Health and Wellbeing placements

Placements

• The student: Reliable, punctual, and follows your policies
• Your organisation: Supervises, guides, and signs off

• Wintec: Coordinates, visits, and supports

How it works

Placements are split into two phases. Phase one consists of 50 hours and builds the foundations a student needs. This focuses on observation, orientation, and fundamental skills to build confidence, establish routines, and develop an understanding of professional expectations. Phase two consists of 150 hours and focuses on building independence with active participation in daily activities to develop professional judgement.

Students attend classes two days a week, with one day kept for distance learning and the remaining two for their placements. Each placement is different, and specific days are negotiated individually.

Wintec handles safety checks and provides public liability insurance for approved unpaid placement activities that are set out in the Placement Agreement

What students need to do

Each placement is unique, and not all of the below tasks apply to every organisation. Below are the activities students typically engage in.

Phase one:

• Organisation orientation: History, mission, values, structure, policies, and procedures.
• Meet the team and tāngata whaiora: Introduced to key staff and the people they'll be supporting.
• First aid awareness: Understand how medical emergencies are managed in your setting.
• Emergency procedures: Fire, natural disasters, and urgent situation protocols.
• Incident and accident reporting: Documentation procedures, notifying personnel, follow-up actions.
• Privacy and confidentiality: Understanding responsibility to protect sensitive information.
• Infection control: Hand hygiene, PPE, and maintaining a clean and safe environment.
• Building rapport: Developing professional relationships with tāngata whaiora and colleagues.

Phase two:

• Care and support plans: Understanding individual needs, goals, and support strategies.
• Case note documentation: Practising accurate daily documentation with supervisor review.
• Medication processes: Observational learning of medication management and safety.
• Team meetings: Insight into service delivery, collaborative practice, and multidisciplinary communication.
• Advocacy: Promoting rights, dignity, and wellbeing of tāngata whaiora.
• Communication: Active listening and clear verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Cultural competence: Culturally responsive practice, including tikanga Māori.
• Professional boundaries: Maintaining appropriate boundaries with tāngata whaiora and colleagues.
• Self-determination: Supporting tāngata whaiora's right to make informed choices.
• Personal leadership and self-care: Professional wellbeing and managing the demands of support work.
• Other activities: Grocery shopping, budgeting support, day trips, community engagement, admission and discharge processes.

Your role

Your role as an organisation providing a placement is to provide day-to-day supervision, orientation, and on-the-job training. An industry supervisor will need to be appointed and will guide the student throughout their placement with you. The supervisor will:

• Supervise day-to-day activities
• Ensure appropriate resources are available
• Ensure tasks are within the student's capacity
• Attend all three placement meetings
• Confirm and sign off logbook hours regularly
• Provide attestation of demonstrated skills
• Inform Wintec of any unexplained absences
• Liaise with Wintec throughout the placement
• Provide formal feedback

• Raise any concerns promptly with the coordinator

Wintec will check in with the supervisor and the student three times during the year.

Meeting one. Before a student begins:

• Safety checks: These are handled by Wintec and include a Police check, Children's Act 2014 training, a Children's Act 2014 questionnaire, a reference, and a referee questionnaire.
• First in-person meeting: The student, industry supervisor, and the Wintec Work Placement Coordinator meet, negotiate the details, and sign the Placement Agreement. At this meeting, the hours schedule is confirmed, and we discuss tasks and learning goals.
• Onboarding: A logbook is set up with the organisation, and an onboarding checklist is reviewed together, including an organisation overview, a tour, and a team introduction. We will also go over all policies, expectations, and responsibilities.

Meeting two. During placements:

• Review progress
• Discuss strengths
• Identify support needs
• Confirm the student is on track

Meeting three. Final review:

• Final review of placement outcomes
• Gather feedback from the supervisor
• Student reflects on their journey
• Celebrate achievements