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What are Work Placements?

Work Placementsarean opportunity for students to explore the world of work.

What are the benefits of work placement?

It will help them to find out more about:

Workand how it is different from school

Themselvesandwhat they like and what they are good at.

Howthey might improve their chances of achieving their goals

Parents often find their child will gain in maturity and confidence as a result of their work placement.

What can I do to help my Child?

Discuss placement ideas with your child

Research placement opportunities in your local area

Encourage them to make contact with companies themselves, it shows initiative!

Encourage them to think about non- traditional roles

Make sure your child adheres to the schools deadlines. This is so that all of the necessary paperwork and safety checks can be completed in time for the start of the placement.

Some companies will ask students to complete application forms or write letters. Please do not complete these for them, help and guide them through it.

The Process

Depending on the school your child attends, students are asked to find their own placements by a certain deadline orschools will help find placements on the student’s behalf.

All placements are subject to Health & Safety/ Insurance checks by law. This will be carried out by Dudley EBP once the placement is confirmed. Schools need to have all requests into Dudley EBP 12 school weeks prior to the placement in order to arrange these checks.

Only once the company is approved are the placements confirmed and paperwork sent to employers to be completed.

Once the employer has completed the paperwork it is sent to parents/ guardians so that you can agree to the placement.

What can I do to help, now that my child has arranged a placement?

MAKE SURE THEY;

  • Tell the school co-ordinator, they will need to organise the paperwork
  • Know wherethey are going and how to get there(bus times / fares etc.)
  • Know who they should ask for when they arrive and have contact details if they are running late/ or ill.
  • Know timesof starting, finishing & breaks
  • Know arrangements for breaks and lunch (do they need to take their own sandwiches etc., or money to buy something?).
  • Know whatthey should wear

(Will they get cold / dirty / be on their feet a lot?)

Finding Placement: Issues

Placement with Parents/ Relatives

Students should be discouraged from arranging placements with relatives, so that they learn to be more independent

Sole Traders/ Self Employed

These types of companies in general do not hold Employers Liability Insurance. This is a requirement for all work placements, students will not be allowed on placements without this insurance cover.

Out of CountyPlacements

Whilst these are an exciting prospect for students, Health & Safety checks still need to be undertaken. Issues arise as these are not a priority to other areas and inevitably they are left to the last minute or not completed at all. These can also be costly and in some cases this cost is past on to the parents.

Chosen Careers

Placements do not have to be in line with your child’s chosen career, this can often restrict the placement options for students.

Furthermore, at this age students are often unsure what to do in the future and sticking to a chosen career is difficult for them. Seek placements where they can learn transferable skills for later in life.

Letters of Liability

In order to be insured by the local authority, schools must use the Work Placement Confirmation Details form. This can only be gained through the approved Dudley EBP system once a health and safety check has been completed. If schools ask parents to sign a letter asking you to take full responsibility for the student then your child will not insured for their placement.

What can I do during their placement?

MAKE SURE THAT THEY;

  • Get up in time to arrive on time.
  • Take with them everything they need (especially their Log Book and food/ money for lunch)
  • Get enough sleep as they will probably be very tired at the end of each day.

They will be at work longer than they would be at school.

Working Hours:

Up to 40 hrs per week,

No more than 5 days consecutively

Not before 7am or after 8pm

  • Child talks about their experiences each day. You may need to reassure them as this will be a new experience for many.
  • Check they are completingtheir logbook or diary daily, this is essential for evidencing their work placement. It is also often used to write end of year reports.

Attendance/ Behaviour

Please encourage your child to attend everyday. Host companies/ business put a lot of time and effort into work placements in addition to their main duties.Around 4000 students in Dudley attend work placements every year, which means all placements are extremely valuable.

Any bad experiences may involve the company/ organisation deciding not to take students on work placements in the future.

If students are unable to attend for whatever reasons please make sure companies are made aware of this as soon as possible.

What can I do if there are any problems?

Work Supervisor

In the first instance students should be encouraged to speak to their supervisor if they are unhappy or something is troubling them.

School Co-ordinator

However, if for example your child is having difficulties in getting on with their work colleagues or coping with the work, your first point of contact is the school.

School Monitor

A member of the school staff will be visiting each student during their Work placement to see how they are getting on and to make sure they are happy. This is an ideal time for students to feedback any issues/ problems, which they can then address appropriately.

For Further Guidance Contact;

The Work Placement Co-ordinator in School

This has been produced by

Dudley Education Business Partnership

Saltwells EDC

Bowling Green Road

Netherton

Dudley

West Midlands

DY2 9LY

Tel: (01384) 813718

Fax: (01384) 813721

Work Placements:

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Parent’s Guide