Good careers guidance helps young people with SEND live their best adult lives
Lisa Greig, CEO of Hartlepool Aspire Trust which comprises Catcote Academy and Catcote Futures, gives her perspective as a passionate champion of transforming the lives of young people with SEND through the Gatsby Benchmarks. Lisa Greig - CEO, Hartlepool Aspire Trust
Good career guidance ensures that all young people, whatever their needs, background or ambitions, know the options open to them and can make the informed choices needed to fulfil their potential. This is particularly important for the more than one million young people in England recognised as having SEND. Far too often, these young people can be held back by negative stereotypes and assumptions about their limitations.
At Catcote Academy we have 217 secondary and post-16 learners with a wide range of special educational needs including moderate to severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning disabilities, autism, and social, emotional or mental health needs.
We use the Gatsby Benchmarks to structure and tailor our careers guidance to the diverse needs of our young people. Hartlepool has high levels of unemployment, poverty and deprivation, making the risk of young people becoming NEET high. This makes a strong careers programme all the more important – last year 20% of our learners went on to paid employment, against a national average of 6%.
As the benchmarks have recently been updated with changes that have inclusivity and personalisation at their heart, it feels timely to share some success stories of how good career guidance in schools and colleges can be truly life changing, especially for young people with SEND.
Callum
Callum is one of our students who has now gone on to work in a small local business in Hartlepool. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do initially but, informed by regular careers guidance meetings, he completed a tailored series of real, hands-on, meaningful encounters with employers in a range of sectors he was interested in. This included a dog grooming salon, a café, and a shop, giving him insights into a variety of possible avenues.
Each placement was carefully structured so that he could get a really good feel for that sector and the role. Through regular feedback, reviews and evaluation of each placement with his job coaches the right next steps could be identified.
These reviews with job coaches led Callum to pursue a role which matched his flair for the creative. A work placement was secured with a local start up creative business, a silversmith which makes bespoke silver jewellery and offers jewellery-making classes. Through this placement he found his niche and he flourished, first being offered a supported internship with the company in 2023 and then, as his skills, confidence and enthusiasm for the industry grew, paid work as a trainee silversmith in September 2024. His employer has described their working relationship as a ‘match made in heaven’.
Callum says: “The different opportunities to gain work experience whilst at Catcote have really helped me to understand not only what I want to do but also what I don’t want to do! When I have the opportunity to work as a trainee silversmith, I just knew that I had found a career I loved.”
Bradley
Bradley always loved science and Catcote was able to offer him a work placement as a lab technician assistant so he could get a feel for what a science-related role could be like. He enjoyed it but then did a bit more soul searching with his job coach and between them they identified that something more practical and hands on was going to be a better fit. Bradley has since moved to a placement at a local truck and van dealership in the parts department which he is really enjoying. He will be increasing his placement days from one to two days a week in the next couple of months.
He says: “I have had lots of support from my job coach who has given me lots of confidence and really helped me on my journey to realise my skills and full potential. I am excited to see where my careers journey will take me in the future and hope to gain paid work.”
Kim
Kim joined us in Year 8 from mainstream education. She carried out a variety of work experience placements including working in sports at a primary school, initially one day a week but building to two as her confidence and familiarity with the environment grew. She worked with sports coaches during lessons and with pupils over lunchtimes. The school head teacher praised Kim, saying: “She grew tremendously in confidence and developed positive relationships with staff and pupils, becoming very much a part of our school community due to her enthusiasm and interest in all aspects of school life.”
The skills gained during this placement were invaluable in preparing her for the next stage of her careers journey. Through ongoing work placement reviews and careers guidance meetings, Kim became interested in experiencing working life in a customer services environment. McDonald’s were approached and agreed to support, offering Kim a placement in the dining area two days per week.
The placement went so well, McDonald’s took Kim on as their first supported internship. She began working three days each week, carrying out duties including serving drinks, manning the dining area and learning to work on the ‘drive thru’, while attending college and working towards an entry level 3 qualification. Her employer recognised her progress: “Kim is polite, gets on well with the team and customers alike. She is treated liked any other member of staff, no difference.”
Kim has since been successful in gaining paid work as a McDonald’s crew member and has been part of the team for seven years. She has spoken at national conferences about her journey and has come back to the school to talk to current students about her experiences.
She says: “I was the first supported internship at McDonald’s Hartlepool and I am very proud of myself. This is not only a job for me, but a family. This is a job I love as I enjoy speaking to customers. I have a great social life now as I have met lots of new friends. I have also shared my journey with students at Catcote as part of an assembly. I hope this helps other students to achieve their dreams too!”
Setting students up for success
These inspiring examples demonstrate the real-world impact good career guidance, underpinned by the updated benchmarks, can have. Bradley, Kim and Callum all found a fulfilling role following programmes that were tailored to their individual needs and in which personal guidance was an ongoing feature, the significance of which is emphasised in the updates to the framework.
The changes specify the importance of offering a variety of meaningful encounters and experiences and of giving young people time to prepare and reflect on those experiences. These examples evidence how valuable supporting young people to reflect can be in guiding them towards their end goal and bring to life how experiences can be set up in a way that is tailored to the needs of the young person.
The updates also recognise the importance of using a variety of relatable role models and alumni to celebrate and showcase what can be achieved, something students like Kim are helping do when they return to us to share their stories.
Everyone has a role to play in good careers guidance
I’m pleased that the updated Gatsby Benchmarks continue to recognise that the professionals who work with young people with SEND every day are the experts and are best placed to adapt their career guidance activity to the needs of their students. Forensic knowledge of students is vital to ensuring careers guidance is impactful.
The changes also emphasise the importance of the role of the SENDCO and other key staff in ensuring personal guidance is most effective. So, I encourage everyone working with children and young people with SEND in schools and colleges to read about the updates so they can help play their part in delivering high quality, bespoke careers programmes that support students like Kim, Bradley and Callum to take positive next steps that defy expectations, lead to positive transitions and prepare young people for adulthood.
