Undeterred by the cancellation of their usual work experience placements, all Year 10 students at Backwell School have undertaken a day of virtual work experience this term. Staff at the school welcomed speakers from fourteen different companies to join the students in the classroom, via Microsoft Teams, to share their career paths and employment opportunities before setting twenty individual projects for them to work on in small groups.

From issues around local housing developments to thinking through how COVID-19 has affected small businesses; from creating their own autonomous underwater vehicles to imagining clothes of the future, the employers challenged the students to think innovatively as well as develop their teamwork and presentation skills. In return the employers benefited from hearing the views and ideas of our young people and all commented on how engaged and enthusiastic they were despite a very challenging year. Thank you to all employers who were involved.

Alongside this work experience the students undertook a virtual mock interview and researched their future plans via the school’s careers programme, Unifrog.