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CASE STUDY
Reimagining ‘ Work Experience Week ’ at Alleyn ’ s School
Gina Visram is a careers leader at Alleyn ’ s School , a co-educational independent school in Dulwich , south London , and a registered charity . She explains how Alleyn ’ s has reinvented its work experience week during COVID .
Alleyn ’ s School , our careers department , supported by our senior management team , was determined to create an exciting alternative .
Rising to the challenge , we created a reimagined ‘ Experience of Work ’ week , in which year 11 pupils could still achieve meaningful outcomes — from participating in industry-specific projects to building commercial awareness . In keeping with the guidance for good careers provided by the Gatsby Benchmarks , interacting with professionals in industry became a key component .
Drawing on alumni
During the week , approximately 140 year 11 pupils had access to 35-plus interviews from professionals in fields ranging from TV production to medicine . They included pupils ’ parents ( from the senior and junior school ), alumni , and friends and family of staff . One colleague , a former student , secured six of her friends ( also alumni ) to take part . This demonstrated not only their commitment to our students , but also how much they would have appreciated this type of content when they were students themselves .
The week was delivered via Alleyn ’ s Hub ( on Firefly , an engagement and learning platform ) and began with the headmaster and the head of middle school introducing the week – live on Microsoft Teams — helping to demonstrate to pupils how important it was . A timetable was provided , and over the course of the week , pupils could not only access the interviews , but also take part in a research project and access The Career & Enterprise Company ’ s ‘ My Week of Work ’ resources .
An unexpected benefit of the new format is that we now have assets which can be used to inform and inspire students for years to come
Delivering the week was certainly worth the challenges , which included hours and hours of pre-recording interviews and the disappointment of not being able to include live sessions featuring real-time pupil questions ( which would have become complicated in terms of safeguarding ).
Each pupil had a very different experience dependent on their level of engagement . However , when participants were asked to rate how much they appreciated the ‘ Experience of Work ’ week on a scale of 1-10 , one-third of pupils rated it as a 9 or a 10 and 77 % rated it between a 7 and a 10 .
An unexpected benefit of the new format is that we now have assets which can be used to inform and inspire students for years to come . Not only can the year 10 and 11 students who were unable to participate in the week take part at a later date , students in other year groups can also access it .
Widening participation
I realise that Alleyn ’ s is an independent school and has advantages , but I believe it ’ s absolutely possible for state schools to run this sort of event . No additional budget is needed . I worked at a state school in Hackney for more than eight years before starting here , and know that not only are there many organisations with a widening participation mindset who are incredibly keen to engage with state school pupils , there are also brilliant platforms such as Education and Employers ’
Inspiring the Future , where schools can connect with professionals in all industries .
The main lesson I would share with other careers leaders planning similar events is , where possible , to set a recommended schedule of activities for students at the beginning of the week ; ours needed to be tweaked on the third day . But perhaps more importantly , I ’ d say “ just do it !”. The pupils who engage in the way it ’ s intended are so grateful and benefit hugely , and even those who aren ’ t as engaged gain a lot . As is the case with any event , you ’ ll make improvements each time , so just get started .