Wigan Council embraces work experience placements to support student development

By Councillor Jenny Bullen, portfolio holder for children and families

It’s soon to be September and as the lazy haze of the long summer holiday fades away, exam results bring real life back into sharp focus for many of our young people and thoughts inevitably turn to future plans.

Before the summer break began, we partnered with four schools in the borough to offer our annual work experience weeks; a work placement programme where learners get the chance to find out more about the council, before spending three days working alongside one of our teams.

As the students developed their skills in writing, photography, hosting meetings, minute taking, planning, and even, in one case, changing a vehicle wheel courtesy of our team at the depot, they also began to think about whether their temporary area of work for the week might become a more permanent aspiration.

We recently caught up with Duncan and Codie at The Dean Trust Wigan, who took part in our work experience weeks in 2023.

Duncan, who has always loved football, spent his placement with our Be Well Back to Sport team. Now about to leave school, Duncan is hoping for a place at the Steven Gerrard Academy and credits his work placement as the time when he realised that sport could be part of a career.

He told us: “I thought it was amazing that I could do a work experience in sport. I played walking football with people, who were not as fortunate to be as healthy as they had been when they were younger.

“It helped build my skills in talking to different people and I learned about the different jobs people had done when they were younger.

“I was challenged to change how I would normally do stuff, for example during the walking football I really wanted to run, but I didn’t.

“It also helped build my confidence as I enjoyed travelling around the borough to different places and that’s important as if sport becomes my career I’ll hopefully travel to other countries too.”

Codie, who spent the week in one of our dementia care homes, is now aspiring to work in care.

She said: “I learned a lot about dementia and although I found meeting all the new people hard at first, my confidence did improve a bit and I really enjoyed helping people and being part of a team.”

It’s clear that experiencing the different worlds of work at a young age can be important in terms of helping our younger residents decide what sort of career they do (or don’t!) wish to pursue in the future.

As Wigan Council looks to the future, we enter a new era, with two short, simple, decisive missions focusing on creating fair opportunities and helping our towns and neighbourhoods to flourish.

Offering work experience is one small way that we can help even out some inequalities and positively develop our borough, by introducing local young people to adults who may become mentors, helping students make important decisions about their futures and presenting some possible goals, and encouraging skilled pupils to eventually build their longer-term futures in the borough.

I shall leave the final word to Duncan, who told us why he thinks Wigan Council is the perfect place for a work placement. He told us: “I would recommend doing a work placement with Wigan Council because it is not a little place, it’s huge, so there are loads of different experiences on offer.

“The people are really helpful. Everyone I met made sure that I could contribute.

“This experience helped me be the best possible person I could be.”

Our work experience weeks run in June and July, and we are always open to working with new Wigan borough schools and colleges. Educational establishments and young people can find out more and request a placement on our website.