Apprenticeships Placements Handbook

Transcription

1 Apprenticeships Placements Handbook

2 Table of contents 1 Introduction Benefits of a work placement 2 How do placements work? 3 What to wear Hours of work 4 What happens if you re sick while on placement? 5 Holidays What to do if your placement isn t going well Support and guidance Introduction Congratulations on being offered an apprenticeship programme through Hoople. Your apprenticeship will provide you with a valuable opportunity to gain vital skills for your chosen career path. You ll be earning while you learn too, and although there is no guarantee that you will be offered a job at the end of your apprenticeship, many employers do choose to keep their apprentices. This information booklet aims to answer many of the questions you will have as you embark on your apprenticeship programme. However, if you can t find the answer to your questions, or have any other worries or concerns about your apprenticeship, please contact your assessor or the Training team. Benefits of a work placement Work placement is a compulsory element of your apprenticeship programme and enables you to combine classroom based learning with on-the-job training. You will gain many benefits from completing your work placement: Practical and valuable experience in your chosen work area. Improved job opportunities employers are always looking for people with practical experience as well as paper qualifications. You will be earning while you learn as you will be paid the National Minimum Wage for apprentices, currently set by Government at 2.73 per hour and due to increase to 3.30 per hour from October After that, if you are aged 19 or over, you will be entitled to the national minimum wage for your age. Your employer can, of course, choose to pay you more. You will gain a valuable insight into your chosen career path and industry, helping you to decide if the choice you ve made is right for you. Funded by For more information, visit or call

3 How do placements work? Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care or Childcare (including Teaching Assistants) We have a database of employers who offer placements for learners enrolled on these apprenticeship programmes. During your induction, you will be allocated an employer and all details will be passed to you. We will try to ensure that you are placed with an employer as close to your home address as possible. However, there will be occasions when you will be required to travel. We work with a number of local employers who are looking for Business and Administration and/or Customer Services Apprentices. If you have applied for our Business and Administration or Customer Service apprenticeships, you will be asked to come and meet us in the Hoople Training Centre. This will provide us with an opportunity to discuss with you any current vacancies we have and to find out which of these are of most interest to you. We will forward your details to the chosen employer(s) for review and, if you seem right for their vacancy, they will want to interview you. Following interview (which we will arrange) we will give you feedback from the employer on how it s gone and discuss next steps with you. Many of our Dental Nursing apprentices are already employed in surgeries and are supported by their employers to undertake the apprenticeship programme through Hoople. If you re not already in employment, we can help to find a dental surgery to employ you. We will want to meet you at the Hoople Training Centre so that we can find out more about you and your hopes for the future. We will then forward your details to potential employers who, if you seem right for their vacancy, will want to interview you. After interview, we will provide you with feedback from the employer and discuss next steps. What to wear Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care What you wear will vary for each employer. For example, if you are placed at Wye Valley NHS Trust, you will be provided with tunics which must be worn when working within the hospital. Other care settings may have their own particular dress code or you may be directed simply to wear a polo shirt, black trousers and sensible shoes. Don t worry! You will be given the necessary details before your placement begins. Aprenticeships in Childcare (including Teaching Assistants) What you are asked to wear will vary according to the setting. For nurseries and pre-school settings, this is usually a polo shirt (which may be a particular colour, as required by your employer) plus black trousers and sensible shoes. For most school settings, you will not normally be expected to wear a specific uniform but will be asked to dress smartly and appropriately for the school setting. Usually, you will be required to wear smart business dress (which means no jeans, leggings, shorts, sports clothing or trainers). Some settings will require you to wear a specific uniform, but you will be provided with this in advance of your placement. You will be provided with a uniform, which will vary dependent upon your employer. Most practices now provide scrubs, some may provide a tunic and you will be expected to wear plain trousers and closed toe shoes. Hours of work Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care Working hours vary greatly in the Health and Social Care sector and are generally on a shift basis. Details of your expected hours will be provided to you by your employer. 2 For more information, visit or call

4 Apprenticeships in Childcare (including Teaching Assistants) Generally speaking, apprentices on the Childcare (including Teaching Assistants) apprenticeships can expect to work around school hours, for example 9am-3pm. For these apprenticeships, you should expect to work office hours which are normally 9am 5pm. However the working day may vary slightly, depending on the employer. Working hours for dental nursing apprenticeships are usually 8.45am to 5.15pm, but can vary depending on your employer. Classroom-based learning at the Hoople Training Centre Your apprenticeship programme will include an element of classroom-based training at the Hoople Training Centre in Hereford. The amount of time will vary, dependent upon your chosen career path, but your employer must allow you to take this time from your normal working hours as a valuable part of your apprenticeship programme. What happens if you re sick while on placement You must call your employer and explain why you will not be attending work. You must also call the Hoople Training Centre on to confirm your absence. If you are due to attend college but are not feeling well, you must call the Hoople Training Centre on and confirm your absence. If you are absent for more than one day you must keep both your employer and the Training Centre informed. Once you are back at work, you must let the Training Centre know so that we can keep your attendance record up to date and accurate. Please note that apprentices are not entitled to sick pay. Any time absent from work or college due to illness will result in a deduction of pay. Holidays As an apprentice you are entitled to 16 days paid holiday per year, plus bank holidays. You will be expected to discuss which days to take with your employer in order to fit in with their service or business requirements. What to do if your placement isn t going well Starting work can be nerve-wracking and challenging and there s no doubt it will be very different to what you re used to at school or college. It may take a while to settle in, so please don t make any snap judgements after just one day, one week or even one month. If, however, you ve been working for several weeks and feel that things aren t working out well or as expected, please speak to your assessor. They will discuss your options with you and help you to consider your position. If your difficulties cannot be resolved, we will try to find you another suitable placement but if this is not possible, you will be required to stay within your original placement. Alternatively you can find another employer who would be willing to support you for the rest of your apprenticeship programme. We will always do our best to support you in finding a suitable placement. However, we must always ensure that there are good reasons for leaving a placement. Support and guidance We are here to help you throughout your apprenticeship programme. For further help, support and guidance, please don t hesitate to contact your assessor or the Hoople Training Centre. 4 For more information, visit or call

5 I would definitely recommend apprenticeships. I ve learned a great deal, gained valuable skills and a nationally recognised qualification that will be of great benefit to my future career. Hoople Business and Administration apprentice Hoople Ltd Apprenticeships: Placements Handbook Training team Plough Lane Hereford Herefordshire HR4 0LE T: E: enquiries@hoopleltd.co.uk