Environmental and Land-based Studies

Pauline Dillon, Work Placement Liaison Officer, Solihull College
Roy Whitehouse, Melbicks Garden and Leisure
Nigel Smith, Diploma Line Lead, Solihull and the West Midlands Consortium
Sandra French, The Flower Studio

Narrator: The Solihull and West Midlands Consortium will deliver the Environmental and Land Based Studies Diploma from September 2010. Part of its engagement with employers has involved the planning of work experience placements. One employer, Melbicks Garden and Leisure Centre, already offers work experience to BTEC learners.

Pauline Dillon, Work Placement Liaison Officer, Solihull College: Either myself or another member of staff will go out to a work placement, before a student can go, and do a thorough health and safety check. At that time the employer is given the codes of conduct, what we expect our students to behave like and to do.

Narrator: Practitioners must also prepare the learners and the employer to ensure the content of the experience is appropriate and that the necessary assessment and debriefing arrangements are in place.

Roy Whitehouse, Melbicks Garden and Leisure: All the students when they first arrive on their first day are given a total induction of the site; general health and safety. They are also given masks and aprons and gloves. So, any sort of equipment that they might need in order to fulfil the job role.

Narrator: Functional and personal learning and thinking skills, a vital part of the Diploma curriculum will be embedded in the work placements. Practitioners are drawing on Ben's experience.

Learner: When I first started the placement I had a full weekend of shadowing someone, so just following them around and seeing what they do and then watching how they deal with customers as well. And then from that I gained my skills and then they also offer training as well, like customer care training and how to sell products.

Customer: And how much water changing do they have to take?

Learner: With marines, not as much because it just knocks the balance a bit out of sync.

Roy Whitehouse: When students come in on work experience they'll get involved in all the day to day routines of running the pet department. So they'll get involved not only in the animal care, but they'll also get involved in functional skills like maths, because they'll get involved in stock takes, stock audits, stock counts and stock checks. And it is taking the lessons that they've learnt at the college and putting it into a real experience in a real working environment.

Narrator: The aims of individual work experience placements will vary. A garden centre may be appropriate for a foundation learner, whereas a research laboratory, a utility company or recycling organisation may suit an advanced learner. Supporting learners in a range of work placements is vital, as is considering how the experience will be used in the Diploma. It might form the basis for an individual project or a teamwork assignment.

Roy Whitehouse: Although they have a real sense of their own responsibility if there are any difficulties or any issues then they can come to the line manager such as myself or the other line managers in the centre and they'll be given all the advice and support that they need.

Learner: I do feel like I'm supported quite well by my managers and our teachers at Solihull College do make us aware that if we have any problems at the work placement that we can go back to see them about it.

Roy Whitehouse: We at Melbicks, in garden and leisure, liaise very closely with Solihull College so that the student is getting the best experience possible in terms of transferring their skills that they're learning into a practical sense. Their assessor will come in and we'll sit down, we'll talk, they'll observe the student on the job and they'll also sit down with us and have a one to one conversation about how they're progressing.

We feedback to the students and all the staff here on how their service can be improved and we do that through our own observations and customer observations and customer feedback forms.

Learner: I do want to work in retail selling pets and hopefully set up my own business in future. And work experience has definitely helped because I know what is - what goes into running a business.

Narrator: The Solihull and West Midlands Consortium is also able to offer some work experience placements on site at its animal care centre and its floristry shop.

Nigel Smith: Because we have to travel quite a distance to small floristry shops we felt within the consortia it would be very useful if we had our own floristry real working environment which is open to the general public.

Narrator: The floristry shop was set up by Solihull College as an alternative work experience opportunity for its floristry students. It will also be used in Diploma delivery, and the college remains vigilant about all the work experience placement protocols.

Nigel Smith: Because it is a real working environment they will be doing all the jobs that a trainee florist would do. So, what we will do before they come into the placement is, we'll do risk assessments with them, we'll explain the dangers that they might see, learners will be using hot wax, may be using sharp knives.

Sandra French: We have a tutor that comes out and checks what the students are doing within the shop, so to make sure that it's actually in line with the curriculum.

Narrator: Practitioners at Solihull College ensure that learners are using functional skills as well as practical and people skills.

Learner: When you're doing orders, if it was a hand tie or something for £20, you take the flowers one at a time and write it on a piece of paper and know that you've got the exact amount for the right price. 'Cos if you don't work it out to the right price then the customer is not getting what they want.

Sandra French: I think it's how to work with other people, how to be polite, how to greet people and how to ask the right questions. It's life skills that they're learning here as well as floristry.

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