Wessex Water
12 students from Orchard School and St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School gained a first-hand insight into careers in construction, engineering, science and business at Wessex Water by taking part in a Bristol Future Talent Partnership work experience programme between the 14th and 18th February.
The work experience programme took place at Wessex Water’s Operations Centre in Bath where students were able to meet with several members of staff to learn about their varied career routes and progression, as well as develop valuable skills in CV writing, interview techniques, team working and presenting. They were also given the opportunity to learn more about Wessex Water’s apprenticeship and employment opportunities.
The students were given a group project to work on, which they had to present to directors and senior managers at the end of the week.
The week also included two days of site visits, with the students visiting Bristol Recycling and Renewable Energy Park, the YTL Arena and Brabazon Housing Development, and Ashford and Durleigh Water Recycling Centre. The group met the team who work to transform Bristol’s waste into renewable energy and nutrient rich fertiliser, learnt about plans to create a 17,000-seater arena in Bristol, and found out more about how clean drinking water is produced.
Alice Hale, teacher at St Mary Recliffe and Temple School, said, ‘This week’s been important so that the students are able to get an experience of…a workplace, and also to broaden what they think company names are…they found that actually it (Wessex Water) does a wide variety of different things.’
Furthermore, Rachel Thorne, Careers Lead at Orchard School Bristol, said about the students, ‘I’ve just noticed that they have really grown in confidence a lot. They seem more cohesive and getting on with other students from a different school…And they’ve really enjoyed going out on the site visits and learning about the arena and what future opportunities it could bring to them but also to the whole city of Bristol.’