Work experience begins in class when students are in secondary classes.
A wide variety of work skills are practised in class each week and techniques are learnt, refined and perfected. The number of skills is increased as students are able to perform the skills with greater accuracy and proficiency in less time. Work skills involve different types of collating, packaging, sorting and assembling.
Cromehurst offers an "introduction to work" program for 6 weeks. When a class teacher considers a student to be work ready, the student will attend a work site for an hour for 2 weeks; an hour and a half for another 2 weeks; and then 2 hours for a final 2 weeks. This program has proven to be very successful as each student works 1: 1 with an adult. They learn the work expectations and rules and it gives staff the opportunity to see if the student would be suitable to attend a work place with other students each week.
When students are 15 years old and in year 9, they are able to work in community settings or Business Enterprises. These include House With No Steps at Belrose, Sunnyfield Industries at Chatswood and Allambie, New Horizons at North Ryde and at times Achieve and Ozanam.
Before attending these community settings, students will have achieved proficiency in numerous work skills at school and have demonstrated appropriate behaviours suitable for the work place. These include being able to work quietly; working as independently as possible; remaining seated; remaining on task and focused; and follow the rules of the work place. Students are expected to interact with other workers; learn where the toilets are located; where the eating areas are; and return to work at the end of their breaks. Over time, it is anticipated that students will be able to work independently and learn where they can access more work when they have completed all that was initially set up for them.
As we attend these Business Enterprises from the goodwill of the management, all students must behave appropriately at all times.