Our schools work experience project focuses on one day visits to a particular industry for groups of Southwark secondary school pupils.

We join up schools and businesses, asking employee volunteers to give up a couple of hours of their time to share their area of expertise with the students. On a typical day a school group might visit up to three different businesses, providing them with an overview of an industry and the wide variety of careers open to them within it.

In 2009 we continued our relationships with St Saviour's & St Olaves Secondary School for Girls and Charles Dickens Primary School.
The girls from St Saviour's were all studying for their engineering diploma so visited a range of business in the construction industry in Bankside, learning about how engineering fits into the wider industry.

Charles Dickens Primary took a group of young people to IPC Media for the day to learn about the world of magazine publishing. They had a tour of the building and spoke to two different magazine editors, coming up with a vast array of questions for them! You can read more about both days here. 

The days were a great success, giving the young people a practical, tangible sense of the range of careers open to them in a particular industry. We couldn't have done it without the help of the companies who hosted the young people during the day, generously giving their time and expertise:

• TP Bennett
• Waterman Group Plc
• Mace Group
• IPC Media

We are in the process of organising another set of days in 2011 – if you're interested in getting involved, contact Danielle Cohen on 020 7928 3998 or dc@betterbankside.co.uk.