Workshop with supported interns to discuss further education for young people with SEND Notes from 24th May 2019

Background A workshop was held with 8 supported interns from RBKC and WCC. The aim was to understand their experiences since leaving school and on their current supported internship. We asked them to answer 5 questions: How has their internship experience been so far? After finishing school, what courses have you done between then and this internship? Was there anything you wanted to do but it wasn’t available near your home? What are the most important things to you about your college experience? What are your aims and goals for future?

How has the internship experience been for you? We asked the interns to rate their experience on the programme. Some of the reasons behind their rating included: “I have been doing very well from my internship recently.” “It’s good but stressful at work.” “I have enjoyed my 3 placements.” “I got offered a job this internship has been really nice.” “I like my experience working in the office. It helps me with my confidence.” “I think my work experiences have been good and supportive but I’ve also had my ups and downs whilst I’ve been on this programme.” “I enjoyed talking to other colleagues at break time and I am enjoying my placement.”

Which courses have you done between school and your supported internship? The interns had done a range of courses since leaving school. These included: A pathway to sport course at West London College Level 1 and 2 Maths and English courses at West London College Level 1 in BTEC ICT, Level 2 in Travel and Tourism, Level 2 in Art at St Charles College Level 1 in Employability Skills at West London College Art and Design certificate at South Thames College A Mini Enterprise course in cooking and serving customers and Maths and English courses at City of Westminster College

When you finished school was there a course you wanted to do but it wasn’t available near your home? The interns didn’t specifically identify courses which weren’t offered locally but spoke more about what they aspired to do. It appeared that some things they wanted to do weren’t suitable for them or they needed qualifications in Maths and English to get onto the course e.g. electrician or nursing courses. In some cases, the young people were advised to apply for the supported internship instead. One intern mentioned wanting to do a coding course and had found a games course but had changed his mind. One intern wanted to do a course in Office Administration but wasn’t sure if this was available. One intern wanted to do an Art and Design course but faced barriers when trying to access certain levels.

What are the most important things to you about your college experience? We asked the interns to give us as many ideas as they could think of. Then we grouped the ideas into the key themes (in order of importance to the young people): 1= Support from coaches and teachers 1= Getting a job afterwards 3= Enjoying the experience 3= Making new friends 5= Gaining skills 5= More sensitive with the rules, structure and responsibilities 7. Class size

What are your aims and goals for the future? The ideas the interns had for their future were around getting a job and becoming independent. These included: getting a job, gaining work skills, working in an office, getting a job as a receptionist moving out and living on my own, travelling abroad alone, taking further art courses.