Procedure for Arranging Practical Placement

Each student arranges their practical placement individually.

If needed, they can use contacts from the list of cooperating organisations/institutions available on the portal praxe.vspj.cz.

How to access the list of organisations:

1. Open the link “praxe.vspj.cz”,

2. Go to the ‘Companies’ tab,

3. Click on the ‘Company Filter’,

4. Click ‘Fields’,

5. Select ‘Clinical Social Worker’.

6. View the list of organisations where previous students of the Clinical Social Care programme have completed their their practical placements.

7. Click on the magnifying glass icon to see details about the organisation (contacts, etc.).

It is also possible to choose and newly register an organisation that is not on the list, provided it meets all the above conditions.

Practical Placement Registration

Students must register their practical placement on the portal https://praxe.vspj.cz/ no later than 14 days before it starts. It is recommended to start searching and arranging practical placement at least two months in advance. After registration, the practical placement may be approved or rejected by the Placement Tutor. Therefore, it is important to allow enough time to resolve any issues or to find another placement if necessary. Students may consult their choice of provider in advance with the Placement Tutor.

Procedure for Practical Placement Registration:

1. Log into the Placement Portal https://praxe.vspj.cz (username and password are the same as for accessing the IS – information system of the College of Polytechnics Jihlava),

2. Click ‘CREATE PLACEMENT’,

3. Select ‘CZECH COMPANY’ (or ‘FOREIGN COMPANY’ for Erasmus  or international placements),

4. Enter THE ID NUMBER OF THE ORGANISATION/INSTITUTION where the placement was arranged,

5. Click ‘LOAD COMPANY DATA’ box (if the organisation has multiple branches, you must SELECT BRANCH, or add one if missing),

6. Click the ‘ADD/REGISTER PLACEMENT’ (in the upper left corner),

7. Fill in all required details:

- TYPE OF PLACEMENT (ongoing for part-time study),

- LOCATION (select from the list),

- PLACEMENT PERIOD (start and end dates according to the semester; part-time students choose their own dates and must allow enough time for the signing of agreements by the placement provider and the tutor from the College of Polytechnics Jihlava),

- JOB POSITION (e.g. social worker, clinical social worker, social services worker, etc.),

- JOB DESCRIPTION (briefly describe activities agreed upon with the organisation),

- PLACEMENT CONTACT PERSON = a mentor/supervisor who is responsible within the workplace for the performance of the practical placement,

- STATUTORY REPRESENTATIVE or PERSON AUTHORISED TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT (fill in the name of the person who is authorised to sign the practical placement agreement – note that the mentor may not be authorised to sign agreements. We recommend asking the organisation when negotiating the placement who is authorised to sign the agreement.),

- SUBMIT THE PRACTICAL PLACEMENT FOR APPROVAL BY THE PLACEMENT TUTOR.

Approval depends on whether the selected placement is appropriate (see the section on Workplaces/Practical Placement Providers) and whether you have met all the other requirements outlined in this document.

Particular attention must be paid to the organisation’s status (it must be properly registered and focused on people with mental health problems). In case of uncertainty, the student should contact the placement Tutor. Before submitting, students must ensure that there are no formal errors in the registration, e.g. incorrectly entered data about the organisation’s representative/person authorised to sign the agreement, or about the contact person (mentor), or incorrectly entered placement dates. The start date of the placement must not precede the date of the signing of the agreement (the contract must be SIGNED AND DELIVERED before the start of the placement. It is the responsibility of the student to deliver the agreement to the college.). If the placement is not approved, the student will be informed about the non-approval and the related reasons via a message in the information system (IS) and via the college email, and may consult the Placement Tutor for a more detailed explanation.

Placement Agreement

Once a placement has been approved by the Placement Tutor, the student generates and prints the Practical Placement Agreement directly from the system. Any modifications to the text of the agreement after it has been generated from the placement portal are strictly prohibited. If any amendments to the agreement are required (e.g. correction of placement dates, correction of the person authorised to sign the agreement, etc.), the student must request the change from the Placement Tutor.

Some organisations, typically large public administration institutions, local government authorities, or hospitals, require the use of their own agreements. In these cases, the student must send the agreement in PDF format to the Placement Tutor by email (marketa.dubnova@vspj.cz) well in advance for approval. These specific agreements cannot be used without legal review and approval from the College of Polytechnics Jihlava.

The placement agreement sets out the rights and obligations of all the parties involved and specifies the exact placement period. Before commencing the work placement, the student must ensure that the agreement is signed by all parties (the organisation’s representative, the representative of the College of Polytechnics Jihlava – Mgr. Dubnová, PhD., and the student). The student signs the agreement first; the order of signatures by the College representative and the placement provider’s representative depends on the provider’s requirements.

The signed agreement must be submitted to the department office no later than three days before the start of the placement. This is a key requirement for the student to commence the placement. If a student begins the placement without a signed agreement, the placement will not be recognised and the activity will be regarded as a personal activity undertaken by the student, with no entitlement to course credit. Students are strongly advised to arrange all required agreement signatures well in advance to allow sufficient time for dealing with unforeseen complications (such as the absence of a mentor, the unavailability of an authorised signatory, or the need to obtain approval for a provider-specific agreement).

Introductory Placement Seminar

Before commencing their first placement, students must attend a Placement Seminar. The seminar covers all organisational and academic matters related to the placements, including the requirements for obtaining course credit. Students are informed of the seminar date through a notice in the Information System. Attendance at the seminar is a compulsory component of the first placement and a prerequisite for obtaining credit. By prior agreement with the Placement Tutor, on the basis of special circumstances, the seminar may be completed individually.