Work placements: Thank you to our employers!

As we reach the end of another academic year, we want to say a huge thank you to all the employers who have worked with us to offer work placements to our students.

Our thanks to…

Scope

Simon has taken part in some work experience at Scope, a charity shop in Knaresborough. He has played an essential role in sorting donations that come into the shop and preparing them to be sold.

Simon has made huge progress with his attention to detail and focus, particularly when steaming clothes. He has said that he now knows what to do to keep himself safe in the workplace. Especially when handling special equipment and carrying donations up and down stairs.

Community Stars

Roisin, Mason and Alex have been part of the hustle and bustle in Knaresborough at Community Stars Café. Preparing the café for customers, taking orders, serving food and drinks, selling delicious cakes and cleaning down are just a few of the jobs that this dream team get involved with.

All three students have spent lots of time working on their customer service and communication skills by interacting with a busy team and customers.

Roisin said she loves working at Community Stars because of all the people she gets to meet and the friends she has made in her team.

Starling Cafe

Dora has been attending Starling Café in Harrogate. She has been getting really stuck in preparing food, clearing tables and cleaning the kitchen area. More recently Dora has been working on skills needed for front of house work by taking orders and interacting with customers.

The team at Starling have been fantastic. They have encouraged Dora to try new tasks and developed her skills and understanding of working in the hospitality sector.

Dora says she loves going to work at Starling. She enjoys the challenge, interacting with customers and being part of a great team.

The Cairn Hotel

Mason has been working at the Cairn Hotel in Harrogate. He has been working with the kitchen team preparing food orders ready for service.

Mason said he really enjoys being a part of the team. And has said he is getting quicker when preparing vegetables.

Mason has been learning about food preparation, food hygiene and safety in the kitchen. He has been constructing small plates and learning how to prepare the dining room for service. The team have been great at the Cairn. From day one they have shown enthusiasm support Mason to grow and develop.

The Bridge Cafe – COGS

The Bridge Café in Knaresborough is run by five Henshaws students every Wednesday.

The students are responsible for setting up the café ready for service, taking and preparing orders, clearing down tables and closing the café down.

They are really immersed in their work experience here as it is mostly run by them!

Harewood House

This year we have had two students, Alex and Simon attend Harewood House.

Alex

Alex’s work experience has involved working with the Grounds team and Zookeepers. He has been looking after some of the animals in the grounds and supporting the team with the maintenance of the exhibits.

Simon

Simon worked alongside the visitor experience team at the house before Christmas. Welcoming in guests to the house and providing them with some introductory information.

Both teams have been great at supporting our students to try new experiences. They have provided high quality work experience that students have benefitted from.

Double Tree by Hilton Hotel

Alex has been working with the kitchen team at the Hilton this year. He was responsible for some of the food and ingredients preparation for evening service. As well as constructing some starters and entrees.

Alex has thrived in the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen which gave a really great insight into faster paced catering work. The kitchen team at Hilton made Alex feel really welcome and part of the team. Which in turn has supported him to be more independent in the workplace.

Zen Sensory

Marnie and Holly were invited to do their work experience at Zen Sensory at the start of the year. The staff there have been proactive and thoughtful in providing support and roles for them both to build skills and confidence at the same time.

Holly

Holly has written blog posts for Zen to increase awareness of the organisation and the importance of sensory activities and support. She said that she has learnt a lot about important sensory experiences are for others and Zen

Marnie

Marnie has been supporting the centre by cleaning down the sensory rooms after use, welcoming customers into the centre and looking after session attendees.

Zen have been a brilliant partner of the College and we can’t thank them enough for the opportunity they have given our students and the great work they continue to do for the people of North Yorkshire!

Harrogate Fair Trade Shop

Some of our students have been involved in work experience with the Fair Trade Shop in Harrogate. After our online Christmas collaboration, the shop provided some work experience opportunities in their stock rooms. This involved managing, processing and packing  orders ready for delivery.

The team at Harrogate Fair Trade were always really encouraging and supportive of our students, ensuring that they had everything they needed to do the task at hand.

Harrogate Library

We reconnected with Harrogate Library in March 2022 which has been a great success. The staff team at Harrogate Library have provided a student with a bespoke work experience opportunity.

They have always been eager to support students progress by providing real work tasks like sorting returned books, organising book shelves and creating a display for the library. All within a supportive environment.