In house work experience at Bedminster Down
In July, the Bristol WORKS team delivered two days of in house work experience for Year 10 students at Bedminster Down School. Bristol WORKS’ in house work experience days are designed for students who have not secured a work placement for their school work experience week. The Bristol WORKS team work closely with a range of employers to create a programme that supports young people to undertake real work challenges and build skills, gain an understanding of different careers, and engage meaningfully with a range of professionals.
On day one, students were welcomed with a WORKS led session comprising skills challenges, and reflection on how skills relate to careers. Following this, we were joined by volunteers from Arup, who ran a session on design and city planning. Teams had to create a new design to improve Victoria park according to the briefs they were given. Arup volunteers were impressed by the innovative ideas young people came up with – from an outdoor cinema, to dog parks, to an on site barbershop offering discounted appointments! Arup then shared information about the different careers within their sector, and how to get started.
Next, we were joined by The Green Register, who parked their retrofit trailer in the school car park. After setting up a series of insulation experiments, the Green Register volunteers shared information about retrofit and the careers available within the industry. This was illustrated by an introduction to retrofit materials and equipment – young people held pebbles made from glass, felt insulation made from recycled jeans, and used a thermal imaging camera to take the temperature of different parts of their environment. With many young people interested in construction careers, and lots of opportunity in the retrofit industry, the session gave plenty of food for thought and learners had lots of questions.
Creative agency Noor Creatives joined the group next, to run a session on how to create a brand. Young people put forward a business they might want to run one day, be it for clothing, construction, food, sport or anything else. They used branding and design principles to create a name for their business, a logo, and a mission statement. Our volunteer from Noor Creatives then shared information on different creative careers that might be involved in a creative agency.
Our last session of the day was a carousel with post 16 providers. In small groups, young people had 10 minutes to rotate round different organisations to explore pathways available to them when they leave school, including Bristol City Council’s post 16 team, Access Creative, and Bristol City Robins Foundation.
On day two we started with a session from Aardman on model making. Young people were introduced to different creative career paths, while creating their own Aardman inspired models using plasticine. Aardman volunteers shared behind the scenes information on how their films are made.
After a WORKS led session on resilience and staying positive, we were joined by volunteers from Babcock who ran a session introducing their engineering apprenticeships and then set the group a buoyancy challenge. Teams had to create a boat that would stay afloat for the longest time with the heaviest weight in it.
To finish off the day, we were joined by artist Roux Burroughs, who shared his journey as an actor, performance artist, director and producer, working across mediums of drag, theatre, circus, movement, and community-conscious organisation. Roux engaged the group in considering how creativity could be used to express joy, leading to some character creation using his dressing up closet!
Feedback from young people was positive across the board. One young person reflected: “The sessions made me do more than I would normally do.” Another said: “it made me laugh and learn more of a creative side to me.” Another wrote: “It was useful to find out what I can expect and know some way of looking for what I’m interested in and what GCSEs I would need.”
One of the Bedminster Down teachers said: “This has been good! It has been well planned, engaging activities and the students have responded really well. You’re treating them like adults – that’s why they like it.”
Employers also enjoyed the days, one of them said: “I had so much fun, it was really delightful to see the students engaging with content I know will be quite unusual for them!”
Congratulations to all the learners for engaging across the two days, trying so many different activities, and asking our employers lots of questions. A huge thank you to all the employers that joined us and helped to create memorable experiences of work for young people.
