Practical Vocational Training Program

The aim of the practical vocational training program run by Hillcrest Branch Limited is to deliver to its trainees a wide range of vocational skills using the medium of horticulture.

This is a vocational skills training program rather than an educational course in horticulture.

The main focus of the service is to provide trainees with a supportive and positive environment in which they can develop a bespoke set of skills that they as individuals require to help them find employment.

On induction, trainees will be helped to identify personal issues that could be improved, in order to help them find and retain employment.

From this, targets will be set that will give the company and the trainee a focus for

their placement with Hillcrest Branch.

These outcomes will be monitored by regular reviews between the trainee and their

supervisor.

It is hoped that by the end of their placements the trainees, through their own motivation

and commitment, will feel that they have received valuable vocational experience and

achieved the targets they originally defined on induction.

The company would like to provide its trainees with a written reference, which will

reflect the progress they have made and which can be presented to potential employers

during their search for employment.

Each trainee is expected to commit to their placement in blocks of four months at a time.

These blocks are renewable for up to a year in total.

The training program will operate on three levels in order to accommodate the different requirements and capabilities of individual trainees.

The method of delivery will vary depending on factors such as seasonality.

The technical elements of the program will comprise of instruction in the horticultural

techniques required to complete specific jobs.