Lee has been working at the Healthy Living Centre Community Café, run by Pebble Brook School, for the past year, on a supported work experience programme which is for some of their students with learning difficulties. Keerin from the Buckinghamshire Skills Hub team talked to Lee about his experience:
Why did you decide to do work experience?
My school runs the café and I said I would be interested.
How did you find your work experience vacancy?
My teacher told me about it and I thought it would be interesting.
What did a typical day look like during your work experience?
I do the washing up, I take food to the nursery which is next door, I serve food to customers but it’s takeaway only at the moment.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work experience?
I enjoy all of it! I really like doing this job!
What’s been the most challenging part of your work experience?
I don’t like the washing up but I do it anyway, as it’s part of the job and I am told to do it!
What did you learn and how has it helped you?
I’ve learnt so many skills – communication, money skills, I need to be well-organised, I’ve learnt to follow instructions and I work with all these people, so teamworking. I have another paid job working for Milton Keynes Stadium on match days but I haven’t been able to do this during the last year, so this job has helped me be more confident.
What advice would you give someone who is looking to do work experience?
Give it a go!
And a final word from Head of the Further Education Department, Jackie Robson:
We have been running the café since 2019 with the purpose of giving our students real life skills which they can use when they eventually move on from us. It’s amazing to see how they grow in confidence and how they develop into diligent and hardworking young people.
Lee has completely changed over the last year of working at the Healthy Living Centre Café. He’s learnt new skills and listened to and followed advice and instructions. He’s grown in self-confidence from the beginning and is also now able to travel to and from work on his own, which he was unable to do before. This work experience in a real working environment has been invaluable.