12 May 2016
This year the school will again be running our Year 10 Work Experience Program. It is a great week for the students to go and spend some time working in an occupation they find interesting and may consider as a career option.
This year Work Experience will be run in the last week of Term 2 which is Week 10: 27th June-1st July.
There are always a lot of questions regarding work experience especially if this is the first time you have a child go through the process. The following are common questions that arise throughout the Work Experience Program:
What is Work Experience? Work Experience is a NSW Department of Education endorsed program that allows students to go out into the workforce and spend a week in a job of their choice. The experience allows them to understand the effort and responsibility required to work full time and maintain a livelihood outside of their home and school.
How should my child find a place for work experience? It is recommended that the students find their own place to complete their work experience as it is a valuable lesson in approaching potential employers. Of course if you know someone who could take them on then by all means help with that. In terms of contacting employers there are several ways to approach it. Emails are not recommended as they are usually immediately disregarded. Phone calls can be effective but nothing is better than going around in person and speaking to a number of employers face to face.
My child has looked everywhere and so have I, but we have not found anything. If this occurs then maybe your child needs to expand the areas in which they are willing to work. For example there are only a certain number of vets in any region and they fill up pretty quickly. If you have looked in a variety of workplaces and still have no luck please send the students to the Careers Room to discuss this with me as I may be able to find something for them.
We have found a place but don't know what hours they should be there. As a general rule the minimum amount of hours a student should be at the workplace each day should be the same as a normal school day – about 6 hours. Some workplaces believe "If you're here to experience work then you should work the hours a normal person works". This is also fine and students can be expected to work up to 8 hours a day. Any more than that would be deemed excessive.
My child has found a place they like but the hours are outside of a normal work day. Some workplaces such as gyms or sports competitions like to have students during the busiest parts of the day which is often early evening or into the night. Whilst it is not ideal it is possible to do and the student needs to speak with me as there is additional paperwork that needs to be filled out.
Is there anywhere my child can't go? Yes there are some restrictions to where students can complete their Work Experience. Students are not allowed to leave NSW and if they stay overnight somewhere then additional paperwork needs to be completed. Any work that may put students at risk is also not allowed, for example, a student can go work on a building site but they will be on restricted duties for the time they are there. They can observe from a safe distance and do some general cleaning and moving but can't be in any situation that puts them at increased risk of injury.
We have found a workplace but they want to know who is responsible for insurance. The attached ‘Student Placement Record' is a legal document that covers students while they are away on Work Experience. As long as the form is filled out correctly they will be insured for any accident that may occur by the Department of Education and the workplace will not be liable. A copy of the DEC's insurance policy can be given to you upon request.
My child doesn't want to do work experience. This can be an issue but most students who feel this way change their mind pretty quickly once they get out and experience work for the first time. If they don't want to complete work experience then they are required to attend school every day from 27th June -1st July. At school they will be given written work to do as well as school service to complete. It is not much fun having to stay at school while everyone else is out at different places around the city and like most things with teenagers a little prompting is all they need.
If you have any other questions regarding Work Experience then please feel free to contact me anytime on the school's phone number 98174565 or email me at daniel.kovacic1@det.nsw.edu.au.
Regards, Daniel Kovacic Careers Advisor
Work Placement Contract (pdf 510 KB)