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Why employment matters. The Green paper: challenges . Young people with SEN don’t achieve as they could – they are more than twice as likely to be out of education, training or employment as those without.
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The Green paper: challenges • Young people with SEN don’t achieve as they could – they are more than twice as likely to be out of education, training or employment as those without. • They need wider opportunities and support to give them the best chance of a fulfilling adulthood with employment, good health and independence. • Issues include: • A limited choice of entry-level courses in further education that do not build on what has gone before, or prepare young people for life and work; • poor quality work experience; and • a lack of supported employment opportunities to help them prepare for, find and retain work. • Experience of work and on-the-job training is more likely to help them secure employment than qualifications or classroom-based learning.
The Green paper: Employment opportunities and support • Too often, they don’t have the right support at the right time. Employment rates remain too low, and those with moderate to severe learning disabilities are even less likely to be employed. • Although young people with more complex needs can face additional challenges finding and securing work, creative and innovative approaches can support them to make a valuable contribution to society. • The duration and intensity of support will depend on their specific needs. Some require occasional additional help when learning new tasks; others may need help from a supported employment practitioner such as a job coach who can help break down tasks into simple steps.
The Green paper: Internships? • Green paper Q34: When disabled young people and young people with SEN choose to move directly from school or college into the world of work, how can we make sure this is well planned and who is best placed to support them? • We know that services working together to provide skilled employment support and clear pathways into work can be effective in helping young people with learning disabilities into paid employment. We will explore whether we could introduce supported internships for those for whom an apprenticeship may not be a realistic aim, including enabling retirees to volunteer to train as job coaches.
The Green paper: Working with employers • We will work with employers of all sizes to champion the benefits of employing disabled people, build on their existing good practice and ensure that their advice and input inform our thinking as we develop our ideas further. • We will explore how we might recognise achievements in this field and increase work experience placement opportunities for young students who are disabled or who have SEN, in order to build their confidence and to help change the attitudes of employers, managers and staff. • Q 36: How can employers be encouraged to offer constructive work experience and job opportunities to disabled young people and young people with SEN?
Excerpts from Natspec response to the Green Paper • Specialist colleges use real life settings, including in most colleges residential provision, to enable young people to practise and improve their skills for living independently. They offer a wide range of vocational opportunities both on site and in the local community, so that many learners leave specialist colleges ready to move into employment or voluntary work. More importantly, they leave as mature, resourceful and empowered adults, ready to be effective citizens.
Natspec response: Work for all? • We fully support the aspiration to employment for many more disabled young people. ISCs offer a wide range of work experience, vocational training, social enterprises and supported employment to support people into employment, and work closely with agencies in their home towns to help them seek work. • The aspiration to work is not realistic for some young people with more complex LDD. They may aspire to other community based goals, and these are equally valuable outcomes. We seek a wider range of outcomes recognised as measures of success, linked to their aspirations and goals identified through the planning process.
Natspec case study 1: Claire has congenital cataracts, learning difficulties and is diabetic • Claire’s goals were to live independently, to achieve qualifications and to find employment. Claire learnt independence skills which she was able to transfer to a study bedroom, a flat and in her 3rd year, a small independent house on campus. A social communication programme helped to build up her confidence and self-esteem. • Claire undertook work experience at a local construction company. As well as gaining office skills, the placement gave her an insight into the world of workand encouraged her to develop her administration skills. She developed confidence in using the phone and talking to other staff. Claire achieved a number of CLAIT modules at the local college. • Her confidence in crossing roads and using public transport increased significantly and she became an independent traveller, able to make her own way to her work placements and successfully learning to use 8x binoculars to identify bus numbers.
Natspec case study 2: Peter has severe learning difficulties, visual & hearing impairments, & communication difficulties. He presented challenging behaviours • Peter began working in the college meeting rooms, with close supervision and regular routines. He moved to the college restaurant, working towards Level 1 NVQ units. A year later, Peter began work experience at a local bar and restaurant, where he developed food handling skills, and gained greater confidence and maturity when working with others. He successfully completed a Foundation Certificate of H&S in the Workplace, Welcome Host Award and Certificate in Basic Food Safety. • Peter left college with industry recognised qualifications, including a level 1 NVQ in Food and Drink Service and a CV that showed sound skills and knowledge, backed up with real work experience. He is now working part-time in a hotel in his home area, undertaking evening shifts in the kitchen
Ofsted survey report: Progression post-16 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Learners on discrete foundation programmes were generally successful in achieving units of qualifications at entry levels and in preparing for progression to further study. However, the programmes reviewed by inspectors: • were too narrowly focused on accreditation • were not effective in enabling learners to progress to open or supported employment, independent living or community engagement.
Ofsted survey recommendations 1 DfE/BIS should: • review the current emphasis on accreditation and ensure that foundation learning provides meaningful programmes of learning that enable learners to progress to apprenticeships, employment, greater independence, further learning or community engagement
Ofsted survey recommendations 2 Local authorities should: • improve the arrangements for transition from school to the post-16 sector by ensuring that personal advisers are adequately resourced and trainedto provide objective learning difficulty assessments and to keep in contact with learners who become disengaged from formal learning or employment on leaving school
Ofsted survey recommendations 3 Providers should: • offer programmes which provide an appropriate level of challengeand prepare learners for progression to the destinations that match their long term goals • explore ways to provide job coaching and internships to prepare learners for open or supported employment and apprenticeships
Ofsted survey: Foundation learning? The main concerns about the design of foundation learning were • it focused on accreditation rather than practical activity • It did not provide adequate funding for job coaches and employment opportunities such as internships • It used a competence-based model of accreditation which did not allow for development at each level - units were at the same level of difficulty and the achievements were all of the same value • It included inappropriate accreditation for learners with profound learning needs for activities such as smiling to indicate pleasure and for more able learners, activities such as using a public WC The focus on accreditation meant programmes did not provide sufficient opportunity for the development of skills in realistic settings.
Ofsted survey: ISC learner case study 1 • One independent specialist college, where learners are funded for five days a week, specialised in programmes for learners with autistic spectrum conditions. In the following example, a learner had transferred from special school to the independent specialist college. He had applied to the college because of its specialism and record in enabling students to find employment. • The learner had an extensive interview day which included a thorough multi-disciplinary assessment and identification of need. He had individual funding based on his identified needs, including specific funding for speech therapy, and 1-to-1 tuition where needed.
Ofsted survey: ISC learner case study 2 • His programme focused on preparing for employment and he participated in the college’s social enterprises, including floristry and the provision of stationery supplies. He developed his communication skills supported by a SALT and highly trained support staff. • He gradually built up his skills working in the social enterprises, including contact with members of the public, which had previously caused high levels of anxiety, as well as practical skills which involved the use of money and other administrative tasks. He has successfully started a supported internshipat the local hospital, which he hopes will lead to permanent employment.
Ofsted survey: Employment data • Data about the destinations of learners with a LDD once they leave post-16 provision are not collated nationally. All of the providers visited kept local information about the destination of learners, but this information was collated, presented and analysed in different ways. Very few could provide year on year comparisons about sustained employment • In the two independent specialist colleges visited, routes to open employment or supported employment were developed as destination routes. For one college this was the main learning goal for all of the learners. All 11 learners who had left this college in the last two years had transferred to supported employment.
Ofsted survey: Employment • Evidence indicated that the recent down-turn in the economy had acted adversely on learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. In particular, it had reduced opportunities for voluntary work, as more young people without disabilities were seeking this route to employment. • The examples in this report of programmes effective in preparing young people for employment illustrate that successful outcomes are more likely to occur where learners spend significant amounts of time gaining work experience as part of their learning programme.
New CIF consultation • Context – Education Bill & teaching White paper: the critical importance of employability skills and progression towards sustainable employment and further learning as outcomes from many government-funded programmes, and the need to judge this alongside the achievement of learners
New CIF: headline grades to determine overall effectiveness • report on outcomes for learners and the extent to which the provision meets the needs and ensures the achievement of all learners, and helps them progress into employment or further education and training • judge the achievementof all learners, taking particular account of the success and rates of progress of different individuals and groups of learners • promote higher standards for learners by focusing more on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment • judge the effectiveness of leadership and management with a particular attention to the leadership of teaching and learning
New CIF: Work with employers • Under the new further education reforms and freedoms all providers can determine their own curriculum. We propose to inspect how well the curriculum meets the needs and interests of learners and the local community, and evaluate this as part of leadership and management. Providers should demonstrate their work with employers to offer courses that are proven to lead to employment. How well learners progress into work will be judged under outcomes for learners.
And….. • Wolf report & responses • Apprenticeships Disability Reference Group • Sayce review Alison Boulton Natspec
