It has been a popular trend for some time now to put children into what can be called ‘work experience placements’. The children are taken out of school and take part in various types of work, usually for around a week. Some people criticise this trend, but I can’t see how it can be a negative experience. One of the criticisms is that children lose a week of schoolwork. With the pressure to do well at school increasing, children need every bit of help to maximise their potential. Taking them out of the school, it is therefore argued, stops them from getting access to needed education for a whole week. As the students won’t really be of much help to a workplace for just one week, it would therefore be better for them to remain at school. While this is a valid point, taking a child’s entire experience of school into account, a single week away does not make a significant difference. Indeed, if the timing of the week’s work placements is done correctly, the week can also serve as a ...