Work experience sh*t show

[Dwellernf]

DD17 is starting her 2 week college industry placement today. Level 3 extended diploma in equine studies. Students had to find an industry related placement and give all relevant info...placement address, contact details etc to the college by January. No problem. DD knew the yard she was going to, all arranged. Due to the easter holidays, students were given the option of doing it during the holidays, or the 2 weeks following. A few have already done their placement, or a few days of it. Good Friday we went to the yard to finalise days, hours etc. We had arranged it with the yard manager that DD would be doing these 2 weeks, as it allowed a member of staff to go on leave and DD would be the replacement. Yard manager was off over the Easter weekend and would see DD Tuesday. Good Friday pm... email from the college to say that due to the college not completing the necessary checks DD would not be able to do her placement at her chosen yard, and would instead have to chose from a short list of places that the college had managed to vet. The closest venue to us being 25 miles away! According to DD's group chat this was affecting 9 out of the 17 students, and 3 of them had already completed/started their days. These were now not valid, and they will have to re do them, at a different place!! We were told we had the Easter weekend to sort out the new placements!!! I managed to get hold of the course leader, and was told it wasn't HER fault, and the placement team had failed to get the relevant insurance docs. I explained that the yard DD was going to have full insurance and I can get them to send the docs on Tuesday when yard manager returns to work. No. It had to be in place before DD starts. The yard is a registered charity, in which one of DD's course lecturers is a trustee, as well as the charity's head instructor. She could verify all is in order. No. Still wont be done in time. The yard also run major show jumping and dressage competitions at the college equestrian centre. They would have the insurance copy? No! The events team is a different dept and we cant possibly 'cross departments'!!! I then told her that as course leader it was her fault as she should have made sure all this was in place for her students before the easter break, knowing they would all be going straight into it. She said it wasn't her job. I told her DD would be starting at her chosen yard on Monday, as I wasn't going to let them down or be prepared to change my work schedule etc over the next 2 weeks to take DD to a placement miles away (no public transport... we are very rural) To which she said she will fail that part of her course as it's not a valid placement! AIBU to think the college have mucked up big time here, and it is the course leaders responsibility to make sure all students had their placements sorted and verified? And AIBU to still send DD to her chosen placement? And AIBU to want to make a complaint to the college about this, and make sure DD does not fail this part of her course. The college had since January to do all the checks...

Sounds an absolutely ridiculous set up, especially when the college have had plenty of time to sort this, have already used the yard before and have the appropriate paperwork within the building!
Well done for standing your ground - especially as your DD is known at the yard.
I think it is a case of lots of phone calls until they get it sorted - rather than trying to blackmail your DD into falling in with the college's plans to cover up their incompetence.....
Get onto the providers complaint procedure and follow that.

Please don't blame the course lead! I lead on 6 courses over 4 days, the management of the work experience is nothing to do with us. This is managed by another department entirely who have full control. The manager of this department is the person to complain to. Trust me we have enough to do which is why another department takes control of this element. People are employed solely to manage this, it's their only area of responsibility. They took this away from teaching staff as we are already overloaded. I have over 80 students a week across 6 courses to manage in four days.

I would go ahead as planned. 100 per cent. This is on the college to sort out. Let her crack on and they will have to do the checks in retrospect. I’d make a big song and dance about this. How is any 17 year old supposed to get to a yard 25 miles away. By their nature, they are not going to be on bus routes. If all the 9 students carry on as planned they college will have to sort it out. They won’t fail 9 students. Get the trustee lecturer on board.

Yes, this 👆

You are doing the right thing. If the yard has its own insurance then it's find. The college sounds ridiculous and inefficient. Not an uncommon problem sadly.

I'd have just sent her. And then he complaining to college, emailing and phoning.

The rescue charity I volunteer at had a similar experience with a local FE college. A student (he was 21 and ASD, had arranged the placement himself, told college, etc) had done a lot of hours of work experience when the college suddenly said they "hadn't vetted" the rescue, etc (similar to what OP describes) and he'd have to start his hours again after they did the "vetting".

I told the woman who runs it simply to include the hours he'd already done in the final certification she signed because it just wasn't fair on the young man (who'd turned up conscientiously and worked really hard).

In what universe does the college have the authority to tell OP where she can and can't allow her child to go during non teaching hours?

Email the college dean or chief exec or whatever they are called with a formal complaint today. This is ridiculous and they are trying to cover their arses with the ‘you will fail’ guilt trip. That is totally unprofessional and whilst it may not be directly the course leads fault, it is their problem as course lead and they surely have a duty to check everything is in place.

im fuming for you and your daughter.

Could you engage with the other parents and take to social media, the governors and college leads?

I would create significant noise over this absolute farce and highlight how poorly this college performs. Almost warn perspective students and parents.

This amount of bad press could force more compliance or at least a better offer.

OP, is there a deadline for when WE needs to be done by? If necessary could it be (re-)done in July after the end of term? I'm pretty certain that DD's different vocational course allows for this.

FE lecturer here, albeit not in Equine. I would continue with her planned placement and put in a formal complaint from you and your daughter separately through college complaints procedure. It's likely nothing to do with course leader as industry placements are usually arranged by non curriculum staff. Colleges are under such pressure to ensure high retention and completion rates that this will be sorted retrospectively by managers high up the chain. Had something similar as part of a recent T level placement. Nothing could be done when I needed support with placement but when parents complained formally miraculously everything and anything was possible to ensure student and family were happy again.

Parent even wrote to Ofsted as part of their complaint.

Worst outcome would be they arrange a new placement later in year. Is she first or second year?

No it doesn't. Employer's Liability policies cover work experience, volunteers etc

I'd let her start if the yard were happy, they are insured. Then repeatedly kick the college until they fill in whatever bumf they have to, launch a complaint and tell everyone I know how absolutely shit they have been.

Despite one of the college instructors being one of the yard instructors too!!

Can you contact this instructor then?
He has obviously done a check of the yard and knows it is safe

The college should be bending over backwards to make this happen. I'd encourage your daughter to make an official complaint.

I'd also encourage her to do the work experience (ignoring the posters who can't read and keep banging on about insurance). Even if the college continues to be shit and doesn't recognise it, it will be beneficial to her.

Be the squeakiest of squeaky wheels - they have all the paperwork they need if they can be bothered to look, this affects multiple students, and is entirely their problem.

Take it as high as you need to go, yell it from the rooftops, this is their problem to fix.

Well they need to alter the dates of the work placement then - so that your daughter can begin when the paperwork is all ready.

Thanks everyone. DD went in today as planned. Paper work will have to follow, and if the college want to inspect the yard they will have to do it during the next couple of weeks. I have got in contact with a couple of the other parents who are also putting in a complaint, and sending their kids to their placements as planned. I will do a formal complaint, and we will make sure our kids don't lose out on this. They are all good kids, who have sorted their own placements for what they want to do. They all have a focus and an 'end' plan and their chosen placements reflect this.

As the college haven’t done their checks your dd can’t attend as part of their course. They have accepted their mistake and apologised. Annoying as it is you just have to accept the situation

Contact someone senior tomorrow, they need to know this has happened.

No she doesn’t.

And the way it’s been handled- messages on Good Friday and a deadline over a weekend with another bank holiday on the Monday! Lots of people would be away or busy with family/friends/DIY, it’s completely unreasonable behaviour. Not to mention the expectation that students can travel over 25miles to the alternative placements. Not one thing in this scenario shows reasonable behaviour from the college!

Ok. Send her in and it doesn’t count towards her work experience 👍🏻

Go straight to the college principal tomorrow, they’ll be horrified at the poor performance of their staff and want to get it fixed.