Oscar’s placement at HSDC Alton College

Treloar’s student Oscar has recently completed his placement at HSDC Alton College. The placement, secured by Mary, our Work Experience Coordinator, involved supporting Terry and Catherine from Aramark Catering team at the college. This was a perfect opportunity for Oscar as he is passionate about all things food related.

Terry and Catherine went out of their way to meet Oscar’s needs and to ensure he had a meaningful experience with them. They made sure that they understood his aims of placement and communicated brilliantly with him and staff from the onset.

Over the five weeks (one session per week), Oscar carried out a variety of activities, including preparing questions for a survey around menu choices. Oscar’s task was to carry out the survey communicating with Alton College staff and students in the process. He was involved in every aspect of the planning stages and was able to see this aspect of his work experience through to fruition i.e. from survey to seeing his recipe being produced by Terry and tasted by the staff.

Oscar attended each session full of optimism and motivation to learn all that he could and was assisted by the support received from Terry, Catherine and the Aramark Catering Team.

Oscar said,

I really enjoyed working with Terry and Catherine; it was actually way more fun and easier than I originally thought. I would definitely like to work with them if I was offered the chance.

Oscar’s tutor commented,

Oscar has engaged well with Catherine and Terry. Oscar has attended all meetings and work experience required of him. He took charge of letting Terry know what he wanted to gain from this experience and with Terry’s support Oscar completed an excellent project around creating and tasting some foods of the world.

The skills Oscar gained from this experience are endless but in particular his ability to communicate with unfamiliar people and within an unfamiliar environment, would be a highlight from a progress point of view.

We cannot overstate the positive impact experiences like these have on our students, as they realise that there are meaningful opportunities available for them outside of Treloar’s. Indeed, such positive work experiences can be life-changing for our students, and we sincerely thank Terry and Catherine for their care and support to make this experience possible.