The Faculty of Inclusive Practice and the Careers Team at Weston College have created a “Jobs Club” for learners with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

This innovative venture supports learners, helping them to get ‘Into Work’ with practical preparation for job placements and future career path planning. The aim of this club was to also build the learners confidence; using a range of resources to help them recognise their skills, personalities, and interests, and how to highlight these to potential employers and relate them to jobs they would be suited for.

The group of 12 students benefitted from 7 sessions which included uplifting group discussions about self-evaluation and how to apply their skills and personality traits to the working world. Interactive quizzes proved to be an amazingly effective way to engage the learners and give them an insight into what different jobs entail and what employers are looking for.

On completion of the career boosting club, each learner received a certificate, which was presented by College Careers Advisor Sally Bebb and Weston College Group Principal and Chief Executive Sir Paul Phillips KBE, to celebrate the skills developed over the sessions.

Sir Paul Phillips added: “Here at Weston College, we continue to champion the phrase ‘Careers, not courses’. Whatever their level, age, background or circumstance, all learners who study with us here progress with the tools to succeed in the workplace. I’m extremely proud of our Inclusive Practice department and initiatives such as this further support why we are recognised nationally as a SEND Centre of Excellence.”

There was a wide range of skills that were improved over the sessions, the main skill being the ability for the learners to describe their attributes and how they used them effectively in given examples. This helped the members of the club to build their confidence when talking about themselves and what qualities they could bring to the workplace.

The building of these skills was very beneficial, as the learners from Jobs Club are progressing onto many future paths: 3 learners have secured Apprenticeships with their employers, 3 learners will be completing traineeships with the police, and five learners have stepped into the workplace, in sustainable paid employment, within the sectors of warehouse, retail, horticulture and lunch time supervisors.

Sally Bebb, from the careers team, said: “We would definitely love to run the Jobs Club again as it was so beneficial to the learners, and has been a hugely enjoyable experience with a great cohort. We all loved seeing how each of the learners have built their confidence when discussing their future career prospects.”

Congratulations to all of the learners on their fantastic achievements!