Work placements let-down (From This Is Wiltshire)

JOHN of Gaunt School in Trowbridge has been forced to cancel work experience placements for around 100 pupils after a health and safety company folded.

Around half the school’s Year 11 pupils had been due to spend the week in the placements, but the school was only informed at the end of the holidays that Connect South West, which checked placements were safe for pupils, had gone into liquidation.

There was no time to conduct the checks and so those pupils have had lessons as normal this week.

Head teacher Andy Packer said: “It’s sad because the children got a lot from it.

“Towards the very end of the holidays we heard that Connect South West had gone into liquidation. They did our health and safety checks for all work placements, without a check you can’t send a child to do a placement.

“Work experience periods are not chosen by a school, they are allocated, so we simply didn’t have enough time to make alternative arrangements.”