1. Introduction:

This is the placement component of your training, during which you are expected to spend between 30 to 60 hours at a college following a programme of activities arranged by the placement supervisor – usually a member of the college chaplaincy team.
Your placement may seem a bit daunting at the outset, but it potentially offers many opportunities for putting into practice much that you learned during the proceeding courses.

2. Arranging your placement:

Should you already know someone at your local FE College, the initial contact could be relatively straightforward. Otherwise, a good place to start is to take a look at the Colleges Map to find which colleges are in your area. Their web-site and contact details may be accessed from the map.
Please note that although the map shows colleges with a ‘chaplaincy’ presence, the situation within the FE sector tends to be highly fluid and may have changed since the information was collected.
Your first point of contact could be the Director/ Head of Student Services, as they are in a position to provide you with an overview of any chaplaincy provision at their college and to refer you to colleagues with a potential interest in your proposed placement. Alternatively, should the college have a chaplaincy, a member of the chaplaincy team would be the best contact.

Things to bear in mind on making an initial approach:

• The Director of Student Services will be a very busy person with many college responsibilities – their time is precious, so please be patient!
• Remember that an initial request in writing is preferable to a telephone call.
• Explain that you are seeking a placement opportunity at their college, within the Student Services / Multi-faith Student Support team, as part of your Further Education Multi-faith Chaplaincy Training Course
• Should you receive an encouraging reply, try to be flexible and accommodating in responding to questions asked (particularly any concerning the timing and duration of the placement period).
• Although you are responsible for initiating the first contact with a college, your Course Instructor will be there to help you at every stage.

Arranging your placement is a time-consuming process that is likely to involve several people and probably a number of visits to the college in question.
By far the most important task is to ensure that a suitable member of the college staff is able to act as your Placement Supervisor – usually, but not invariably, someone from the college chaplaincy team.
It is essential that your Course Instructor and Placement Supervisor contact each other at the earliest opportunity in order to progress the planning of your placement.
The anticipated network of communication is illustrated in diagrammatic form:

Following preliminary discussion with your Placement Supervisor, please ask them to complete a copy of the Placement Working Agreement.
(This can be obtained from your Course Instructor should you experience any difficulty with the download).

An example of a completed Placement Agreement is provided for your guidance.

Subject to local opportunities and constraints, your Placement Supervisor is requested to:

• Provide a set of learning objectives for each of the following criteria:
  Personal and Spiritual Development
  Personal and Professional Relationships
  Personal and Organisational Skills.
• Organize a suitable program of activities for your placement which will enable the learning objectives to be achieved ideally within the agreed placement hours.
• Send the completed form to yourself and your Course Instructor at fect.org for agreement.

3. During your placement:

Your placement period is, without doubt, the core component in exploring your vocation to ministry as chaplain in the multi-faith and multi-cultural setting of a Further Education College. Use the opportunity to observe, learn, and reflect on each new experience that you are offered.

Things to bear in mind during your placement:

• Effective liaison with your Placement Supervisor is the key to a fruitful experience and a successful outcome.
• Strict adherence to agreed attendance patterns and time keeping is crucial for the maintenance of good relationships.
• Maintain a placement diary in which all placement activities are logged and timed. This should include any off-site activities together with the time spent writing reports and materials used on placement.
• Keeping thorough notes and recording each activity as soon as possible after the event will make report writing much easier. (Photographs are very helpful – but do remember to ask permission of the subjects first.)
• Ensure that you are in compliance with relevant college Policies and Procedures

• Shadowing a member of the chaplaincy team.
• Interviewing college Student Liaison and Counselling staff.
• Attending meetings.
• Assisting with Celebrations and Commemorations.
• Accompanying students on an extra-mural visit.
• Conducting a student survey.
• Helping to devise/ deliver a student enrichment activity.
• Participating in a student tutorial session.
• Participating in a staff CPD session.
• Assisting in an act of worship.

Try not to be over ambitious! For any proposed activity:

1. Be clear in your objectives.
2. Make a session plan with a realistic time allocation for each section and a full list of the resources needed.
3. Ensure there is feedback from participants – often collected using a simple event evaluation form.
4. Evaluate the activity (To what extent were your objectives met? How many participants?)

There are occasions, of course, when such a formal approach is neither appropriate nor possible.
However, a structured plan is useful in ordering your thoughts, being more relaxed on the day, and assists in discussion of your proposals with other staff – all helpful in you becoming part of the ‘college team’.
You will undoubtedly find working through some of the exercises in Sustaining Chaplaincy, with your Placement Supervisor’s assistance, very helpful in getting to know the college and its people.

4. Evaluating your placement:

Evaluation is a crucial step in reviewing your placement experience. It offers the opportunity to compare your expectations of working in a chaplaincy setting with the outcomes experienced. Whether these are of a broadly affirmative nature or open up further questioning, the really important thing is to reflect on the experience as part of your own development on the journey of faith. Above all, be ready to be surprised!

Things to bear in mind on reviewing your placement experience:

• This evaluation exercise does not form part of any formal assessment process – so be completely open with yourself and with your Placement Supervisor.
• To what extent do you consider that the learning criteria, as set out in the initial Placement Working Agreement, were met during your placement?
• The scope of the placement activities: in your view, did the activities provide an effective introduction to FE chaplaincy work?
• On reflection, what were the ‘high’ (and ‘low’) points of your placement experience?
• Try to ensure that all aspects of your placement experience are discussed fully with your Placement Supervisor at a final de-briefing session.

Report Writing:

A template placement log and report is provided to assist you in reporting your placement experience. (Should you encounter any difficulty in downloading or accessing this file, please contact your Course Instructor).
The following guidance notes will help you complete the placement log and report:

• Please provide the contact details requested for yourself, your Placement Supervisor and your Course Instructor. Your correspondence address is required if you wish to have the FECT Course ‘Certificate of Completion’ posted to you.
• The placement log should include the time spent on each activity during your placement period (including preparation and evaluation). Be sure to add up the total hours involved.
• In the report section you are requested to provide a brief description of the activities carried out during the placement period, together with a personal reflection on the placement experience overall. (not exceeding 1000 words in total)
• Once this part is completed, pass the document to your Placement Supervisor for their comments, then ensure that the completed placement log and report is returned to your Course Instructor.

Finally, please remember to answer the monitoring questions in the course assessment, so that your Course Instructor can authorise dispatch of the FE Chaplain Training ‘Certificate of Completion’ to you.
All of us in the project team hope that this set of courses has been helpful to you in exploring your vocation and wish you every success in your work as Chaplain in Further Education.

Next Steps:

During your placement, please use the course ‘assessment’ to monitor your progress.
You can, of course, just answer the assessment monitoring questions once you have completed your placement or as many times as you wish during the placement period.

(Please note that you need to be ‘logged-in’ with an active account to access the assessment)

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