1. Plan, design and assess learning and training opportunities

What are your responsibilities as a trainee?

You are responsible for working with your training officer to plan your training. This includes knowing the curriculum requirements. You also need to understand how you will learn and be assessed.

Your responsibilities are to:

• Know what is expected of you. You need to access and use your programme’s curriculum so that you know what you need to achieve. Your curriculum can be found in the Curriculum Library.
• Familiarise yourself with the NSHCS work-based assessment standards. These define how work-based assessments should be conducted and the responsibilities of trainees, trainers and assessors. They also identify the role the National School has in relation to work-based assessments.
• Understand and engage with the training and learning methods which are appropriate to work-based training. This includes the different types of training activities, as outlined in section 1 of the work-based assessment standards.
• Understand and contribute to the training plan as a working document which should be reviewed and amended as often as is needed.
• Demonstrate flexibility and, where necessary, adapt the plan to fit in with your circumstances as a trainee.
• Communicate with your training officer if you are having difficulties with the content of your training plan and the strategies used.
• Lead and own the training plan as time goes by, identifying any gaps.
• Work with the training officer to check progress is being made and then agree and set milestones for future progress together.
• Agree achievable targets, for example setting deadlines for specific training activities.
• Ensure that you know what is required of you on your academic programme.
• Agree with your training officer when, where and how you will have your for protected time for academic study, and for preparation for university exams and assessments.
• Regularly submit evidence in the e-portfolio to be assessed by your training officer or other trainers and assessors in the department.
• Know what makes appropriate evidence to demonstrate your achievement of the training activities. For each of the different types of training activity the work-based assessment standards identify what the purpose of the evidence should be and what it should include.
  • 1.2.2 of the NSHCS work-based assessment standards explains how to generate evidence for training activities.
  • 1.3.2 of the NSHCS work-based assessment standards explains the purpose and evidence requirements of each of the training activity types.