WEX Week at St Bernadette’s School
Last week we were able to spend a fantastic three days at St Bernadette’s Secondary School to support with their work experience week.
Bristol WORKS were able to help organise inspiring workshops from a range of employers, including Bristol Museums, Balfour Beatty, Stantec, BDO and the NHS.
During these workshops students were able to have an introduction into the different sectors and get a taste for what life would be like working within this industry. Students were even able to have a go at a real work challenges from the different employers. Some of these challenges included testing grout as part of a daily task for Balfour Beatty and building a bridge, having a discussion and sharing ideas about what should happen to the Colston’s statue which is currently based at M Shed Bristol. Students were able to design a hotel as part of their project set from Stantec. The NHS showed the young people different simulations, which we then discussed the different roles in the videos we had seen. BDO busted myths associated with accountancy and gave students a project to work on where the students had to assign different roles and work to a budget.
Have a look at some of the real work challenges in action below:
Following the student’s workshops, students were asked to work in groups to present back to a panel along with their classmates about the different employers they had met and to give some feedback on their organisation.
To give the students information about how to create a presentation we had Kendia from Kendia’s consultancy complete a whole year group workshop on how to create and deliver a presentation. Kendia also helped the students with some useful tips on confidence boosting and how to overcome anxiety when it comes to presenting. These were such useful tips, especially after the unprecedented times the students have faced in the last eighteen months.
Bristol WORKS were on hand to support the young people to create their presentations, along with support from South Bristol Youth and Western Training Provider Network. And wow it was clear to see the information the young people had taken on board from Kendia.
We were so impressed with each and every presentation. It was lovely to hear about what the students had taken away from meeting the different employers. Not only this but presentation skills are a great tool to have when preparing to enter the workplace. Every student had a turn at speaking, and we were so impressed with the IT skills the students demonstrated.
Every student received a certificate for their participation within the WEX week and we had three lucky winners, who went above and beyond with their presentations! They were able to win some chocolates and a special certificate.
To finish off the event, students were able to engage in a speed networking event, which included employers from Foot Anstey, The Bottle Yard Studios and representatives from Bristol City Council. This was a fun way for the young people to gain an insight into these different sectors, and gain a snap shot of the different career paths available.
A massive thank you to all our employers and volunteers for helping to make the work experience week such a success!