Entry requirements for the courses
We specialize in workplace training and it’s a requirement for the participant to be employed at a workplace as the training will be conducted on the workplace premises. This is an entry requirement for our courses. .

Delivery Arrangements

A flexible blended environment applies to the target group being a combination of practical at the workplace, workshops.
Training and Assessment are conducted in the workplace premises of the participant.
The duration of this qualification may vary as determined on prior learning and credit transfer eligibility.
Students will be provided with a training schedule and training plan to guide them through the units of study.
Students with identified needs may be contacted more frequently, as agreed, to provide additional, individual tutorial activities including where applicable tutorial activities.

At the commencement of training the student will be provided with:
• Induction to Training and Assessment
Clarifying again both academic progression and attendance requirements
• Review of Course Outline
• Review of student handbook
• Review of student logbook
• Training plan
• Delivery Schedule / Timetable for the study periods .

Learning / Assessment resources for commencement units of competency – such as:

• Assessment Due Dates
• PowerPoints
• Student activities and guide
• Extra resources and web site (research)
• Assessments and Cover sheets
• Resources relevant to the unit of competency

This program is designed with client-specific requirements in mind and can be customized to suit unique student needs while maintaining the integrity of the training package. Therefore, we strive to develop students' skills, knowledge and aptitudes in the key areas of best practice in Community Services Sectors.

The Training will be delivered in the workplace, with the support of the nominated workplace supervisor. Additional trainer support will be provided through email and phone support and mentoring meetings, as required.

Each student will be allocated a Workplace Mentor from the supervisory staff that will support the student in their studies. The Workplace Mentor will be identified at the time of the commencement of the traineeship and will be:

• Operating with the consent of their employer
• Well informed of their responsibilities to support the student in their studies
• Experienced in the subject matter
• Supported by the RTO in their support of the student
• Provided with the time and resources by the employer to support the student

In each Training session, the student will be issued with:

• Learning material for the topics to be covered
• Assessment tasks to be completed before the next session
• Advised at the next meeting, the theory assessment for this topic will be issued for the student to complete. This delay till the next session allows the student to:
o integrate the theory learning into their practical work, and thus fully understand it,
o have time to learn and understand the work
o seek assistance and support should there be an issue in their learning and understanding

Issues such as the student failing to learn or not achieving a required standard of knowledge and skill can be identified early in the Training and assessment process and, the process can be amended to address the issues and provide for the student to have every opportunity to successfully complete the assessments and learning program.

Location

Training and Assessment are typically delivered in Employers facility, where the participant is working . The equipment required for a suitable venue is detailed in each unit requirement detailed Schedule in this document and recorded on the front page of the assessment Kit, prior to the student’s signature to commence the assessment.

Resources

Students will be provided with commercially prepared training resources for each unit which can be supplemented with additional supplementary training material, such as workplace policies and procedures, instruction manuals or other unique documentation relating to the workplace.
The RTO will ensure that a suitably equipped training environment is available and provided for Training and Assessment processes through utilising the Workplace Resource Checklist. This Checklist outlines all the required Resources required by each unit as well as some general Workplace and Training requirements. This document is to be completed during the initial consultation. Any questions should be directed to the CEO.

Course Delivery Environment

The environment where the qualification will be delivered includes:
•Work-based Training only,
• Industry visits,
• Learner guides, Skills Workbooks and assessment tools,
• Vocational Placement Pack,
• Up to date technical equipment for the trainer and worksite staff and access to a suitable worksite,
• Simulated work/industry environment,
• Work in industry/vocational (work) placement,
• Skilled trainers and assessors

Many times, the students are given access to actual commercial Individual support facilities where the students have the opportunities to use the equipment, infrastructure set up for real clients and these facilities are also used for simulations. .

Assessment Methods

A variety of assessment methods are available and can be used to assess a unit of competency, these could include:
• Questioning Checklist- Theory/questioning assessments are delivered in the classroom environment during the assessment Visit, in the form of short questions and answers and/or Multiple choice, these are to be completed by the by the Student
• Projects- these are issued to the student on completion of the training session. The Student may be asked to gather a Portfolio of documents or evidence from the workplace; or, research a topic or area of study prior to the Assessment visit. If the task asked the student to demonstrate to the Assessor a topic or area of study, this will be conducted during the assessment session.
• Practical Demonstrations- these are to be conducted by the Trainer/Assessor through observing the student completes the required tasks consistently and continuously in various workplace relevant situations
• Workplace Supervisor Report- this report is to be completed by the workplace supervisor, its purpose is to verify that the Student can demonstrate a particular skill or applies relevant knowledge consistently and continuously in various situations. This is used as supplementary evidence.

The format for delivery of the assessment

At the Assessment session, the Assessor will:
• Meet with the student at the workplace and review, discuss and mark the completed Projects. Any areas that were not satisfactorily completed will be reviewed, and the student will be asked to repeat that section until it is satisfactorily completed. The Trainer/assessor is to record these details on the Assessment Summary sheet.

• Have the Student complete the Questioning Checklist
• Have the Student complete the Practical Demonstrations in the presence of the Assessor.
• Complete and confirm the Workplace Supervisor Report with Supervisor
• Confirm details of next training session including time, date and attendees
• Completion of the Assessment requires the Trainer/Assessor to:
o Ensure the Assessment Kit has been marked
o Complete the Assessment Summary
o Ensure the Assessment decision and all feedback has been reviewed with the Student and the Workplace Supervisor
o Obtain signatures of all parties
o Update the training plan with supervisors and introduce the new Unit(s) of the next session
o Ensure all paperwork is completed for return to the RTO’s administration office.
At the end of the theory/training session:
• The assessment kit is issued to the student:
• The Student may be asked by the Trainer or Assessor to complete certain Projects in the time interval between the issuance and the next scheduled contact.
• Issue the Workplace Supervisor Report to the workplace supervisor, asking them to complete the document before the next scheduled visit

Suggested protocol for Assessments

Protocol for the Questioning Checklist should be:
• Conducted simultaneously for all students in the one site to prevent assessment questions being inappropriately communicated to others
• Questioning should be conducted in exam conditions, i.e. all in the one room, siting at table and chairs, completing the assessment simultaneously
• Conducting tasks as a group or on an individual basis. These Tasks may also be allocated to complete autonomously and self-paced in between the Training and Assessment Sessions.
• Assessing responses should protect the privacy of all parties, the assessments should be marked without our other students becoming aware of the content of other parties’ responses.
• Resolving incorrect or incomplete answers on a one on one basis e.g. through verbally challenging answers and recording additional information obtained.

Protocol for the Projects should be:

The Project(s) should be completed in a manner that is non-intimidating and non-threatening. The projects may be allocated to the student after the completion of the previous assessment, as some projects may require collection of evidence and or evidence collected over time. The student may use the time between sessions with their assessor to collect this evidence and start completing the projects. During this time, the student has access to the assessor through phone and email for assistance on these projects.
The Assessor checklist lists the benchmarks of the assessment. The Assessor is to verify the evidence shown in the projects meets these items.

Protocol for the Practical Demonstrations should be:

The Practical Demonstration(s) should be completed in a manner that is non-intimidating and non-threatening. Practical Demonstration(s) are to be shown in the workplace or as a workplace simulated task. The Assessor checklist list the benchmarks of the assessment. The Assessor is to verify they have observed each of these during the demonstration.

As the assessor has less access to the student than the Workplace Supervisor, the Trainer/Assessor should make efforts when scheduling assessments to ensure that the student can demonstrate the required skills at the time of assessment. The Trainer/Assessor should have the following characteristics:
• Be a subject matter expert in the content of the unit of competency
• Be familiar with the company policies and procedures relating to the tasks
• Be objective and non-judgemental when conducting assessments
• Have the available time allocated by Management to conduct the assessment properly.

Protocol for the Workplace Supervisor Report should be:

The Workplace Supervisor Report should be conducted by the person identified at the commencement of the Training Agreement. This person should have been briefed and inducted into the process as outlined in the Consultation Agreement. If circumstances dictate that the identified person has changed, then the new Workplace Supervisor should have the following characteristics:
• Be a subject matter expert in the content of the unit of competency
• Be familiar with the company policies and procedures relating to the tasks
• Be a mentor and supporter of the student
• Be prepared to coach and instruct the student in any new areas of learning
• Be objective and non-judgemental when gathering evidence for assessment
• Have the available time allocated by Senior Management to conduct the assessment properly

The Workplace Supervisor Report can be done in a single session or in a number of sessions, the aim is to capture the students completing the required tasks satisfactorily, and thus this may require a number of sessions to not only allow for all skills to be demonstrated, but to also capture the skills being demonstrated in a range of circumstances and performed consistently.

The Workplace Supervisor Report should be completed in a manner that is non-intimidating and non-threatening.
Reasonable Adjustment should be catered for without compromising assessment conditions. For example, the Trainer/Assessor should withdraw from assessment to protect privacy, confidentiality and potentially company security concerns. In this instance, Reasonable Adjustment needs to be applied i.e. using a different form of Assessment or a simulated environment.

Reasonable Adjustment

Reasonable adjustment is the process of adjusting our intended methods of learning and assessment to accommodate the unique requirements of our clients yet remaining within the constraints of the training package whilst still applying the principles of assessment.

The following processes will be applied for students
• Learning and assessment materials are written in plain English.
• Delivery methods are negotiated to meet the needs of a diverse range of learners.
• Entry to courses is in accordance with equal opportunity legislation, anti-discrimination legislation.

Reasonable Adjustment is a key strategy in achieving this outcome. Adjustments are made to the learning environment to ensure equal opportunity without imposing unjustifiable hardship on the Australian College of Higher Studies or compromising the integrity of the Qualification Standards.

Reasonable Adjustment should be catered for without compromising assessment conditions. For example, the Trainer/Assessor should withdraw from assessment to protect privacy, confidentiality and potentially company security concerns. In this instance, Reasonable Adjustment needs to be applied i.e. using a different form of Assessment or a simulated environment.

We are committed to assisting all of our clients where within our capacity to complete the course. To ensure we understand where we can assist we ask our students to self-identify any areas that we can assist them in. Our options and approach to English language literacy have been raised earlier.

Obviously, the trainer/assessor can make their own observations as to how they can modify our assessment process to meet the needs of our students. In the case of this course, possible areas of Reasonable Adjustment include: Shorter more frequent sessions for people with attention issues, the use of colour paper or tinted transparencies to assist those with dyslexia. In general, the student will know what form of reasonable adjustment suits their needs address these options with the student but ensure the needs of the Training Package are met, any requests for Reasonable Adjustment that cannot immediately be accommodated should be discussed with the CEO, and where we cannot accommodate the request, we will refer the Student onto a suitable organisation.

The RTO has incorporated a separate comment section for Reasonable Adjustments into each form of Assessment and in all of its assessment tools, or reasonable adjustments can be made as notes in the general comment sections.

Simulated Work Environment

If a simulated work environment is required, it will be achieved by using suitable facilities, equipment and resources including individualised plans and equipment outlined in the plan, modelling of industry operating conditions, including presence of problem-solving activities and organisational policies, procedures and protocols.

Education and support Services

In accordance with the requirements of Standards for RTOs 2015, the following support is available to learners:
Language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) advice. The ACSF informs the identification and description of underpinning English language, literacy and numeracy features and requirements within competency standards. LLN requirements of participants will be assessed using LLN assessment form completed upon enrolment. LLN needs of Learners will be taken into consideration in the delivery and assessment of this qualification.
The following processes will be applied for students

• Learning and assessment materials are written in plain English.
• Delivery modes are negotiated to meet the needs of a diverse range of learners.
• Entry to courses is in accordance with equal opportunity legislation, anti-discrimination legislation.
Support strategies include:
• Identifying requirements (such as literacy, numeracy, English language or physical capabilities) learners would need to complete each course and if necessary, referring them to specialist services prior to enrolling in the course.
• Developing strategies to make support available where gaps are identified.
• Assistive technology
• Additional tutorials