Experience Works!, acts as the central repository for work experience opportunities for the region.  It provides a consistent, knowledgeable, experienced and fully inclusive service to users who are part of the region wide Employability Partnership, including:

 

• 16 secondary schools;
• 2 additional support needs secondary schools;
• Other educational support services;
• Further and Higher educational establishments;
• 3rd Sector organisations such as the Princes Trust;
• Private companies who interact with the Employability Partnership;

• Employability and Skills Service

 

with referrals into placements, support in finding placements and risk assessment capabilities for self-found placements to ensure that they remain safe and sustainable.  The Work Experience Co-ordinator also acts as a liaison service for providers ensuring that their requirements are addressed as well as raising awareness of opportunities they present.

 

The Unit,  has the responsibility for creating and delivering 24 paid work experience placements within the Local Authority for

Looked-After Young People between the ages of 16 to 25 in fulfilling an objective from the Council’s Corporate Parenting Strategy.  This will provide 8 fully funded placements each year paid at the Living Wage until March 2018.

 

Regular meetings take place with all stakeholders to ensure that the Unit is meeting their needs.  Strong evidence for this comes from the schools where there was significant risk to the provision of opportunities due to the long lead in times for risk assessments.  This led to the development of a group of trained assessors able to turn assessments around quickly thereby assisting schools to develop a local pool of high quality opportunities.

 

The Unit has developed the value of work experience through the introduction of a bespoke Dumfries and Galloway employability award as part of the delivery.  The framework for this award is developed in cognisance with the needs of employers and is endorsed by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

Since inception the Unit has supported the placement of approximately 1200 young people into opportunities in the 2013/14 to 2015/16 academic years.  The experience that the Unit has developed is proving crucial to the development of work experience within the schools and with partners.  This experience and knowledge provides a solid foundation for the local development of Developing The Young Workforce.  This has been instrumental in the development of the DYW toolkits for schools and others that has been recognised as good practice by Education Scotland.

For the development of opportunities and growing talent they have created strong links with Dumfries and Galloway Total Access Point (DG TAP) to raise awareness with providers of the various funding streams that are available from Scottish Government and Europe should they wish to employ a young person as a permanent member of staff.  This has proved successful in supporting various young people transition from work experience into employment across the region.

 

Examples include a school leaver into an apprenticeship with a Heating Engineer; 2 school leavers into farming, a young person into Joinery.

This provision also assists in identifying employment opportunities for young people with employers who make use of the funding to create new jobs.  Examples of where this has been successful include Veterinary Nursing, Hairdresser and Beautician.

 

A very positive case study that fully illustrates the value of Experience Works! as a joined up practice relates to a young woman who is the first young person to complete the Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Looked-After Young People’s paid work experience programme.  The programme offers young people who have experience of being in care, the opportunity of a six-month paid work–experience placement within a Council department.  The programme is part funded by Dumfries & Galloway Council and is also part of a £1.3 million grant by The European Social Fund for Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Employability Pipeline Project.

 

The young person began her paid work-experience placement in Administration in August 2015 and her high standard of work performance led to an extension of her placement.  Outstandingly, she has also embarked on a part-time Open University degree whilst on her placement and has also now secured permanent employment outside the Council.

 

She commented on the work experience scheme, “On this programme it doesn’t only give you experience, it gives you more confidence in yourself and helps you realise so many things about yourself….I would recommend this programme to any other care experienced young person as it’s changed me and my life.”

 

In 2013 the work experience Unit developed a bespoke introductory course for school pupils who were interested in a career in the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.  This course was very well evaluated and full of good practice.  It has subsequently been used as a template to develop further similar courses such as a health professional course at the Galloway Hospital Stranraer and a medicine course at Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary that encourages young people from backgrounds not normally associated with careers in medicine to consider such a career option.