WESTERN HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL

GATEWAY

Gateway is offered here at Western Heights High School to provide all senior students with the opportunity to discover the workplace and to participate in structured workplace learning before they leave school.

Gateway supplements and complements a students existing academic programme. Students will gain work experience in a job and industry of their choice.  In the workplace the managers or owners of the business take on a mentoring role and provide students with a safe work environment in which they can see what the job is like.

Students will be expected to complete unit standards that prepare them for their job such as health and safety and rights and responsibilities in the workplace.  During the placement students will then be given unit standards that relate specifically to their workplace:

For Example  students will complete Unit Standards before they move into the workplace:

62 Maintain Personal Presentation in the Workplace

497 Protect Health and Safety in the Workplace

1978 Identify Basic Employment Rights and Responsibilities

6401 Provide First Aid

6402 Provide Resuscitation

543 Start Work in a New Workplace

and the Hospitality student might do the following Unit Standards:

14462 Prepare for and Provide Customer Service

14464 Deal with Customer Complaints

14469 Provide Customers with Information

All of these credits tally up to around 18 credits, so students will gain credits similar to those gained in the classroom.  As you can imagine there are many more credits for students who show they are able to handle the workload, not only in Hospitality but also in:

• Food Preparation, Chefing
• Building, Carpentry, Joinery
• Waitressing
• Barrista
• Early Childhood Education
• Teaching
• Farming
• Architecture
• Retail
• Tourism
• Armed Services

If an industry is not listed here, Gateway should be able to provide placement and work in the area desired by the student.

Unit Standard based work in any area is usually more meaningful if students are also working in the relevant workplace.

If you are a Year 11, 12 or 13 student and want more information please contact the Gateway Co-Ordinator, Mrs Raelynn Marks in the Student Support Centre, 07 349 5940 ext 722.

HOW DO I  GET INTO GATEWAY?

You Will Be Asked:

• Are you in Year 11, 12 or 13?
• Do you have a good work and attendance record here at school?
• Do you already have a career path in mind?
• Do you want to learn new and interesting things from the real world?
• Are you prepared to work hard and be willing to work with new people in an adult environment?
• Will you be able to maintain your school work as well as committing to Gateway?

If you answer yes to all these questions

Come and pick up an Information Pack and an Application Form from the Gateway Office in the Student Support Centre.

If you have talked to your parents and still want to proceed

• You will be interviewed by the Gateway Co-Ordinator.  From there you will be included in the Pre-placement Training Programme. An employer will be found for you who matches up to your Industry choice.
  • You will meet with the employer who then has the chance to say yes or no.
  • You will then begin your placement and your Industry workbook