Work experience key for SEND students - college

A specialist college says hands-on work experience is the best way to help students with additional educational needs find jobs.

Derwen College's Gobowen campus in Shropshire has a student-run restaurant, garden centre and hotel. Staff said these facilities allowed students to build their confidence and vocational skills in a safe environment.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions, fewer than 5% of people who have a learning disability are in paid employment.

Dawn Roberts, head of quality at the college, said the statistic was "disappointing", but by giving students experience of work, they could learn "the national skills needed to work in modern Britain".

Among the current students at the college is Jack Milton, a first-year hospitality, food and performing arts student.

Jack said he had been learning how to serve customers and set a table while working in the college's Orangery restaurant.

"It feels really good; it makes me feel grown-up and professional as well," he said.

In January 2017, the college opened its Hotel 751, an on-campus training facility where students learn housekeeping skills. The facility is the result of a partnership between the college and the hotel chain Premier Inn, which aims to give students access to "invaluable work experience placements".

David Thompson-Pearce is the hospitality and food pathway lead at Derwen College. He said that by involving students in customer-facing situations on campus, they could help them gain social skills that are often overlooked by people without additional learning needs.

"Reading body language and reading social situations is something we do on a daily basis, and we don't take into account that someone might struggle with that," he said.

"Exposing students to social situations and developing those skills is a massive part of them being successful when they leave the 'safety blanket' of the college."

Mr Thompson-Pearce added that he hoped more businesses would open up to the idea of hiring people with special educational needs.

"Just give them a go, follow their lead. . . be open-minded more than anything. They just need the opportunity and some understanding, really."