WORK experience student Lewis Anderson from Bexley Grammar School was presented with a certificate and an iPod by Bexley Education Business Partnership (BEBP) at an event held at Charlton Football Club last week.

Students from 16 schools across Bexley borough were challenged to write a 400-word article, highlighting the importance of work experience to encourage employers who do not already take part in it to do so in the future.

The competition was organised by the BEBP with News Shopper and from hundreds of applicants, eight were shortlisted and the winner picked by the News Shopper's commercial features editor Laura-Jane Filotrani.

She said: "Lewis used quotes from his employer to support his article and his ideas were expressed well, making him the clear winner."

Lewis was the guest at the event which gave recognition to employers continuing to support work experience in the borough.

The invited employers were nominated for providing good work placements.

Felicity Carne, senior project manager of BEBP, said: "We have more than 7,000 employers on our books and constantly try to get more involved.

"It's an important opportunity for the students, giving them an insight into possible career paths for the future and providing them with independence."

She added: "It also benefits the employers as they can see the future workforce."

The company which employed Lewis for two weeks was the bank ING in Moorgate. Vice president Mark Saunders said: "Lewis spent time learning how trades were struck and settled. He was very hard-working."

The winning article: The working world awaits

MOST jobs, many would agree, have little use for much of the knowledge gained through school subjects. There's no customer service' GCSE. After the exceptions, broad though they are using numbers, decent organisation, and reading and writing - you'll notice there simply isn't much consistent overlap between secondary education and the tasks people do for the rest of their lives. So many learn French at school - but how many use it regularly? The point is every student has the opportunity to do work experience. These two weeks bridge the gap between the separate worlds of work and school. There is much to be gained by both parties. For a start, many disciplines are cultivated in the student: being on time, working longer hours, not being spoon-fed tasks, and working to the standard necessary when your performance affects you and others. You meet new and interesting people. As Mark Saunders of ING Bank (which was brilliantly accommodating when I spent a fortnight there) said: "it enables candidates to get a good insight into possible career moves, enabling them to make valuable, important decisions regarding their future choice of work". His colleague Peter Hoskin agrees: "Seeing, experiencing and being involved in a working atmosphere opens your eyes to things not previously seen experience gained can be used to ease into the workplace on a daily basis." Reasons why work experience is beneficial to the student are obviously copious, but the main hurdles for willing workers are unwilling employers, unaware of the likely benefits. For all but the most bottom-line-obsessed, watching your student flourish is reward enough. Although understandable for a minority of struggling or extremely specialised employers, most excuses just don't wash, since work experience (unpaid, remember) can be of value anywhere. True, for certain individuals, someone watching can be a burden, but the plusses habitually outweigh the minuses. Indeed, several students are so useful they're offered jobs. And not just summer jobs - a boy I know, having left after his GCSEs, has started full-time at HSBC. So, employers, if you accept a student for work experience, you get an extra pair of hands - an enthusiastic worker. Your business is looked at from a fresh perspective: you're not only helping a young person, but helping yourself too.