Founded 30 years ago in the Tower Hamlets area of London, The Switch is committed to helping children and young people meet their potential. As part of their work, they facilitate work experience, but in 2021 they had to change their approach due to the Covid lockdowns. The pilot of their virtual ‘sector day’ proved to be a great success, and since few companies are able to offer a week placements any more (as staff are not in the office five days a week), they continued their provision online.
Having created a variety of sector-specific days, the charity sought funding to introduce an IT-led session to its portfolio. With £4520 from the WCIT Charity, it went on to develop a tech sector day during which students completed multiple tasks related to the industry and worked on a project that was assessed by industry professionals. The day concluded with a Q&A session.
In total, 253 students benefitted from the four virtual work experience sessions, and more than 50 volunteers from local businesses gave up their time to offer feedback and advice. The sessions helped build students’ confidence and knowledge of the IT sector
Commenting on what part of the day was enjoyed the most, one student said: “The collaboration with my peers to plan and create a presentation for an educational app that we then presented to a group of professionals.” As a result of the session, over 70% said that they had an increased understanding of the world of work.
