Explore the SEN Work Experience Opportunities 

We offer Work Experience Opportunities for Young People with Special Educational Needs. Here at HugglePetsCIC we appreciate that it can sometimes be hard to find opportunities for young people with SEN to gain access to work placements or volunteering roles.

Cleaning the reptile tanks in the Retail Store	Cleaning the Community Aquarium Tanks in the Retail Store	Measuring out Bird Seed to place as stock in the Retail Store
Undertaking Animal Husbandry for our Therapy Animals	Undertaking Animal Husbandry for our Therapy Animals	Undertaking Animal Husbandry for our Therapy Animals

Examples of our Experience Opportunities 

We have created three different Work Experience sessions, designed by our SEN Activities Coordinator and our Retail Store Manager to ensure there are opportunities for everyone in three key areas that HugglePets offer, these are retail, animal care and warehousing. Please see below the content of our sessions and how to book a group session. 

SEN Work Experiences	What is involved in the Experience?	Duration	Group Size	Gatsby Benchmarks
A "Day in the Life of an Animal Handler"	Shop Tour & Meet and Greet with Staff  Animal Husbandry  Community Aquarium Maintenance   Reptile Room Maintenance  Animal Handling  Q & A Session SEN Activities in our SEN Activity Centre	1 hour	Groups up to 6	1 - A stable careers Programme  2 - Learning from Career & LMI 3 - Addressing the needs of each student  4 - Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers 5 - Encounters with Employers 6 - Experiences of Workplaces 7 - Encounters with FE & HE 8 - Personal Guidance
A "Day in the Life of a Pet Shop Assistant"	Shop Tour & Meet and Greet with Staff  Stock Measure and Control  Community Aquarium Maintenance   Reptile Room Maintenance  Animal Handling  Q & A Session SEN Activities in our SEN Activity Centre	1 hour	Groups up to 6	1 - A stable careers Programme  2 - Learning from Career & LMI 3 - Addressing the needs of each student  4 - Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers 5 - Encounters with Employers 6 - Experiences of Workplaces 7 - Encounters with FE & HE 8 - Personal Guidance

FAQs

Can only schools or organisations access these opportunities? 

Yes, our sessions are set up for groups from Schools or Organisations to attend these experiences. 

How can I talk to someone or book one of these sessions? 

Please contact the Community Team by emailing [email protected] 

When can I book in a WEX Session? 

We run our work experiences sessions from May to July. 

Can you offer these experiences in schools? 

No, unfortunately part of the experience is to gain real work experience, so we base all sessions here at HugglePets Centre. 

Do these sessions align with the Gatsby Benchmarks? 

Yes, please see the table above to see how our programmes meet the Gatsby Benchmarks

Do the pupils have access to a real retail environment? 

Yes, all of our opportunities ensure that your pupils tour our facilities including the Retail Store. 

Have you got a completed Risk Assessment for pupils visiting your premises? 

Yes, we have a Risk Assessment for the premises, including a COVID-19 Risk assessment. 

Why is there a cost to these sessions? 

As a non-for-profit, we have to ensure all materials and resources in these sessions are replenished, therefore there is a cost to the sessions to ensure we can continue to provide these opportunities.