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YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE JUNE 23 – JUNE 26, 2015
Dear Parent/Guardian and student
You would be aware that a Work Experience program has operated at Norwood for many years with all students
undertaking at least one placement of Work Experience whilst in Year 10. Next year, the program will operate for
the last week of Term 2 - Monday June 22 till Friday June 26, 2015
The aim of this program is to give students the opportunity to:
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develop an awareness of appropriate attitudes and behavior in a real work environment
increase understanding of what it is like to be in a real work environment.
explore employment and career options and develop contacts with potential employers.
observe the use made of skills taught in school subjects.
The Work Experience placement is incorporated within the subject of English. As part of their Semester 2 English
assessment, all students prepare and deliver an oral presentation to the class on various aspects of their placement.
Past experience indicates that finding useful work experience placements becomes very difficult if students do not
start contacting prospective employers early. Sometimes students leave this to the last minute and subsequently
have more difficulty securing a placement, as it has already been filled by someone else. It is only then that many
students tell their parents of their difficulty. Parents are encouraged to assist their students in finding a work
placement as it can be quite daunting for them to do this completely by themselves. Parents can help in a variety
of ways. This includes contacting useful people/businesses they may know of, searching through the Yellow
Pages Telephone directory or website (www.yellowpages.com.au ) with their student, rehearsing with their
student what could be said when contacting a possible employer or driving their student to a possible workplace.
(Please refer to the other side of this sheet).
In order for students to participate in Work Experience they need to:
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find an employer who can provide a Work Experience placement for June 22 – June 26, 2015. A
placement where a student already works is not suitable as there would be little benefit doing Work
Experience at a place one is already familiar with.
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Complete the first three sections of the Work Experience form ie Page 1 and 2. If the student will be
travelling with the employer during the Work Placement, the page 3Travel Form needs to be completed.
Page 4 is only filled in if staying away from home while on Work Experience. Please hand in the Work
Experience form and if necessary, the Travel Form, to Mr Chatton as soon as possible, but at the latest
by Friday March 27, 2015.
complete Occupational Health and Safety training. Many students have done so already in a number of
different industry areas, when they studied the Year 9 Out on Your Own subject.
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Many students and parents consider this to be a worthwhile and enjoyable program and your cooperation is
sought to help ensure this for your student. Should you have any concerns, please contact Ron Chatton on
9871 0476 during College hours or email ron@norwood.vic.edu.au
Ron Chatton (Work Experience Coordinator)
Student information of what do to find a Work Experience placement?
1. Decide on a particular job you would like to do work experience in.
2. Discuss with parents, relatives or friends whether they know of a suitable work place to be contacted. They
may know someone or be able to help you find a person, who could place you in work experience. Most work
experience placements are done this way. If you don’t have any suitable contacts, you may be able to look up
a suitable organization in a phone book (www.yellowpages.com.au) or the Internet and then contact them.
You may have to try a number of times before you are successful. Do not use a place you already work at, as
there will be little benefit doing work experience at a place you are already familiar with.
3. It may not be possible for you to find the dream Work Experience placement and end up doing work
placement with whoever you can contact. In most cases it will still be a valuable experience. The important
thing is to start early to find a placement.
4. Employers can be contacted in a number of ways: either by phone or personally or even by writing a letter.
The most important points to mention to the employer are:
 your name and that you are a student at Norwood investigating your career options.
 you are enquiring if it would be possible to do a week’s work experience.
 there is automatic Work Cover to insure the work experience for both the student and employer.
 It would only cost the employer $5 a day for you to do work experience. You will not be paid
anything if you do work experience at a non-profit organization. Eg Kinder, charity, school etc.
It would be useful for you to discuss and practice what you intend to say to an employer beforehand, with a
parent, guardian or friend. You will then be more confident about what you say and so your enquiry will
come across better.
Keep in mind that a large number of businesses are familiar with providing work experience and so most will
understand what you are asking.
Process for completing a Work Experience Arrangement.
Once an employer has agreed to accept a student for Work Experience, the Work Experience form which students
have already been given, needs to be completed. This involves the following;
1. Parent/Guardian, student and employer complete their relevant sections of the form .Please note that any
form where the Employer has signed at the beginning of the Employer section cannot be accepted. The
employer needs to sign at the end of their section so as to confirm they agree to specific conditions. If you
are going to travel with your employer, a Travel form will also need to be signed by your employer.
2. Students hand in their form/s to Mr Chatton.
3. Mr Chatton checks that all sections of the form and the relevant Occupational Health and Safety modules
have been completed. If they have, the form is then passed on to our Principal Mr Andrew Sloane, to
approve the Work Experience arrangement, by signing the Principal Consent section.
What happens if Occupational Health and Safety Modules are not completed?
In order for students to demonstrate an understanding of Occupational Health and Safety issues, they need to
satisfactorily complete a General Module test and the Industry Module test relevant to their Work Experience.
Most students have undertaken relevant tests in the Out on Your Own subject studied in Year 9. When a student
hands in their Work Experience form, they will be advised as to whether they have completed the Industry
module associated with their work experience. If necessary, they will be informed about the Industry module they
need to complete. This will not be an issue to many students as most have completed all of the possible Industry
Modules tests.
All of the material for these Occupational tests can be viewed electronically on the Internet at
www.education.vic.gov.au/safe@work Tests can be completed and self corrected on any computer linked to the
Internet meaning that students can choose to complete their tests at home. The tests are in a Multiple Choice
format and can be reattempted as often as is necessary, until the student has attained a 75% standard. Once the
relevant test/s are completed, students need to hand in the printouts of Module completion, with their parent or
guardian signature to verify that they have done the tests themselves. Ie at the bottom of each printout the parent
or guardian writes “I verify that student name has completed this test themselves followed by parent/guardian
signature.”