Vocational Placement Fact Sheet

This table represents what students may be required to complete prior to commencing Vocational Placement. Evidence of completion is to be submitted to Strategix personnel or uploaded to the assessment platform.

*Students in South Australia may also require the Aged Care and/or the Vulnerable People checks.

Key:

Task Based – Students are required to complete the tasks, the time required to do so may vary so there are no minimum time frames.

Required – Industry standards require this check. Optional – The VP host may require this. Not Req – Not required for this VP.

Additional Information

Vocational Placement Student Guide

Vocational placement is to provide a student with the opportunity to undertake practical training and to gain the experience required to enable them to demonstrate competency against the outcomes of a nationally recognised qualification.

Students are required to complete placement in an acceptable workplace to ascertain competence. An acceptable workplace must have available the necessary resources, facilities, equipment and the range of work required to complete the tasks as outlined in the Vocational Placement assessment/s.

Vocational Placement Requirements

Unless a student is currently working or volunteering, it is anticipated that students will not begin a vocational placement until after the first unit of study has been completed. This allows:

• Opportunity for Police and/or Working with Children checks to be completed

• Students to gain underpinning knowledge and appropriate workplace behaviours prior to placement in the sector they are studying.

Students will only be covered by Strategix’ insurance arrangements while conducting activities on voluntary placement, during the hours as agreed upon by the host and student. Insurance coverage will take effect after Strategix has received the signed agreement. Employed students will fall under the insurances of their employer.

Responsibilities and Obligations

Student’s responsibilities

Student’s responsibilities prior to vocational placement:

• Find a host willing and able to provide information provided below (Host responsibilities)

• Ensure vocational placement is voluntary (unless currently employed in the industry)

• Complete, sign and return the vocational placement Agreement prior to commencement.

Student’s responsibilities during vocational placement:

• Do not hinder or disrupt the operations of the host during visit/s

• Understand and observe the hosts privacy and be respectful of their operations and regulations

• Comply with and uphold the Strategix Training Group rules, regulations and ethics

• Complete activities in a timely manner

• Book and report all visits and activities to the ‘supervisor’ at the host location

• Ensure the trainer is also informed of all visits and activities

• Record your attendance and have supervisor verify

• If required, provide summary of changes, recommendations, findings to employers for their use (this is an activity, hosts do not need to implement any changes or recommendations you may have suggested)

• Ensure all relevant sections of the Vocational Placement assessment/s are completed.

Host responsibilities

Your host is responsible to ensure:

• They provide a safe environment for students to complete activities

• They provide an onsite mentor/supervisor

• The mentor/supervisor to sign off vocational placement assessment/s

• They provide information and assistance to the student to complete activities

• Provide the required activities as per the training package and Vocational Placement assessment/s.

Trainer/VP Coordinator responsibilities

Will:

• Ensure students have gained a vocational placement for the required Units of Competency

• Provide support to the employer and student as required.

Undertaking Vocational Placement

Step 1. Induction Day

On Induction day students are informed of vocational placement requirements including but not limited to:

• Requirements to have a current police check and/or working with children check

• Attendance requirements

• Time limitations to completing their vocational placement

• Host employer dress requirements

• Information on Vocational Placement Agreement forms

Step 2. Student Preparation

In order to prepare for vocational placement:

1. In the second week of your course Strategix will work with you to obtain a Police and/or Working with Children’s check (update Strategix with its details when it comes through)

2. The student must secure a location to complete their placement (Appendix 1)

3. Ensure the Vocational Placement Agreement is signed and returned prior to commencement of vocational placement

4. Provide your host with a copy of your Police and/or working with children check (where required)

5. The trainer will go through the Vocational Placement assessment requirements

6. After the Vocational Placement Agreement form has been signed by the host and returned to the trainer you will *receive your Vocational Placement Assessment/s.

*Individual Support only:

Individual Support students must complete instruction in manual handling covered in the WHS unit and on the practical days. Failure to attend both of these days may mean the student cannot attend vocational placement on the scheduled date.

If the Vocational Placement Agreement is not completed before commencing vocational placement, your work completed prior to receiving the agreement will not be recognised and you will not be covered under Strategix insurance cover in the event of a workplace accident.

Understand that the placement of students in vocational placement is at the trainer’s discretion. The trainer may postpone student’s vocational placement if they feel the student does not have the necessary foundational knowledge and skills to complete this successfully

Step 3. Attending and completing vocational placement

During placement the following must:

• Attend vocational placement during the dates scheduled for this course

• Ensure the following is completed in your Vocational Placement Record Book:

  • Student Instructions

  • Attendance Record

  • Declaration/s

  • Task Logs / Projects

• Follow all obligations set out by Strategix and the host (code of conduct etc.)

• Complete vocational placement within 10 weeks of the last class date or they may be withdrawn from the class (unless negotiated with and approved by Strategix management)

After you have completed the required number of vocational placement hours and all tasks/projects are completed, you are unable to obtain competency for your subjects.

Appendix 1.

Tips for obtaining a location for vocational placement

Finding and securing a place to complete your vocational placement will be a whole lot easier when the following is applied to your efforts:

Start early

Start looking for a vocational placement early. It is recommend that you don’t leave it any later than 6 weeks (even this may be a stretch to get in the door for some locations). Other students from other organisations are also looking for placement and some may be booked many months in advance.

Get help

Ask your family, partner and/or friends who work within the community sector if their workplace takes students for vocational placement

Treat it like a job interview

• Prepare a resume titled Vocational Placement Request (unpaid)

• Include a letter with your resume (we have a letter template which you can use)

• Dress smart

• Go to the organisation of interest to you, don’t phone

• Request to see the manager/supervisor.

If you don’t hear back, go back and follow up. Ask if they have had time to review and contemplate about your request and if it is somewhere you really want to be, leave another copy of your resume.

What to say and do

When meeting with the manager/supervisor at the organisation of interest explain and outline the following:

• You are a fulltime student and require a vocational placement to complete your studies

• You are a volunteer, so no wages or employment contracts or the like are required

• Strategix provides all insurance (Liability, Workers Insurance and Public Indemnity)

• The mentor will be required to sign off on attendance throughout the course and check of the tasks/projects completed by you

• Information/processes which you may be exposed to, collect or collate as part of your placement will be and is kept confidential and will not be used inappropriately or released to unauthorised parties.

If you get limited hours you can still complete your placement, it may take a little longer to complete. Sometimes if you are doing real well they can look at increasing your hours.

Internal information

Policy:

This procedure sets out the way in which Strategix will manage Vocational Placement (VP) requirements of students who are studying online, on campus or in the workplace.

VP requirements are identified within training packages by either the inclusion of the wording ‘must be assessed in the workplace’ or by mandated hour requirements listed in the assessment requirements for the course or subject/s. Refer to training.gov.au for minimum work hour’s requirement for specific training packages.

While VP is a term used to identify voluntary work, it is important to note that students currently employed in the industry may use their employed hours to meet the attendance requirements and must still complete the tasks required as part of the VP.

Where VP is completed in a voluntary capacity, students should not expect payment for the time and roles they perform while on placement. For information regarding the rights of a VP student access the Fair Work website.

To ensure that students are receiving a fair, valid and sufficient VP experience, a VP agreement has been designed to ensure all parties agree to the terms and conditions. The VP Agreement is a mandatory item/document. It must be completed before the placement commences*. The agreement has multiple purposes including:

• Insurance access for voluntary participants and hosts (supplied by Strategix)

• Role and responsibility outlines

• Funding requirement/s at a state level

• Confirmation and communication of relevant information to hosts and the training provider

• Determine times and frequency of VP

• Formalise the process and relationship between the student, host and Training Organisation.

An appropriate host will have the necessary range of work, facilities and equipment for the student to utilise during placement. Any shortfalls in a host must result in an additional host being sourced to meet the training package requirements.

While students are required to source their own VP host, Strategix will assist students to have an appropriate host organisation that will provide the range of activities required for the students to complete their study successfully.

NOTE: Students cannot commence VP unless they have:

• Completed all inductions and have all the relevant information to perform VP

• A signed and completed VP agreement (hours completed prior to the agreement will not be counted towards the final outcome) *Previously completed hours/shifts may be accepted upon approval.

• All necessary prerequisites, screening and checks are completed.

Simplified instructions for VP are available for students here.

Roles and responsibilities

There are four (4) main stakeholders in a VP program:

Student Instructions

A quick guide for students is as below.

Trainer Instructions

A quick guide for trainers is as below, this sequence must be followed.

Procedure:

Students Informed of Placement Requirements and Expectations

Strategix outlines information within its marketing material detailing the requirement for VP within a course. Individual fact sheets regarding funding also include the VP requirements prior to commencement.

Prior to commencement and at the beginning of the course, students are informed of all prior requirements or pre-requisites to be completed before commencing VP, including:

• Requirements to have necessary screenings and checks completed (see course details)

• Time limitations to completing their VP

• Required VP Hours and/or tasks

• Attendance Requirements, including, VP attendance may be one to two days per week, this increases to four to five days per week after theory has been completed

• Agreement and contract requirements.

Appendix A details the requirements that may be required for each course/industry.

Assigning Placements

The students, Vocational Placement coordinators, business development team and the trainers/assessors are to source potential VP hosts. The placement of students needs to happen in a timely manner, so students are not disadvantaged by having to wait outside the designated time to complete their placement hours.

Required resources and facilities are listed in the Training and Assessment Strategy.

The trainer works with the student to manage this process in an efficient and organised manner. Placement details are to be confirmed with the student.

Where a student maintains permanent employment within the industry being studied, they are to gain confirmation from their employer of their intent to complete the tasks as part of their employment.

VP Documentation

Students must submit/upload all VP documents prior to commencing the placement, these may include industry specific clearances and the VP agreement. Students completing VP in the following industries may require one or multiple of the following:

*Each host may have their own requirement/s.

Access the WWCC procedure to determine the specific requirements for child related works.

Access the Disability Worker Screening Procedure for further instructions for students and staff coming into contact with NDIS clients.

Vocational Placement Agreements are mandatory for all students. They are to be completed by the Host and the Student and then uploaded into the LMS (Moodle/CloudAssess) by the student. The student is required to agree to the terms and conditions of the VP along with the host. Strategix will approve the VP agreement via the Mentor Guide email (see below).

Mentor Guide

All hosts/employers must receive a Mentor Guide. The mentor guide provides hosts/employers with the information required to provide quality and meaningful placement in accordance with training package rules. The guide is sent via aXcelerate. Instructions:

• Locate host profile (if not found, create using the details on the VP agreement form)

• Select the Vocational Placement Mentor Guide template

• Enter the student’s name in the field provided

• ‘Save and email’

• Upload the relevant Mentor Guide under the ‘Attachment(s)’ section

• ‘Save and send’ to the host.

Final Reminders Prior to Placement

One week prior to placement the trainer goes through the following with the students:

• Instructions to complete the VP activities

• Ensure VP agreement is uploaded or gained

• Vocational Placement book distributed, or VP activities released (Cloud Assess and Moodle)

• Copy/photo taken of police check/working with Children check and uploaded to aXcelerate. The host employer is provided with a copy of each check.

Complete Vocational Placement

Students are required to complete their VP in the time frames as negotiated in the agreement and complete all assessment activities. The workplace log must be signed off by the supervisor progressively.

While on VP, the students must abide by the code of conduct as set out in the International Student Handbook or the Student Handbook and maintain standard employment conditions.

Any issues during placement should be raised directly with the training manager.

Trainers and VP Coordinators are responsible for the follow up on student progression. This should be completed on a bi-monthly basis (prompted by compliance report).

NOTE: If a student’s host does not have all requirements available as stipulated in the Mentor Guide, the student may be required to complete further VP with another host. If this is the case, repeat all steps in this procedure.

Submit Assessment

VP books:

• To be returned to the trainer/assessor at the negotiated time

• The book must be completed in full and have all areas completed before marking can occur

• Any books returned incomplete or illegible will be returned to the student for resubmission.

Assessment LMS:

Submit assessments for marking.

Marking and Feedback

Assessors are to mark the VP book by ensuring the following has been completed correctly and in full:

• Vocational Placement Attendance Record

• Declaration/s

• Vocational Placement Task Logs / Projects.

As per the Conducting Assessment Policy and Procedure, incomplete and incorrect assessments are to be marked appropriately and returned to the student for rework. Assessors should outline any required rectifications in writing and provide the student with support and guidance to complete their course.

Finalisation of Vocational Placement

Once the student has submitted a completed VP book and it has been marked, the trainer/assessor is required to submit the VP book to the respective course coordinator and either the trainer awards satisfactory (assessment part) and competence (subject) or the course coordinator enters the results.

The course co-ordinator is to award the results as indicated in the VP book.

Contributor/s:

The following person/s were consulted and involved in the process of developing this document:

Standards Reference:

Glossary:

Appendix A – VP Prerequisites

*Students from South Australia may also require the Aged Care and, or the Vulnerable People checks.

Key:

Required – Industry standard will require this check

Optional – the VP host may require this

Not Req – Not required for this VP