Authors: Katherine Emms, Andrea Laczik, Dana Dabbous
The report focuses on three case studies and how each supports young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) on their journey into employment. The case studies included in the report are St Martins School in Derby, their Sixth Form offering at Horizons, and their internship scheme with DFN Project SEARCH. These provide excellent examples of how a well-supported pipeline into employment for their young people, and attempting to buck the trend of the dire local trend for young people entering employment.
Key Findings
- Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) face additional barriers in their education and when trying to move into the labour market. For instance, discrimination in the recruitment process and a lack of recognised ‘standard’ qualifications.
- St Martins School forges close relationships with local employers and the community to offer their young people ongoing insight into the world of work, such as interactive career days and enterprise day. This complements their unique SHAPE curriculum which supports the development of a set of specific skills and attitudes that employers cite as being important, such as resilience and self-management.
- Horizons is a vocationally-focussed sixth form where students access work placements, further education (FE) preparation courses and learn key employment skills. Students also take on different roles in the on-site print company also gives them an exciting opportunity to experience running a fully operational business.
- At Derby Hospital, SEND students take part in supported internships, part of DFN Project Search. Interns rotate between different departments in the hospital, whilst also learning workplace conduct, skills for the workplace and independence, health and safety, and general mentorship support for their hospital roles.
