Mission Statement
The School of Coding is a safe, well ordered and caring environment for learning. It delivers high quality education to all its students and supports them to develop their individual potential for growth, self-worth and self-control.
High quality outstanding teaching, and clear and consistent guidance and support facilitates students in succeeding in education. Our broad and balanced academic and vocational curriculum will provide students with access to a broad range of accredited qualifications as well as educational and social experiences, which will address their learning and emotional needs. Our purpose is to support every student to develop their true potential, make positive contributions to their families and find fulfilment in employment.
Values
- Alternative Provision doesn’t mean a dumping ground…it’s mainstream with the reasonable adjustments to succeed
- High standards and high expectations are incredibly important and are the corner stones to a successful school
- The School of Coding should become the go-to place for educators from across the country to see best practice
- Good simply isn’t good enough
- Learning is about a journey and there is more than one way to get to the destination
- Qualifications, manners, respect and opportunity should be the foundations for students that need a second chance.
School Ethos
High standards – students are pushed to achieve beyond their potential, and staff work to ensure everything that we do is better than people expect.
Daring to Dream – students at The School of Coding may have been in an educational setting where they lacked aspiration to be successful, at The School of Coding we challenge students to reach their potential and go on to further education and employment.
Traditional Values – some things often get forgotten in education, at The School of Coding we pride ourselves on mutual respect, good manners, making a positive contribution, supporting one another and an orderly, litter free environment.
Success – can come in many virtues, at The School of Coding we celebrate the small steps every day and tell students when they are doing well. We ensure that students can have a successful future.
Personalised Support – all students at The School of Coding have a Learning Coach who guides them, sets them bespoke targets and supports them in making social and academic progress.
Statement of Purpose
The School of Coding recognises the importance of creating opportunities for students to learn about, through and for the world of work. Work experience placements, in particular, have great value in providing a student with the opportunity to gain insights into the world of work and to develop the skills which university selectors and employers look for and want to be evidenced.
Although work placement is the generally used term, it is important to recognise that it is not the same as a temporary job, as by definition it is a period of unpaid work. It is an arranged opportunity for a student to gain an insight into the variety of work carried out in any given enterprise, to see the way the enterprise is managed and ideally to participate in some aspects of the work. The work experience scheme should seek ways to improve and develop quality links with local industry and commerce and to be able to share ideas on the changing nature of work and how it affects the local economy and labour market.
Aims
- Work experience should be an integral part of a young person’s development and should prepare them for the transition from life at school to work and adult life.
- It will enable students to experience the demands and expectations of the adult world of work and provide the opportunity to put into practice and see the relevance of skills learned at school.
- It will promote the development of the ‘whole person’ by providing an insight into the nature and discipline associated with the work environment, which revolves around the product or service offered and not the individual.
- It will stimulate a more mature and positive attitude to learning and education and enhance academic achievement.
- It will build confidence by enabling students to experience success in an environment other than that at school.
- It will enable the students to make more realistic and enlightened job choices by allowing them to try out a vocational preference before committing themselves to it.
Students will:
- complete the Work Experience Log which includes a final evaluation meeting with the employer
- make realistic, informed choices about future qualifications and possible career pathways based on the skills, knowledge and experience gained at the placement
- build confidence in mock interviews, preplacement interview, letters of application, writing a CV, communication skills, dealing with adults, debriefing sessions with the Employer and Tutor.
Legal requirements and recommended best practice
There are certain legal requirements and recommended best practices that are in place to ensure the safety of all parties involved in a work placement. The main areas to be aware of are:
Health and Safety at Work
The Health and Safety (Training and Employment) Regulations 1990 state that all those receiving training or work experience from an employer in the workplace are deemed to be ‘employees’ for the purposes of Health and Safety legislation. This legislation imposes responsibilities on the employer but also on the student as an ‘employee’:
- to take responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do or do not do
- to co-operate with the employer and to follow instructions on Health and Safety
- not to interfere with or misuse anything provided for their health, safety or welfare.
The employer should be asked to confirm that they have a current Health and Safety Policy as well as an updated COVID 19 Risk Assessment and that they will go through the relevant sections with the student at the start of the placement. It is important that this is confirmed.
Working Time Regulations
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 there are stringent daily and weekly working time limits for young workers (those that are over compulsory school age but under 18). Young workers may not work for more than 8 hours in any one day and 40 hours in any one week. Young workers are also entitled to a daily rest of 12 consecutive hours, a weekly rest of 48 hours and a rest break of 30 minutes where daily work time is more than 41⁄2 hours. The employer should comply with the Working Time Regulations and should not require the student to work in excess of the limits set out above.
Risk Assessment
The employer should be asked to confirm that a risk assessment will be completed for the duties being undertaken by the student, taking into account the age and limited experience of the young person and that the key findings will be communicated to the student before the commencement of the placement. The employer should be informed of any medical conditions the student has, which could result in an increased risk to the student or an employee’s health and safety during the placement. The employer will then be able to identify any significant risk and the necessary control measures put in place to ensure the safety of the student.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
For all young people on Work Experience DBS documentation is required for all staff that will be in regular contact with the young person. The placement supervisor would ensure that the student does not come into any unsupervised contact with anyone whilst on the placement. Full checks on this will be carried out by our partners.
For Post16 work experience DBS checks are not required. Paragraph 99 of the DfE’s statutory safeguarding guidance states: Schools and colleges are not able to request an enhanced DBS check with barred list information for staff supervising children aged 16 to 17 on work experience. This is reiterated in a DfE advice document about post
16 work experience, published in March 2015. It explains, on page 13, that as of July 2012, work experience providers are no longer required to carry out enhanced DBS checks on staff supervising young people aged 16 to 17.
However, we would advise a student against a placement where they will have substantial unsupervised contact with an employee or supervisor on a 1:1 basis, particularly if located in an isolated environment or whilst travelling. Also where the placement has a residential element, unless in an educational setting where staff will have Employer’s Liability Insurance. This covers the firm’s legal ability for injuries sustained by employees (including students on work experience) whilst at work.
Confirmation should be requested and received that the prospective ‘employer’ does have both Employer’s and Public Liability Insurance in force and that the latter does not exclude abuse.
The employer must notify their insurers that they participate in work experience placements. If the employer does not confirm that these Insurances are in place, students should not attend such establishments. It should be noted that Sole Traders have no requirement for.
This page was last updated on 19/01/2023