From left to right – Students Jake Vicars, Alex Lofthouse, Alex Guadagnino and Jacob Brown from Henshaws learn how to fix a puncture during a bike workshop with Adam Jones, Assistant Manager at Halfords on Knaresborough Road
From left to right – Students Jake Vicars, Alex Lofthouse, Alex Guadagnino and Jacob Brown from Henshaws learn how to fix a puncture during a bike workshop with Adam Jones, Assistant Manager at Halfords on Knaresborough Road

Henshaws students shine during National Work Experience week

20 October 2015

Young people from Henshaws Specialist College are working closely with employers as part of National Work Experience week. The national campaign aims to raise awareness of the benefits of high quality work experience and to help learning providers build links with local and national employers. Throughout the week, students had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at a range of different workplaces including Jespers office supplies and Halfords bike workshop.

On Friday, Halfords staff gave students Alex Guadagnino, Jake Vicars, Alex Lofthouse and Jacob Brown a tour of the store. The group then moved to Halfords’ specialist training workshop where they took part in a practical session to learn how to assemble a mountain bike and repair a puncture.

 

Kelly Sturdy, Employability Programme Leader at Henshaws explained:

As a college we are immensely proud of our students and this week is a great opportunity to showcase the positive work our students do. Our trip to Halfords has been fantastic.  Halfords staff had our learners fully engaged throughout and gave them plenty of opportunities for some hands on action- which they loved!

Getting involved with national employers like Halfords is vital for us as there is no way that we could recreate this working environment within the college. There is something so powerful about taking the students’ learning outside of the college building; making the learning real and relevant to each individual.  Events like this help us to open doors, spark interest and create further learning opportunities for our students.

 

Halfords Assistant Manager, Adam Jones said.

It’s really important to us to support the local community as much as we can. We run a range of workshops in our training room for young people to learn more about bikes. We had a great session with the students from Henshaws today and we hope they have learnt some practical skills which they can use in future.

Earlier in the week, Henshaws students also enjoyed a visit to Jespers in Harrogate where they met staff, toured the production area and spoke to Peter Jesper, Managing Director. He explained the challenges of running a business and revealed some of the secrets to the success of the long running family store.

In addition to their trips to Halfords and Jespers, Henshaws students have undertaken over 70 hours of off campus work experience this week in a range of different settings; Cogs Cafe, Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre cafe, Horticap, The Cone Exchange, Harrogate Hospital Radio, Follifoot riding stables, Harlow Carr, Cars Direct and Hobby Craft.
Henshaws are always looking for more external work placements and would love to hear from employers willing to give students an opportunity.

Please contact Clare Robinson, Work Experience Co-ordinator at clare.robinson@henshaws.ac.uk

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