Y12 Work Experience 2003 - 2004

This Year KLB added to its existing programme of work experience in Germany and France with the first KLB work experience exchange with Gran Canaria.

France

Ten Y12 students travelled in March to the Lycée Charles de Foucauld in Brest to take up work experience places in a variety of schools and companies. The students learnt a lot about French lifestyles and workplaces, while improving their language skills. The partners returned to KLB the following week and took up posts again in schools and in local companies.

Comments by the students showed how much they valued this opportunity.

  • “It helped me improve my French”
  • “I was brilliantly supported all week. It was an excellent experience.”
  • “I worked in a shop and was able to talk to many different people, both clients and colleagues. The clients didn’t know I was English and so made no exceptions for me, which gave me a realistic idea of the language.”
  • “I think the greatest benefit was the improvement in my French and the independence of working abroad.”
  • “I improved my linguistic skills but also gained a greater knowledge of the French schooling system.”
  • The greatest benefit was to have increased my general confidence, especially with speaking another language. I feel that being met with challenges and overcoming them improved my character."
  • "The greatest benefit of doing work experience abroad is that I have improved my English. I’ve met some English people with whom I correspond. I’ve also seen a different way of life to mine."
  • "I really appreciate discovering another way of life and culture and improving my English a lot. I speak English more easily now."
  • "I learnt how to interact with strangers and to be responsible."

Germany

The Raabeschule in Braunschweig, KLB’spartner school in Germany, visited KLB in October 2003, bringing with them one student from their sixth form, who spent a very enjoyable week at the Blue Coat School and took part in a variety of activities, including school trips.

Three students from KLB returned to Braunschweig the following March and took up posts at the Volkswagen works, at a Kindergarten and at the Mariott Hotel.

Comments from the students.

  • “You are able to see what work is like in other cultures. In Germany I found it to be a little more relaxed.”
  • "I learnt more than I expected about the manufacture of VW cars, and especially axles. I also improved my language skills and gained a better understanding of German, German culture and of the working environment.”

Spain

KLB sent students to our partner school in Gran Canaria, the I E S at Santa Brigida, for the first time. They were joined there by students from our Italian partner, the IPC Podesti at Ancona, who also carried out a week’s work experience. The students from KLB worked at the secondary school at Santa Brigida, helping in English classes and the Italian pupils worked in a nursery school and in a book shop.

The Spanish students returned to KLB in June and helped in English classes in the school.

Comments from students:

  • “The greatest benefit was travelling abroad to a nice, interesting place, meeting a new country, people and language.”
  • “The experience was just as I expected. I worked with children a lot. I met a lot of people. I had fun.”
  • “My employer made my work experience beneficial for me by making me feel at home and helping me when I had some problem with the language or the work.”
  • “I think that working abroad has made me more independent and able to cope with situations better. It also allowed me to see how different life in Gran Canaria is to that in England.”
  • “The greatest benefits were improving my confidence when speaking to Spanish people in a working environment in their own language. I also learnt more about Spanish culture and home life.”
  • “I learnt more English. I met people. I made new friends. I learnt more about English culture.”
  • "The greatest benefits of doing work experience abroad were in the first place to improve my English and then to make friends.”
  • "I really liked staying with the Spanish family. I learnt more Spanish and I made great friends. I gained a bit more in confidence too. Being in the country and being surrounded by the culture was fantastic."

Greece

At the beginning of the academic year, KLB also welcomed three students from Crete, who carried out work experience at Thornbury Castle Hotel and at Burleigh House Hotel.

Comments by the students:

  • “I had a chance to see how the sales department and the management department work. It gave me the opportunity to see the difference between the working environment in Greece and in England. There were great differences but similarities as well. It was nice to see the countryside of England and meet nice people.”
  • “The greatest benefits were to see all parts of the business and to see how a small family business operates.”
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