Supported Work Experience

The Switch is a proud, long-term supporter and provider of Work Experience for schools in Tower Hamlets. We believe every student deserves to experience a work placement and explore the careers that are open to them. The Switch continues to host students with Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and who require extra support during their placement. We commit to host students from Phoenix School two times a year for a whole term, providing students with weekly experiences to work, which increases their confidence, skills and independence. We also host students who require additional support from schools across the borough for their one week placements.

Read below about when we hosted Aidan and Yunus, from Phoenix School, and Jessica and Alayna, from Stepney All Saints for work experience:

Aidan

In the Spring 2024, Team Switch had the pleasure of hosting another student from Phoenix School for weekly Wednesday Work Experience. Aidan worked with us for 8 weeks and supported the whole team through a range of tasks. Aidan’s tasks included organising resources for the Primary team, supporting our sustainability initiative in the office by labelling light switches and radiators, and creating activity packs for our STEAM programme.

Aidan also came to us with lots of skills already developed, such as creativity, which he put to excellent use in his reflective piece below. Aidan enjoys making maps of fantasy worlds from video games, so he incorporated this into his project. The aim of the project was to reflect on his Work Experience placement and what he has learnt. Aidan used his excellent creative skills to design this map, showcasing his Work Experience placement through visual storytelling. The map includes Digi Land, where Aidan honed his technology skills, Activity Square, Memory Bank, and Creativity Isles. We were so impressed with Aidan’s hard work, and his map is a lovely representation of everything he achieved during his placement.

Jessica and Alayna

In July 2024, Team Switch hosted two students from Stepney All Saints for a supported Work Experience placement. Jessica and Alayna worked with us for 3 days before continuing their experience with a short placement in the school library.

Jessica and Alayna were a fantastic addition to the office. They supported our team by testing student games and activities, and giving useful feedback on how we could improve them. They also supported us by organising resources, conducting staff surveys, and preparing gift bags for an Alumni event.

Jessica enjoyed working on the laptop, and was very busy all week with lots of emails to respond to! One of her email tasks included researching the best food options for a student event and sending her findings back to our Deputy Director. Alayna was very creative and made a fantastic poster about The Switch, which we have proudly displayed in our office. Alayna was particularly skilled at origami, which she put to good use by creating some chatterbox games for one of our workshops! Both students worked very hard, and we were impressed with how much they completed in only 3 days!

Yunus

From January to March of this year, The Switch hosted Yunus from Phoenix School for weekly Wednesday Work Experience. Yunus worked very hard and supported everyone in the charity with lots of different tasks. Yunus’ tasks included completing resource stock takes for the Secondary Team, organising activity packs for the Primary Team, and administrative tasks for the Work Experience team such as scanning and data entry.

Yunus developed key employability skills such as organisation, communication with team members, creativity, and confidence. It was a pleasure to work with Yunus and see his skillset grow! At the end of his placement, Yunus created a poster to reflect on his time working at The Switch. The poster highlights lots of tasks that Yunus completed and enjoyed, including shredding and laminating. As a result of his work experience placement, Yunus has decided that he would like to work in an office setting in the future. Well done Yunus and good luck for your future career!

Work Experience provides students of all backgrounds and abilities with skills for life, find out how you can host a student at your workplace.