In this lesson you research the short certificates that can get a seventeen-year-old paid work this summer.

Safe Pass, first aid, barista, manual handling, lifeguard, food hygiene. None of these is a full course. Each is a key. A building site will often not let you on without Safe Pass. A hotel kitchen wants food hygiene. A leisure centre wants a lifeguard card. Today you shortlist three or four that fit you, with a provider, a cost, the hours, and the specific door each one unlocks.

Three terms you will use when you build today's shortlist.

First, sort the certificate cards into the workplaces they unlock. Some open more than one door. Argue the borderline ones out loud. The point of the sort is simple: a small certificate is a key.

Then build your portfolio shortlist. Create or open S1.2/Additional Training (Markdown or Word) in your Digital Portfolio Strand 1.2 folder. If you do not have the file yet, start a new one with the heading Additional Training Shortlist and the field labels below. This is foundation evidence for your education and training research in Strand 1.2 (this lesson is not a named ALT).

Template fields for each certificate

• certificate name
• provider (use the sample name from the bank, or a confirmed local name; if you only have the sample, write it and add “named trainer: confirm with GC / leaflet”)
• fee (sample classroom figure, or a confirmed local figure if you have one)
• hours to complete
• the one specific job or workplace door it unlocks

Choose three or four certificates from the sample research bank below (or swap in a real local option your teacher confirms). Fill every field. Close with one paragraph: which certificate you would do first, and why that one (fit, cost, timing, and the door you actually want open).

One-entry model (copy the shape, not the choice)

• Certificate: Safe Pass
• Provider (sample): Local SOLAS-approved Safe Pass trainer (confirm the exact centre with your guidance counsellor)
• Fee (sample classroom figure): about €100–€175
• Hours: typically one day
• Door: building-site / construction labour that needs site access

Sample research bank (classroom practice data only: figures are indicative private/ETB bands and will change. Confirm live fees, dates, and the named trainer with a guidance counsellor, leaflet, solas.ie, or your local ETB before you book anything real.)

• Safe Pass (SOLAS Safe Pass health and safety awareness)
  Provider (sample): Local SOLAS-approved Safe Pass trainer (confirm the exact centre name with your guidance counsellor)
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €100–€175
  Hours: typically one day
  Door: building site / construction labour / facilities work that often requires site access (employer and role still decide)
• Manual handling
  Provider (sample): Your county ETB Training Centre short-course desk, or a private H&S trainer they recommend
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €50–€80
  Hours: often a half day
  Door: warehouse, retail stock, care settings, and many site-support roles
• Occupational first aid / PHECC First Aid Response
  Provider (sample): Irish Red Cross, Order of Malta, or ETB offering a recognised workplace first-aid award (meets HSA workplace first-aid expectations when current)
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €150–€250 depending on level and provider
  Hours: often 2–3 days for a full occupational / FAR award
  Door: creche support, sports clubs, leisure centres, many workplaces that want a named first-aider
• Food hygiene / food safety
  Provider (sample): Local ETB food-safety short course, or a private trainer listed via your ETB
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €40–€100
  Hours: often a half day to one day
  Door: hotel kitchen, café, deli, catering assistant roles
• Barista skills
  Provider (sample): Private hospitality trainer or hotel training kitchen near you (ask GC for a local name)
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €100–€200
  Hours: often 1–2 days
  Door: café counter, hotel coffee station, restaurant floor support
• Pool lifeguard
  Provider (sample): Leisure-centre linked course or recognised Irish pool-lifeguard award provider (confirm the award body with the centre)
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €250–€400
  Hours: multi-day with practical assessment
  Door: leisure centre pool deck, summer pool attendant roles
• QQI Level 5 childcare component (single minor-award module where offered)
  Provider (sample): Local ETB or PLC centre listing a QQI Level 5 childcare component
  Fee (sample classroom figure): ETB rates vary; some modules are low-cost or funded
  Hours: evenings or short blocks across weeks
  Door: a step toward after-school or creche assistant pathways (not a free-standing ticket into a job; Garda Vetting will also apply later for roles with children)
• Basic digital skills / office applications short course
  Provider (sample): Local ETB digital skills short course, or a private trainer they signpost
  Fee (sample classroom figure): about €50–€150
  Hours: often a short evening block
  Door: office junior, reception support, admin-assistant summer cover

A line with no fee is not finished research. Fill every field before you choose which one comes first.

Talk these through with the person beside you, or sit with them quietly on your own. Then add the two lines to the same S1.2/Additional Training file under your shortlist.

• A course with no fee attached has not been researched. Look back at your shortlist. Which field was hardest to fill honestly (provider, fee, hours, or the door), and what does that tell you about how ready you are to book anything?
• If you could only afford one certificate before the summer, which of your three or four still earns its place, and which do you leave out?

Required portfolio add-on (two lines under the shortlist)

1. Hardest field to fill honestly, and why.
2. The one certificate that survives a one-certificate budget, and why that one.

Today you mapped short certificates to real workplace doors and left with a costed shortlist in your Digital Portfolio.

• Short certificates (Safe Pass, first aid, food hygiene, barista, lifeguard, manual handling, QQI components, digital skills) act as keys to specific workplaces
• A finished entry needs a provider, fee, hours, and one specific door
• Your S1.2/Additional Training file now holds three or four costed options, which one you would do first and why, plus the two budget lines (hardest field; one-certificate survivor)
• That file is foundation evidence under Strand 1.2 in your Digital Portfolio (not a named ALT on this lesson)
• A line with no fee is not research yet: it is a title waiting for evidence

Optional stretch (not required for today's learning objectives): ask your guidance counsellor or a local ETB which of your shortlist runs nearest to you this term, and add the next start date under that entry.