4 December - 10 December

Activity: Completed a diary during their placement, now is the time to revisit it. If you didn’t complete one, refresh their memories by asking them to complete your diary.

Think about what you've learned. It could be the importance of teamwork and organisation skills. You may have learned something as simple as performing tasks such as answering the telephone in a professional manner. These are all useful skills which are important in the workplace. If you took pictures of their work experience, hey may like to look back on these too. (Five – 10 minutes)

You may need to guide them through this process by asking them leading questions, such as:

• What have you learned?
• Did you find anything difficult?
• Has it made you think about what you would or wouldn't like to do in the future?
• What did you enjoy the most?
• What did you like the least?

Write a short summary with three key points you've learned from your work experience placement. 

Activity: Write down a challenge you overcame during their work experience. It could be based on how different you found work life from school or a problem-solving issue – such as how to work the photocopier, or take notes in a meeting. 

Next, ask students to pair up and share their experiences with one another. Encourage them to discuss how you could've approached this situation differently, and what you found surprising or interesting about work experience. 

Finally, ask each pair to share a learning with the class. 

• use their work experience diary to help shape your letter, by looking back over what you've learned during their placement
• put what you've learned into bullet points. This should help frame the letter
• think about the ‘transferrable’ skills you have learned or seen in practice in the workplace. For example, learning the importance of communication in meetings