Mencap Supported Internship
9 Jun 2021,
Supported internships
Mencap’s supported internship programme – supports young people with a learning disability, aged between 16 and 24, to make the important step from education into employment.
The 3 course we run in Bradford are all held at Kala Sangam arts centre.
1) We are trialling a 10 week bespoke course for NEET learners.
This will start on June 28th and will be 1 day a week for first 2 weeks and then 2 days for the following 8 weeks. It will be a group of 10 learners all NEET and all with an EHCP. If the EHCP needs updating, we will complete this within the first 4 weeks of this course by holding a review with the learner, their support network and any other parties involved including previous providers where possible.
This course will be about gaining a routine, engaging them back into a learning environment but with an employability focus. There will be team building exercises and work around social interactions and anxieties.
We will complete assessments with them but also have a look at what a workplace looks like, find out their interests and focus on building them towards the supported internship 1 or 2 year course.
2) Supported Internship 2 year study programme
This is a 2 year programme starting Sept 6th 2021 and ending July 31st 2023. This is for learners with an up to date EHCP aged 16 - 23yrs. (a learner can turn 25 within the final year).
These learners will not have a great understanding, if any, of a workplace, have very little work placement experience and may not have any idea of what they would like to do as a vocation but their end goal must be wanting to achieve paid employment. The first year will be all about building their understanding around what a workplace is and how to be a good employee, the benefits of work, finding out their 'thing' by identifying their likes and dislikes and working with them to build a basic CV and basic knowledge of how to get a job.
The 2nd year will build on the skills and knowledge gained in the first year and be heavily work placement based and applying for paid employment.
English & Maths is embedded in all sessions. There will also be life skill sessions. We encourage learners to upskill their English & Maths and offer FS qualifications from EL1 to L2.
This will be 2 sessions a week from 10am - 4pm and a third session will be held also 10am - 4pm which will be a community impact project. Learners will be expected to attend a telephone (this communication method can be adapted to suit the learner) 1:1 at a specified time on a 4th day. This will last approximately an hour and is there to check on learner welfare, discuss their progression that week and work on anything they are finding difficult in sessions. Each learner will need to achieve 300 works experience hours and 292 off the job hours during this 2nd year. Learners are supported by a case worker and a tutor. Groups are 8-10 learners all with different abilities but with the same end goal. Whilst we teach autonomy and encourage learners to take charge of their own journey, we are working hard behind the scenes with employer engagement to assist gaining placements. Learners are supported in placement until the learner, the employer and Mencap feel they are able to independent. A learner can try different placement. It is never a one size fits all approach.
3) 1 year Supported Internship
This is a 1 year programme starting Sept 6th 2021 and ending July 31st 2022. This is for learners with an up to date EHCP aged 16 - 24yrs. (a learner can turn 25 within the year).
These learners will have had experience of a workplace and have an idea of what they want to do as a vocation. We will still explore this to ensure they are heading in the right direction for them.
It will involve creating a more complex CV, learning the process of looking for employment to gaining employment and keeping that employment.
English & Maths is embedded in all sessions. There will also be life skill sessions. We encourage learners to upskill their English & Maths and offer FS qualifications from EL1 to L2.
This will be 2 sessions a week from 10am - 4pm and a third session will be held also 10am - 4pm which will be a community impact project. Learners will be expected to attend a telephone (this communication method can be adapted to suit the learner) 1:1 at a specified time on a 4th day. This will last approximately an hour and is there to check on learner welfare, discuss their progression that week and work on anything they are finding difficult in sessions. Each learner will need to achieve 300 works experience hours and 292 off the job hours during this year. Learners are supported by a case worker and a tutor. Groups are 8-10 learners all with different abilities but with the same end goal. Whilst we teach autonomy and encourage learners to take charge of their own journey, we are working hard behind the scenes with employer engagement to assist gaining placements. Learners are supported in placement until the learner, the employer and Mencap feel they are able to independent. A learner can try different placement. It is never a one size fits all approach.
I hope this overview of the programmes helps to give an idea of what we offer. We have a few places left on each course and would be happy to chat to learners, support networks and show them around the centre.
Anybody interested and who would like to apply, should contact:
Roxanne Coleman - Roxanne.Coleman@mencap.org.uk
Zoe Whitfield - Zoe.Whitfield@mencap.org.uk
Mencap’s supported internship programme website
