Work placement helps student get a foot in the door

Ethan Miller “Work placement has changed my life”

“Recently I visited one of my Retail Services Students, Ethan Miller, who has found employment with Best&Less in Nowra. Towards the end of Term 1 in his final year at school,  Ethan found that school was not making him very happy and he was looking to leave.  After many discussions with his teachers and Deputy Principal, Mr Loxley, we encouraged him at the time, to stay on and complete his Certificate III in Retail Services, which he found very interesting and was performing very well in. On his work placement in Year 11, which is a compulsory part of the course, Ethan was placed by Shoalhaven Workplace Learning at Best&Less. This was Ethan’s first opportunity to engage in the working environment, lacking the confidence previously to apply for a part-time job.

The work placement really and truly changed his life! After completing 35 hours at Best&Less to fulfill the requirements of his Certificate III qualification, he found that he had many skills and accomplishments that were applicable outside of the classroom. His confidence began to grow as he was formally given employment following his work placement. He began feeling like he had a purpose and that he had decorating, time management, strategic thinking and interpersonal skills which were being acknowledged and fostered. 

Ethan, took our advice on board and he stayed at school long enough to complete all his competencies and gain his Certificate III in Retail Services. He is gainfully employed at Best&Less and has been given ‘his own section’ as he said, to merchandise, stock and ‘look after’. The smile on his face as he left me ‘to go serve a customer, Miss’ was such a heart felt reward for all stakeholders’ efforts in Ethan’s’ education and future direction. I passed on this good news to all his teachers and personally wish to thank Ella and all the staff at Shoalhaven Workplace Learning for their continued and sustained efforts to assist our students in completing their VET requirements. They really do change lives.”

Fotini Papathanasiou
Teacher HSIE & VET Retail
Nowra High School

“Since being on work placement with Best&Less I have not only been able to enhance my skill set but have been given ongoing employment from my host employer, thanks to the efforts of Ella & the group at Workplace Learning.”

Ethan Miller

“I love having the opportunity to be able to host work placement students from Workplace Learning, as they are already developing an understanding and a love for retail that I then get the chance to develop with on the job training, where they have the chance to put all the theory into practice. When someone really is performing well and being able to offer them employment at the end of their time with us is one of the biggest joys of it all.”

Mikayla Crossett – Store Manager – Best&Less Nowra

Find out more about work placement on our website.