Placements
Please get in touch to arrange a placement. [email protected]
Park Lane School is committed to providing quality placements for students at school, college and university. We take students from local high schools, further education colleges and colleges of higher education, providing work experience and work placements relevant to the qualifications or aspirations of the students.
We value the support of volunteers to aid pupils in a variety of class activities. We usually link volunteers with a specific class where their interests and skills can be used to support the education of our pupils. This enables the volunteers to build up relationships with pupils and staff in one class over time. If volunteers request a broader experience across different classes, we will endeavour to provide this depending on regular class timetables and routines. It is recognised that the placement needs to be beneficial to both the volunteer and our pupils.
All the work our school is doing to build further links with teacher training providers is essential and much needed in the initial teacher training schemes. We will continue to do as much as we can to provide the best experiences and essential training necessary to make upcoming teachers aware of what alternative provision is, and how they can use skills gained from Park Lane in their own classrooms.
University of Manchester - Feedback from Trainees
Thank you all for organising my two days and hosting me at PL. I am filled with immense gratitude and admiration for your incredible dedication to enriching the lives of these young students I met from ST's class. In particular, I want to express my appreciation to ST for everything you do and for letting me see a piece of your world. I feel very fortunate to have crossed paths with someone as remarkable as you.
Spending two days in an AP school was a profound experience that completely changed my outlook. Witnessing pupils' and teachers' daily lives, challenges, and triumphs of these fantastic children gave me a newfound appreciation for their resilience, strength, happiness, and unique perspectives on the world. I cannot overstate the transformative nature of my time at PL. Before those two days, my understanding of what an AP is was limited, but afterwards, I was filled with the determination exhibited by children and colleagues. I did not want to leave that place, and when I left, I wanted to hug all of them. I hope it is not the last time I see them. I spoke to ST about the idea of doing some volunteering in other placements during the summer.
Spring 2024
‘I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone at park lane, I very much enjoyed my time there and have taken a lot from the experience that I can use in my own classroom. Every member of staff I spoke to was nothing but welcoming and helpful and your students were all wonderful.’
When asked how his/her attitudes had changed as a result of the placement:
‘I have an infinitely greater appreciation for the often undervalued work TAs, key support workers and teachers in general do. The emotional investment, compassion and unwavering work ethic is something I have never seen in any other work environment. It also has put into perspective the « problems » I stress over regarding my pupils.’
When asked what they could take with them into their first teaching post:
‘Strategies of communication, for example: visual support be that in picture form or gesture form.
The importance of routine, establishing a system within the classroom so the pupils can feel comfortable in knowing what is coming next, how much time they have and what is expected of them at each point of a lesson.’