Practical placement
Thank you for your consideration in hosting a Chisholm Institute (“Chisholm”) student to undertake practical placement. Your experience and support are invaluable to our students and the courses we offer. By mentoring a student, you are helping them to become work-ready, so that by the time they have completed their qualification, they will have the skills and experience necessary to embark on their career.
Hosting a student offers your existing staff the opportunity to develop leadership, mentoring and coaching skills and gives them practice in delegating and managing. You can identify talented future employees and promote your organisation as a model of best practice and an employer of choice. We also value your feedback as industry experts so that we can improve the quality of our courses and the way in which we offer placement.
The information on this page provides a general overview about hosting Chisholm students for their placement.
Further information regarding specific discipline areas or courses will be provided to you when you complete an agreement with us.
What is Practical Placement?
Practical placement is where a Chisholm student is matched with a Host Organisation to undertake workplace learning and assessment to meet the requirements of their course.
Practical placement provides our students with the opportunity to:
- gain first-hand training and experience working with an established host organisation
- prepare for the workforce and
- better understand course content in a workplace context by applying theory to practice.
Initial Steps
At Chisholm, we take the development, and ongoing management of host partnerships very seriously. Our priority is to ensure that you as a Host have a complete understanding of what the expectations of you, our students, and of Chisholm are, within the placement process.
Upon expressing interest to host a student, a relevant Placement Coordinator will contact you and discuss requirements. At this stage we will ensure that your organisation has the necessary environment, materials and staffing resources to adequately support a student on placement. We will discuss student requirements and also your expectations in hosting a student.
Your Placement Coordinator will be your main point of contact throughout your time of hosting students with us.
Placement Agreements
In order to host a student on practical placement, all Host Organisations must complete and sign a Placement Agreement. A Placement Agreement is an overarching contract between you, the Host Organisation and Chisholm Institute, detailing that you are happy to engage in placement with students from particular courses at Chisholm. A Placement Agreement specifically outlines responsibilities (both legally and practically) regarding placements.
As there are several Placement Agreements applicable to practical placement, a Placement Coordinator will discuss the appropriate agreement with you.
Students are also required to complete paperwork regarding their engagement in placement within this process.
Due Diligence
To ensure that all our Host Organisations meet Work, Health, and Safety requirements we will request that you complete a Due Diligence Check at the time of completing a Placement Agreement. The Due Diligence Check ensures that you are meeting all the regulatory and legislative requirements of the workplace. Placement Coordinators may also conduct site visits when the need arises.
Compliance
All students undertaking practical placement will have pre-placement compliance to complete prior to being able to attend placement. Pre-placement compliance differs from course to course and relate directly to industry requirements. At Chisholm, compliance is of high priority, and as a result, no student will be allocated to a placement without the necessary requirements having been completed.
Our Placement Coordinators will discuss if you have any additional requirements for students to attend placement at your Organisation.
Establishing Placements
Unless otherwise discussed with you, Placement Coordinators are responsible for the securing and coordination of placements. This ensures that students complete placement at Host Organisations that can meet and support placement requirements.
InPlace
InPlace is an online placement software program that Chisholm uses to manage placement. The platform can be accessed by Education Providers, Students, Staff and Host Organisations. InPlace is used across the VicTAFE Network and offers a streamlined approach to the management of placement.
Your Placement Coordinator will provide you will more information regarding InPlace and how you can use the platform in your Organisation. At Chisholm we have a dedicated team responsible for the management of InPlace, which also support Staff, Students and Host Organisations who use the platform.
Attendance
As per DET Guidelines students undertaking practical placement are not able to engage in more than 38 hours of placement per week. Students who attend placement 5 days a week @8 hrs. per day (inclusive of breaks) are at the maximum end of this requirement. It is explained to all students, that unless under exceptional circumstances, they are not able to engage in placement for more than 7.5 hours a day (excluding lunch break).
As vocational courses where placement is a mandatory aspect of the qualification have a stipulated minimum number of hours to complete during placement, any hours or days missed while on placement need to be made up. Placement Coordinators discuss make up hours/days prior to an extension to placement.
Preparing students for placements
To ensure that all students are adequately prepared for placement, our Placement, Teaching and Careers staff run several support sessions dedicated to preparing students to attend placement. Ensuring that students are fully aware of their obligations and requirements are an integral step in the placement process.
Placement Induction
To ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of students on placement, we ask that all Host Organisations have an induction process for any students attending placement. An induction is a great way of ensuring a student feels comfortable within the placement environment, and ensures they are aware of any Work, Health, and Safety requirements your Organisation has.
Most Host Organisations complete a workplace induction with students on their first day of placement, however it is not uncommon for this to occur prior to the placement beginning too.
Placement and Employment
Chisholm students are highly regarded across multiple industries, and therefore it is not uncommon for them to be offered employment at the Host Organisation who supported them for placement.
Depending on the industry, this may occur during or after a student’s course is completed. For industries where students can be employed while studying in that area, discussions with a relevant Placement Coordinator is strongly advised.
If you have employment vacancies within your Organisations and are wanting to advertise, you can contact our Chisholm Skills and Jobs Centre at skillsandjobs@chisholm.edu.au
Workplace assessment visits
All students completing placement are required to be assessed by a qualified practical placement supervisor. In most cases, this will be a dedicated Chisholm employee with industry experience and a sound knowledge of the placement expectations of the student. In a very small percentage of courses, assessment is completed by an onsite assessor that has been validated by Chisholm.
Codes of Conduct
Students are advised that during their placement they must adhere to both the Chisholm Student Code of Conduct and their Host Organisation’s Code of Conduct. Issues relating to student behaviour, professionalism and performance are managed collaboratively to ensure the best outcomes for students and the Host Organisations.
More Information
If you would like further information on supporting student placements at your Organisation, please complete our Host Enquiry Form below. The appropriate Placement Coordinator will be in touch with you to follow up within two working days.