This is a full 60-minute pre-placement briefing, run the class before Day 1 (typically the day before). It needs the whole period because the planning activity in Step 3 runs 35 minutes and cannot be squeezed into a short slot as students head out the door. Confirm every student knows their start time, contact name, and travel plan. Check that any required Garda Vetting (placements involving children or vulnerable adults) is completed before the placement begins, and that employer contact details and health-and-safety arrangements are on file.

Remind students the reflection is written or recorded at home this evening, not on the lesson page.

Head off the common worry: you are not expected to be useful on Day 1. Observing well and staying out of the way is exactly the job.

Circulate as students draft questions. Watch for closed questions that a nervous student hides behind ("Is it okay if I sit here?") and nudge toward open, curious ones ("What does a normal day look like for you?"). Confirm each student has decided how they'll capture the reflection tonight: typed file or audio. Both are equally acceptable for LCW.

Tracking: the prep file here is preparatory scaffolding, not itself an assessable Applied Learning Task deliverable. The assessable output is the Day 1 reflection students produce at home this evening. Because you cannot supervise its production, plan to check that each student has saved S2.2/placement_day_1_reflection to their portfolio the class after placement, and review it briefly then. That reflection is what later feeds their work-experience Applied Learning Task; note this prep file simply gives them a running start.

Two-minute paired share on the first prompt. If any student seems anxious about the placement itself, remind them privately that the school, their guidance counsellor, and Citizens Information (for any question about their rights on placement) are all available. Reassure them a wobbly first day is normal and reflected on, not marked.

Optional. Frames noticing others' strengths as a professional habit, and quietly sets up the workplace-interview and feedback lessons later in the strand.