Our Year 12 students took part in the annual Work Experience week just before the end of last term.
This year pupils undertook placements in all sorts of environments, from banks, schools and hospitals to hotels, shops and shipbrokers. Notable placements included De Beers, Lords Cricket Ground, the Henley Standard, the River and Rowing Museum, Ocean Shipbrokers, the Cortefiel Fashion Group in Madrid, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Santander, Universal Nautic in Mallorca, Owlsmoor Dental Surgery, Kings College London, Pines Veterinary, Cloisters Chambers, Disney, Churchill China in Stoke-on-Trent and KPMG.
Year 12, Matthew Dalrymple, said ‘Throughout the work experience week I was working with my mother in London, gaining an insight into how her business revolves around the new data protection act (2018). However, on Tuesday afternoon I sat down for a meeting with Malcolm Head, from The Head Partnership in Henley, for a meeting that included how to own a business and what qualities are needed as both an owner and employer. Qualities such as honesty and time management were discussed among many more!’
Mrs Louise Rapple Moore, Head of Careers here at Shiplake, says: “In today’s world, when so many people have good university degrees, Work Experience is more important than ever. We encourage our pupils to undertake at least three or four weeks of Work Experience in different environments, and we make sure that every pupil does at least one week by giving them a week in school time at the end of Year 12. Employers really value Work Experience as it offers students understanding of and insight into the workplace that they can’t gain from their academic studies. Pupils learn what it’s like to commute to a workplace under their own steam and they get the feel of an adult working environment with no parents or teachers to chase them up and only their own proactivity to allow them to achieve. We have a hugely positive response to Work Experience week every year, from parents, pupils and employers alike.”
