Information for work experience students
Please see our general work experience page first for an overview of our offer
What will I be doing?
When you join Chiltern Rangers for work experience, you will work alongside our team of Rangers out in our local woodlands and nature reserves. There will often be volunteers and community groups on site too.
The tasks you may get involved with will vary with the seasons but may include the following:
- Thinning trees and cutting back scrub (including controlled bonfires in winter to burn the arisings)
- Step building, footpath & fencing repairs
- Cutting and raking grass in our wildflower meadows
- Tree and hedgerow planting
- River restoration projects
- Clearing litter from our urban woodlands and chalkstreams
- Work in Community Gardens & urban green spaces, including High Wycombe Train Station, NHS sites, and school grounds projects
- Monitoring and surveying of trees, wildflowers and butterflies, particularly during spring/summer placements
- General work tasks such as packing trucks for an event, washing tools and kit after use, sweeping up the depot, preparing the volunteer tea kit, washing vans and general clearing up
You will be trained how to use all the hand tools you will work with.
All our work experience is supervised by our dedicated team of Rangers, all of whom are DBS checked and First Aid trained.
Take a look at our Child Protection Policy for details of our safeguarding procedures.
Take a look at these films of Chiltern Rangers Volunteer Events to see what a typical day with us might involve:
Volunteer Event at Buttlers Hangings (Main Film)
Volunteer Event at Buttlers Hangings (Makaton Version)
Volunteer Event at Buttlers Hangings (Polish Translation)
Volunteer Event at Buttlers Hangings (Urdu Translation)
Spring / Summer Volunteering in Community Gardens (Main Film)
Coming soon … Spring / Summer films in Polish & Urdu translation
What will my day look like?
A typical day with Chiltern Rangers:
9am – Arrive at the depot. You will help prepare tea kits for the volunteers and make sure the trucks are packed with all the tools needed for the day.
9.30am – Leave for site. You will travel in a Chiltern Rangers truck with the Rangers and possibly some of our volunteers too.
10am – Your practical session starts with a health & safety briefing, and introduction to the site and task.
11.30am – Tea and coffee break (provided).
1pm – Lunch (Bring your own packed lunch).
3pm – Finish on site and travel back to the depot. Help unpack the truck, clean tools, and make sure the tea kit is put away.
4pm – Finish for the day.
The placement week:
Our placements generally involve 4 active days within a single week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday).
We do not have school placement students with us on a Wednesday as this is our day for team meetings, planning, and admin catch-up.
As well as gaining practical skills and knowledge about conservation, there are many other essential skills to be gained from a work experience placement with us. We have recently joined the Skills Builder Partnership who have worked with us to design resources enabling you develop the core skills of Listening, Speaking, and Teamwork. The Skills Builder Partnership includes 600+ schools and colleges, 200+ impact organisations and 100+ top employers – working collectively towards the mission that one day, everyone will build the essential skills to succeed. We will work through this process with you during your placement, resulting in a certificate confirming the progress you have made which you can add to your CV.
Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
You’ll need to wear outdoor clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty. It’s best to dress in layers so that you can add or remove as necessary.
You’ll need waterproofs, preferably both coat and trousers, as we’ll go out whatever the weather.*
Footwear needs to be sturdy and have a gripping sole – walking boots or work boots are ideal, or wellies if wet. Trainers are not suitable.*
A warm hat is needed in winter and a cap or sunhat in summer (don’t forget your sunscreen).
We will supply gloves, plus safety glasses, helmet and waders where needed.
*Don’t worry if you don’t have waterproofs or boots.
We have a good quality supply to lend – just let us have your sizes beforehand.
How do I get a place?
School Students Y10-13
Unfortunately we can’t take students in Y7-Y9 for individual work experience. We do work with schools to take groups of 10-30 students for a ‘taster day’ including a careers discussion and time for questions to our staff. Please ask you school careers staff to call 01494 474486 or email info@chilternrangers.uk.uk to discuss costs and dates.
For those in Y10-13, work experience is all about getting you ready for the world of work, so we’d like to stress that we want to hear from you, and not your parents! We’d always rather receive an email or call directly from you, however imperfect (because, let’s face it, we all are!). Our expectation is that placements will generally be for 4 days within a single week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday). Please note that we cannot take you for just single days of work experience. If you are in Y10-13 and your school requires just one day of work experience, please ask your careers staff to get in touch with us directly as we may be able to arrange a one-off day for a larger group from your school.
N.B. If you attend a specialist SEND school or college, we will need your school to partner with us as part of our Stepping Stones to Employability Programme. Please follow the link to the Stepping Stones page and ask your school to get in touch with us.
For all other students, if you’d like more information, or want to check availability of dates, give us a call on 01494 474486 or email info@chilternrangers.co.uk .
When you feel ready, just go ahead and complete our Under 18 application form which will ask for information about the dates you are interested in.
Once submitted, we will review your form and if necessary seek further information from you or your school / college. If we feel we are likely to be able to meet your needs, you will be invited for an interview. The interview is an important part of the learning process, but to make it a little less daunting we let you have the interview questions ahead of time so that you can have a think about them. When arranging the interview, we will also send you a film tour of our depot so you know what to expect from your visit.
The interview will also involve an in-person tour of the depot and a health and safety briefing.
If we feel that your interview demonstrates that you’re ready for work experience with Chiltern Rangers we’ll confirm your placement dates.
Follow this link for work experience joining instructions. Specialist equipment such as safety glasses, gloves, and helmets are always provided. If you would like to borrow waterproofs and boots for your placement, just let us know your sizes and we should be able to provide them.
University / College Students & Career Changers
We are able to offer a variety of work experience options aimed at University/College students or those looking for a career change. We can offer one or two day-a-week long-term placements, summer holiday placements, or a bespoke placement to suit your needs.
Please begin by calling us on 01494 474486 or drop us an email info@chilternrangers.co.uk so that we can discuss what you’re looking for. If we think we can help you, we’ll ask you to complete an Over 18 application form. We will then review your application and, if we think we’re likely to be able to meet your needs, we’ll invite you for an interview. If you’re asking for a placement of over 1 week we’ll also ask you to complete a ‘taster day’ with us as a volunteer. Based on your interview and taster session, we will then make a decision about your placement.
The forms you need to fill in can be found below.
Under 18 Work Experience Application Form
Work Experience Feedback
At the end of your work experience placement, we’d love to hear how you got on. Feedback helps us to learn, grow, and improve our offer for future students.
Please follow this link to complete your form: Student Work Experience Feedback Form
With gratitude to the following organisations who have helped to fund our work experience programme …
