A STUDENT has expanded her skills in Business Administration thanks to the opportunity to work at international plastics company PALRAM.
The placement was organised by North-East charity DISC as part of their Steps4Success (S4S) education programme. Student Eden Whitworth, of Newton Aycliffe, completed the placement in February and was invited to remain as a volunteer. She now volunteers one day a week with the potential of gaining future employment with the company.
The placement is a great success, with Eden clearing the company’s archiving backlog which, thanks to her hard work and commitment, is now up to date. Eden has continued to develop her skills as an administrator by supporting other departments in the company with business administration work as part of her role.
Rebecca Drummond, S4S Employer Engagement Advisor, said: “When PALRAM agreed to take Eden we were really pleased as the company are very positive and supportive in their approach to hosting a student. Eden has a determined work ethic and we knew that she would be an asset to the organisation. It’s been lovely to watch her grow and develop employment skills whilst she’s been on placement.”
Rebecca added “We are very grateful to all businesses that have supported our students on work placement. It isn’t always easy, but we have developed some great partnerships and have worked together to achieve positive results. This year, we aim to increase our placement portfolio, so if any businesses are interested in supporting a student, I would really like to hear from them”.
Steps4Success were graded outstanding by OFSTED last year, and part of the inspection report commented “Work placements are of very high quality and ensure learners receive very useful experience in stimulating job roles. They are planned thoroughly to ensure that learners make very good progress”.
Steps4Success works with young people 16-18 who are not in education or employment. The programme delivers a combination of functional skills with practical advice, skills and confidence building all embedded into the qualification as well as a work placement in an area of interest to the student.
Any local company wishing to host a student work placement is asked to contact Rebecca Drummond at DISC on 01325 731160 or email Rebecca.drummond@disc-vol.org.uk
