There are a whole host of ways to learn. At BIS Abu Dhabi we want our students to have a wide range of learning experiences and we work hard on our curriculum to make sure that they do. This week though, our Year 10 students are having a learning experience that we simply cannot provide within a classroom – they are experiencing the world of work.
The pandemic halted a proud tradition at BIS Abu Dhabi of all our Year 10 students taking a work experience placement in the summer term, but this year we have been able to resume this incredibly important opportunity for our students. This week our students can be found in hospitals around the city, in the Aldar head office, at Zayed Sports City, in restaurants and malls, hotels, banks, theme parks and many many more places. Whilst there, they will experience the realities of the world of work which await them in a few years time. Some will love what they do, and it may help to shape their future career. Others may well realise that their chosen path this week, is not one they want to follow in the future – and that too will shape their future career!
What is important is that they learn how to conduct themselves in the workplace and how they grow as a result of the experience they have had. We know from watching many groups of students go into the world of work over the years, that this week is a vital component of student growth as they approach the latter years of their education and we certainly see a change in these students when they return to us – they are often more focused in school and more mature as a result of the time they have spent with adults in a workplace.
We are terribly grateful to the many employers who have agreed to support our students in their venture. Many are longstanding partners of the school who have supported past BIS Abu Dhabi students in their work experience, others are new partners who are now learning how valuable it can be to have a BIS Abu Dhabi student in their midst. We also kept a few students for ourselves and if you visited the school this week, you may have seen them supporting in our Nursery, within our Admission and Marketing office or perhaps in our Clinic. It was gratifying to see these students up close, enjoying their time in a new role.
We are looking forward to welcoming all our students back next week and to hearing their stories from the world of work. No doubt they will be seeing the world a little differently from now on.
Chris Lowe
Head of Secondary
The British International School Abu Dhabi
