Supported Internships
As a college we are committed to breaking down barriers that employers may face when employing young people with inclusion needs (e.g. autism, dyslexia, ADHD). Supported Internships help towards breaking down these barriers to give employers access to a broader range of candidates.
WHAT IS A SUPPORTED INTERNSHIP?
A Supported Internship is a work-based course for 16- to 24-year-olds with inclusion needs. The internship starts as an unpaid work placement, allowing you to train the student to your expectations, once fully trained with satisfactory performance the internship will end and the student will start paid employment. It is a partnership between an employer and a learning provider, working together to develop the student’s knowledge, skills and employability.
An internship will last between 6-10 months, this will depend on the success of the placement and how quickly paid work can be achieved. The student will spend at least 2 days a week in the workplace and 1 day a week in college learning core skills. Course content can be responsive to feedback given in the workplace. Both the employer and the intern are fully supported by an experienced Job Coach, who will be your key contact throughout the Internship, to help achieve the end goal of sustained and paid employment.
THE BENEFIT TO YOU THE EMPLOYER:
- Recruit enthusiastic and motivated candidates from an untapped pool of potentially excellent employees.
- Customers come from all walks of life, it’s important your employees do too.
- Enhance your reputation both internally and externally for being an inclusive employer.
- Provide employees with mentoring opportunities.
- Boost staff morale and retention rate.
- Attract positive media coverage.
- Demonstrate compliance with the 2010 Equality Act and gain recognition as a Disability Confident employer.
WHAT SUPPORT WILL A JOB COACH PROVIDE?
- Oversee the whole Supported Internship journey, advising you of support strategies that may work for the student and how we can work together to make the Supported Internship successful.
- Help address any development points for the intern; both on shift, and within college hours.
- Should you wish, ‘need specific’ or more general inclusion awareness training can be arranged for you and your team.
- The key point of contact between you the employer, the student, the college and the student’s circle of support.
- Will be on site for students’ first shift, which will continue until the student is settled in the role. We will then follow up with regular check-ins and reviews, until paid work starts.
