SLIDE 1 Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
We work with Dudley Education Business Partnership Work Experience Team who are a part of Dudley LA People Directorate supporting schools and colleges to manage health, safety and welfare arrangements for Work Experience Our Governing Body along with the Local Authority have a ‘duty of care’ to
- ur students and to the Borough wide 6000+ placements undertaken
annually have been checked for health, safety and welfare suitability. Most of the Dudley schools use the centrally approved database for work experience placements – the web based database contains approximately 5000 approved companies for work experience
The Process for Work Experience Approval
SLIDE 2
Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
Health, safety and welfare checks with placement providers are carried out on behalf of our students by competent/qualified and experienced H&S personnel.
All companies:
Are subject to a check for H&S provision Sign up to a Wex Agreement Adopt a Safeguarding Policy for Work Experience Are subject to a check of their premises
The Process for Work Experience Approval
SLIDE 3
Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
Students undertaking their WEx need the approval of 3 principal partners ie. School/College, Employer and Parent/Carer. To facilitate this process a set of paperwork and actions is designed and generated to gain the consent of all involved. Parent/Carer
Placements will not go ahead until all components are complete
Employer School/College
SLIDE 4 Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
Some Potential Problems
Out of Borough Placements: These placements can bring an added set of complexities and delays in approving all is OK to allow the placement to proceed;
- 1. The EBP is reliant on other organisations to carry out checks on our
behalf;
- 2. Finding organisations local to the employer willing to undertake the
verification of Health,Safety, Welfare and Insurance arrangements can take time;
- 3. Experience suggests that not every external agency treats these requests
with the same priority as do our own;
- 4. Some external agencies will make a charge for this work (up to £290 has
been known to be asked) . Most of the West Mids will not make a charge but those further afield routinely do so.
- 5. Monitoring out of Borough placements can be time consuming and
expensive where visits are required.
SLIDE 5 Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
Some Potential Problems
Employer Liability Insurance(ELI): ELI is essential for all placements. Companies who do not hold ELI will not be approved unless it is a family business employing close family members only – is not limited by guarantee and the student is also a close family member. Young Person’s Safeguarding All companies are required to have a Wex Child Protection/Safeguarding
- Policy. It can be their own or one adopted from the EBP that have recieved
approval from Dudley Safeguarding Board. Disclosure & Barring Service checks will be recommended by the EBP where such safeguarding measures are considered to be required. The School/College in consultation with a Parent/Carer will the make a decision to proceed.
SLIDE 6
Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
Important Dates and Deadlines
To allow enough time for the School/College and EBP to complete all necessary checks/paperwork/reporting, students need to have identified their placement opportunity at least 12 weeks in advance of the placement date. This timescale also allows time to find alternative placements in the event of cancellation or non H&S/ELI compliance.
SLIDE 7
Parents/Carers
Work Experience Briefing for
A Parents Guide
This leaflet provides good advice and helpful guidance about many aspects of a student work placement.
