Trident work experience
Trident is an unpaid work experience programme that all Jersey students in secondary schools take part during Year 10. It’s an opportunity to experience working life while at school. Placements last 2 weeks.
Students will usually do entry level tasks during their placement. These should be:
- meaningful
- varied
- in line with health and safety requirements
Around 1,000 students participate to Trident each year and over 400 companies and organisations provide placements.
Trident gives the chance for employers to:
- become known by teachers, students and parents
- engage with the future workforce
- potentially employ students during weekends or the school holidays
- gain a young perspective on your work and business
- nominate staff to act as mentors to the students and gain supervisory skills
It also helps students develop skills such as:
- good attitude to work
- reliability
- problem solving
- communication
- teamwork
- initiative
- honesty
You can give a financial reward to students who have worked particularly hard. This must not be over £50 for the whole placement. Most employers do not give students financial rewards.
Work placement dates
Dates change every year and depend on the school.
Find out the current placement dates on
Trident information for students and parents.
Offer work placements
You can take as many students during as many work placement periods as you want.
If you’re a sole trader you cannot offer work placements.
You first need to register as a new employer with Trident by completing the online form below.
Once your application is approved, a member of our team will visit you. They will:
- talk you through the scheme and answer any questions
- ask you to sign a letter of understanding. This sets out the aims and requirements of work experience
- take a copy of your employer and public liability insurance
- check that you have a valid health and safety policy in place, if needed
We’ll make update visits every 1 to 4 years. The frequency of your visit depends on the risks around the placement.
Trident new employer form
Students onboarding, induction and support
Students choose their favourite 6 placements. We then look at students’ abilities and interests and the employer’s requirements to decide on the best match. You cannot ask for a specific student to do your placement.
We’ll send you the details of the student who has been shortlisted for you to decide if you want to offer them the placement. This information includes any medical or health conditions the student has that is relevant for you to be aware of.
We usually send out Trident requests in November for Spring placements and January for Summer placements.
Pre-placement letter
Once you confirm that you can offer the placement to the student you’ll receive a pre-placement letter.
This is sent 3 weeks before the placement starts and includes:
- student’s details
- contact details of the student’s teacher and their emergency number
- Trident Health and Safety Induction form. This is to be completed with the student on their first morning and signed by both the employer and student to be handed back to their teacher
The student should call you soon after you receive the pre-placement letter to make an appointment for their interview.
Interview
The interview is for you to meet the student and talk about the placement, expectations and responsibilities.
The student needs to bring the blue agreement form at their interview for the Employer to sign. The student is responsible for this form and they must return it to their school. They will not be allowed to start the placement if they do not complete and return the form in advance.
First morning
Make sure the student’s supervisor completes the Trident Health and Safety Induction form with them.
Trident Health and Safety Induction form
Teacher follow-up and meeting
A teacher should call to check on the placement and that all is well with the student. They’ll arrange a visit at the end of the first week or beginning of the second week to meet with the student and their supervisor.
The teacher will collect the completed Trident Health and Safety Induction form.
After placement
Employers should complete the Employer Report which will be emailed to you on the last day of the placement. The work experience certificates are issued only if the report is satisfactory and the required amount of time is completed.
The Student Report completed by the student on their return to school will be forwarded to the Employer at the end of the year.
Student absences or concerns
If a student is ill before the start of the day, their parent or carer need to contact the employer and the school or Trident. If they’re already at work and become ill or finish earlier than planned, their parent or carer will need to collect them from their placement.
If the student does not come to work and you have not heard from them within 30 minutes of the start of the day you should call Trident.
Concerns
Contact Trident if you have any concerns about a student doing a placement with you. We also hold emergency contacts for them.
All students are briefed on the appropriate attitude and behaviour they must have in a workplace. Students can be removed from their placements if they do not meet expectations, follow guidelines and instructions or adhere to employee conduct.
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