  
• are supervised and managed to ensure the young person obtains a genuine learning experience suited to their needs. 
• have a structured plan for the duration of the placement to enable to pupils to work towards set targets.  
• have clear roles, responsibilities and expectations for the pupils and employer. 

• are followed by feedback from the employer which can be incorporated into the student’s CV. 

In order to gain a work experience placement, pupils are expected to submit an application form and participate in a job interview for the role. If successful, pupils will be supported to access their work experience placement by a teaching assistant at the college. A teaching assistant will support the students to progress towards set goals or targets at the placement, alongside their own Personal Learning Goals. The teaching assistant will also support the employer to develop their understanding of how to support the student successfully. In the future the Barrs Court School would aim to support local employers to become Disability Confident, in order to improve the likelihood of employers employing young people with learning disabilities. Once the pupil has completed the work experience placement they will be supported to evaluate and write about the placement for their CV and also practice talking about their placement in preparation for any future interviews.

Work Experience Feedback from Students: 

“I really enjoyed learning new jobs like organising the books, dvds, shoes and pricing some products.  I loved taking lots of bags of clothes up to the store room upstairs.  The staff were very nice and helped me a lot.”

"I enjoyed the lots of different jobs especially stocking.  The staff were friendly and helped me a lot.  I enjoyed going independently." 

“I enjoyed my placement and it has been my favourite work experience.  The staff were friendly and helpful and the little children were cute.”

Work Experience Feedback from Employers: 

"Student is getting on really well and is part of the team.  He will take on any task that is asked of him as long as he not overloaded.  If he comes across a problem and requires help, he will ask.  He is now interacting better with the other staff members."

"Student works well and is definitely becoming more confident and making positive work relationships.  He is very willing to learn and takes on board all tasks giving 100% effort.  When he arrives student will write out a daily task list and will work through that with staff.  He helps in all areas in the shop and is beginning to work more in the workshop."

"Student is doing really well.  She will interact with the children and is confident around them.  She will listen to instructions and follow them clearly."