Jenny Johns is Deputy Head Teacher at Samuel Rhodes School. Samuel Rhodes is a special school attended by pupils with moderate learning needs and pupils with a range of different diagnoses. The school delivers a bespoke and inclusive curriculum that is focused towards life-long access to the community and the work place and is a safe place where pupils feel they belong. We hear from Jenny about the employment-related challenges that Samuel Rhodes School pupils face, how the school works with the students to overcome these, and the important role that companies play in this vital work.

What are the challenges that your students and colleagues face?
All of the students at Samuel Rhodes School have an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP), a learning need and many of our pupils have more than one diagnosis. One of the challenges our pupils face is not finding employment when they are adults. There is a risk of going to college and staying there for several years, completing various qualifications at the same level and then leaving without a job to go to. We have worked hard as a school to inform our pupils of the different types of provisions available after school – including supported internships – to encourage our pupils to secure employment when they are adults. Islington Council provide many networks to support us with this vision.

People with learning disabilities (LD) and autism are amongst the most excluded groups in terms of the labour market. Just 6% of adults with a learning disability known to their Local Authority in England are in paid work (NHS Digital, 2018), whilst only 16% of autistic adults are in full-time work (National Autistic Society, 2017).

How does your institution help students and colleagues overcome these challenges?
We have designed our curriculum to focus on life skills and careers, which starts in primary school and runs all the way through to our sixth form. This enables pupils to have maximum exposure to as many careers as possible and raises their aspirations (their families too) to go into the workplace. When students are 14-19, we really focus in on work experience and business mentoring: supporting pupils with communication, developing appropriate behaviours for the workplace and to develop skills which could lead them onto a supported internship or job in the future. We have a really successful partnerships with Euromonitor, BIG Alliance and Inspire! They have worked closely with Samuel Rhodes over several years to develop a business mentoring/work experience 8- week programme. The main aim of the initiative is to develop pupils’ work competencies, by introducing students to the World of Work, raising aspirations and developing communication skills. Staff have seen a huge impact on pupils’ confidence, we have been impressed by the CVs pupils have developed and the jobs they say they would like to do. We have even had a student work on the reception at Euromonitor after her work experience with the mentoring programme. Students have said this is the highlight to their week, have really enjoyed their experiences and found it very beneficial.

Do you have an inspirational story/moment about your work that you would like to share?
One of our young people, who we will name A, is an example of a student who attended Samuel Rhodes School. He transitioned out of school at the end of the academic year 2017/18, and enrolled at college. However, after experiencing some difficulties at his new education provider, he found himself ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET). Samuel Rhodes has a DFN-MoveForward Progression Coach, who actively got involved to support this young man and enrolled A on the DFN-MoveForward programme. What followed in the spring and summer terms of 2018/19 was intensive support and engagement activities delivered by DFN-MoveForward. Examples include:

• Sky Garden Enrichment activity
• Business Mentoring with EY, including BTEC Work Skills qualification
• Canal Boat Residential
• Skills Workshop with Credit Suisse
• Independent Living Workshop with Kids Cookery

A was supported to transition to the DFN Project, SEARCH, which provided a supported internship programme at Moorfields Eye Hospital in September 2019. Although the spring and summer terms were disrupted by COVID, A was still able to gain valuable time on placement at Moorfields Eye Hospital. A has since secured three different paid jobs: Vaccination Marshall for Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, Pharmacy Dispensary Assistant for MS Chemist and Clinic Concierge for BUPA Healthcare. His current position as a Clinic Concierge is full-time. Outside of work, A is an Associate for DFN Project SEARCH.

The most inspirational part of this story was A came to visit Samuel Rhodes last summer and spoke to all our pupils about his difficulties and how getting the support from school and DFN-MoveForward gave him the opportunity to get paid work. He said this has helped to improve his mental health and independence. He gave pupils the advice to take advantage of all their lessons and work experience opportunities.

What kind of support are you in need of right now and how might volunteering fit into that?
Post Covid, our school has lost a lot of our work experience connections either because some organisations are still working from home, or the staff have completely changed. We have had a positive start of year and are rebuilding our networks, but any organisations that can offer work experience opportunities would be very appreciated.