Work Placement Case Study - Supported Internship
NAME: Charlotte
PLACEMENT: National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham
ROLE: Aquarist Support
Charlotte completed a successful work placement at the National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham as part of her Supported Internship programme.
During the placement, Charlotte was paired up with a member of staff and given a range of exciting tasks to complete, including feeding some of the fish, assisting visitors viewing the Starfish in the rock pool and showing them a large snail at the Ranger Station.
Charlotte commented: "I absolutely loved my placement at the National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham, I really enjoyed feeding the fish and learning more about them!"
Based at Pinewood Campus, the College's Supported Internship programme is designed to help prepare students for voluntary or paid employment, and support is tailored to meet individual needs, whilst providing valuable experience with an employer. Charlotte has always had a passion for working with animals, and the placement offered her a fantastic opportunity to develop her work skills and confidence, as well as start thinking about her next steps and future job opportunities.
The National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham opened in 1996, and boasts an ocean tank of a million litres which houses over 2,000 creatures, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
NAME: Dom
PLACEMENT: The West Brom Building Society
ROLE: Admin Assistant
As part of Dom’s supported internship programme, he completed a Work Readiness course and accessed a work placement with the West Brom Building Society at their Head Office in West Bromwich.
Dom attended the West Brom Building Society one day a week, where he was based in the Post Room. Jobs included franking the post, completing data input tasks using spreadsheets and some work on health and safety. Part of his workload was to carry out health and safety inspections on the work environment as a whole and produce reports for supervisors.
Dom commented: “I really enjoyed my work placement at the West Brom Building Society Head Office and I felt like one of the team. I was based in the Post Room but was required to move around the building as part of my work.
A job coach supported me at first but after a while I didn’t need a lot of support and I was able to get around the building and the different floors independently. The placement gave me the opportunity to build on my confidence, problem solving and the skills needed in the workplace. I hope to gain paid employment in the future.”
NAME: Leighton
PLACEMENT: Timpsons and Yardley Fives
ROLE: Assistant
On completion of his vocational course based at our Harborne Campus, QAC student Leighton had ambitions to gain employment. He felt a Supported Internship programme, delivered at the College's Pinewood Campus, would be the right option to help him to achieve his long-term goal.
Whilst on the course Leighton had access to two placements Timpsons and Yardley Fives, this allowed him to develop his skills in the workplace and gain real life experience linking to his future aspirations.
During his time at Timpsons, Leighton developed his customer service skills, cut keys and change watch batteries, initially starting his placement with support from our Job Coaches but gradually growing his independence and confidence and being able to travel to his placement alone checking in with the job coaches at points throughout his shifts.
Leighton demonstrated a great work ethic and attention to detail throughout, and received outstanding feedback from both employers on several occasions.
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