Northampton Academy students in Year 12 took part in a three-day event organised by the Academy's careers department in collaboration with Travis Perkins. A host of multiple guests from Travis Perkins were involved, providing students with great insight into the world of work experience.
Year 12 students underwent three days of virtual work experience to give them the opportunity to gain knowledge of the world of work and insight into future career opportunities.
In groups of five, students were given a project to build a campaign and social media content. They presented their work to Travis Perkins to be uploaded to their various social media accounts to inspire young people to join an apprenticeship at Travis Perkins. Students within these groups were allocated various roles to encourage them to work together and organise things smoothly. The projects were greatly unique, and individuality was expressed between groups as students could use any social media platform they chose to.
Students were given multiple sessions with several other external special guests throughout the event, which gave them beneficial lectures on future skills such as 'How to build a CV' by Dale Willis.
Additionally, Travis Perkins' employees presented an interactive experience in which students could ask questions about careers or life at Travis Perkins.
The event was well-received, a few notable student responses were:
"Absolutely amazing experience, I am thankful that the school could organise this for us" - Lauren C
"I had great people to work with, and it was an overall fun time!" - Marisa S
The head of the careers department, Ms Claire Coles, would like to personally extend her thanks to Verity Magee (Early Careers Manager) and her team for supplying this year's work experience challenge.
Ms Coles said:
"Work experience is a vital part of young people's personal development and a great way to experience the challenges and rewards of work. Conducting work experience during the limitation of the pandemic, was challenging. This event allowed Sixth Form students to hear from employers and employees and gain insight into how to deliver a time managed project. It enabled them to step outside their comfort zones to audit areas for development."
Students and staff at Northampton Academy would like to thank Travis Perkins for a wonderful week.
Article by Shakeer Sayani - Year 12