1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
Today you are participating in building the thing you will physically carry into the workplace: a bank of first-day questions and a note template.
Today you build the bank and template. The evening reflection lines are filled after you actually finish Day 1 on site, not in this period.
A student who walks in with about ten questions has a completely different first day from one who walks in with none. The difference is not confidence. It is having something in your hand when the room goes quiet and you do not know what to do next.
2 - Key Terms ~5 mins
Three terms you will use for the rest of the placement window:
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| First day | The opening morning of your placement, when everything is still new. You need a plan for who to ask and what to notice before the day runs away from you. | Meeting your supervisor, finding the staff room, and learning the break routine |
| Question bank | A short list of useful questions written before you arrive, so you walk in with something ready instead of inventing questions under pressure. | "Who do I go to when I finish something?" written on a phone note |
| Note template | A simple structure for capturing the day as it happens, so you leave with evidence for later placement reflection and ALT 4, not a blank evening. | Headings for people met, tasks done, surprises, and follow-up questions |
3 - Build Your First-day Kit ~35 mins
Two connected jobs this period.
1. Class question bank (list-builder). Together you will agree about ten first-day questions under four headings: people, how the day runs, the work itself, and what to do when you are stuck or finished. A line only goes on the shared list when the class agrees it is useful and something you would actually ask. Cross out anything that sounds clever on paper but feels awkward out loud.
2. Your own kit for the floor. Open or create a document titled exactly Placement Day 1 Reflection in your Strand 2.2 portfolio folder (a doc or notes app is fine). If it does not exist yet, create it now. You will use this same document for the bank, the template, and the evening reflection lines after Day 1.
Copy the class bank, then adapt it for your placement: drop questions that do not fit the setting, add two that only make sense for your organisation, and keep a final list of about ten. If your placement is not confirmed yet, adapt the bank for your target organisation from earlier Strand 2.2 research and label the document target placement: update when confirmed.
Under the bank, build a one-page note template with these headings (reword them if you prefer, but keep the same jobs):
- People I met today (name or role, and one line on what they do)
- What I was asked to do (three concrete tasks, not "helped out")
- What surprised me
- What went wrong or felt unclear
- Questions I still need to ask tomorrow
- Evening reflection (fill after the day): What did I learn that I could not have learnt from a classroom? One moment I handled well. One moment I would handle differently.
Save the bank and template where you can open them on your phone, or set the same headings out in your own notes so you can carry them without hunting. You take this into Day 1. The evening reflection lines are completed after the placement day, on this same document.
First-day questions worth asking
4 - Think About It ~10 mins
Talk these through with the person beside you, or sit with them quietly on your own.
- Without a bank you wait to be told; with one you have a reason to approach someone by mid-morning. Which of your questions gets you that conversation?
- Which one question on your bank would save you the most embarrassment if you asked it before lunch?
After Day 1, finish the evening reflection section on your Placement Day 1 Reflection document while the day is still fresh. That writing happens after the placement day, not in this period.
5 - What You Covered ~5 mins
In this lesson you:
- Built a shared bank of useful, non-awkward first-day questions under four practical headings
- Adapted the bank for your own placement organisation (or target organisation)
- Created a note template you will carry onto the floor and complete that evening after Day 1
- Named how walking in with questions changes what Day 1 can give you
Your portfolio artefact is Placement Day 1 Reflection in Strand 2.2: the carried question bank and template, plus the evening reflection written after the day. That evidence feeds later placement reflection and ALT 4.
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