The WOW (World of Work) Programme
The WOW (World of Work) programme is designed to work with Year 10/11 students who have been identified by local schools as being in danger of becoming disengaged from learning and could potentially fall into the NEET category at 16 (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
Launched in September 2007, the scheme provides access to a wide range of opportunities to re-motivate and re-engage students, including mentoring, work experience, career taster days and development days.
EBPWB has dedicated a team of Project Officers who work in partnership with West Berkshire schools to develop and implement a programme tailored to each student's requirements. They work with the students to increase their employability chances and to build on their soft skills, such as confidence, self-esteem, social and communication skills.
"There are already 200 young people in the NEETs category in West Berkshire and, though other areas of the UK may have higher figures, even one young person in this category is one too many. We want to stop any more young people adding to this statistic."
(WOW Project Officer, Lyn Heaver).
The WOW scheme sets out to increase the students' motivation and to encourage them to stay on track with their studies in Years 10 and 11. It provides a wide range of practical opportunities to re-engage the students through a variety of methods. These include:
- Weekly mentoring sessions in school which are based around the ASDAN preparation for working life award. The students complete this in Year 1 of the programme. Local employers and other agencies work in partnership with EBPWB to support these sessions.
- Enhancement Days - once a term there are activity days built in when the students come together to attend. Examples are armed services team building days and visits to a local football stadium.
- Career taster days – e.g. visits to a local college and visits to local employers/businesses.
- Work experience placements - in Year 2 of the programme where necessary students have the opportunity to undertake an extended work experience placement once a week.
One of the key features of WOW is that the students work towards the ASDAN Preparing for Working Life qualification in which steps are taken to prepare the young people for the real world of work. This includes building a CV and personal statement, interview skills sessions and visits out to local businesses.
Regular planning and monitoring meetings are organised between EBPWB and the schools to ensure that the students are gaining as much from the programme as possible. For more information please contact Lyn Heaver.