By Amy Gilkerson, St Catherine's

Each year more students are struggling to find a work experience placement due to organisations not wanting their help. They probably do not understand how much having an extra pair of hands helps around the work place. They probably think that the person they take on will not do any work or maybe they just don't need the extra help.

Offering a student a chance to have there work experience at the organisation of their choice is to help them decide on what career they would like to do. Also it will give them a taste of what working is like compared to school.

When I went to Bright Sparks Pre-school in Swanley for my work experience it was hard work at first. I was nervous about working with young children but the nerves didn't stop me from working my best.

I got given instructions to do things and I just got on with them. I was happy to help them out.

After a couple of days it got better because I got used to working a lot and I felt more comfortable than I did before.

The staff treated me well and I loved looking after the children and reading nursery rhymes.

The staff at Bright Sparks said at the end of the two weeks: "This week has been so much easier with your help." When I heard that I was really happy that I had done a good job. They were so pleased that I was there; it lifted some weight off their shoulders.

At first they were not sure if I would be of help and it took a while for me to settle but in the end it worked out well. It helped me decide if I wanted to work with children. I already knew that I loved children and maybe in the future I might think of starting off a career with children. I think it went really well and I had many compliments. "Thank you so much, we couldn't have done it without you" is what one of the members of staff said to me. "It was a pleasure to have you here."

Having a helping hand worked out better than expected after all.

Every student is willing to co-operate during work experience and will definitely be of help to organisations. They want to explore the life of work so they will listen and help out in any way possible.