A very successful SENEL international partner meeting and dissemination day
SENEL project partners from England, Finland and the Czech Republic travelled to the beautiful town of Kempten in Bavaria last week for a SENEL dissemination event and two days of international meetings and workshops. The days included visits to local training and employment facilities for young people with SEN, such as vocational training institutions and a new hotel with particular focus on welcoming and employing people with disabilities. The dissemination event at St George’s School was addressed by a member of the Bavarian parliament and attracted over 90 local stakeholders. The event included presentations by young people with SEN and speakers included representatives of local and national businesses, including a Human Resources director of Legoland.
The event included the SENEL Exhibition of Good Practice in two languages, and was covered by local television and newspaper reporters. The subsequent publicity has already generated further enquiries into the SENEL project.
The two day international partner meetings which followed focussed on continuing development of the SENEL project products and particular attention was paid to our Passport to Employment and website development. After the meetings, two of the English project members travelled to Augsburg via the German Alps and en route visited a range of facilities run by our German partners, KJF, and its Augsburg headquarters.
As usual, the ambience of the project was excellent and included cultural excursions such as a visit to an underground chapel aptly named after Erasmus, a visit to a Christmas market and an exciting hike at dusk to an evening event in a Bavarian mountain hut, descending in the dark with flaming torches.
Special Education Needs Employment Links(SENEL)
SENEL Meets the Business Club Northants
4th October 2016
English partners Sheena Bell and Helen Trory from the Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Northampton, were invited by Mike Willis (CEO of The Business Club, Northants to Humanities the SENEL (Special Education Needs Employment Links) project at an October meeting. We were accompanied by other partners from Activate Learning, and we invited a representative of the DWP Jobcentre+ along with us, to present and explain the Access to Work programme. We outlined the SENEL project in a short presentation.
Twenty eight local and regional employers engaged with us in round table discussions about a draft version of the SENEL Mini Guide for Employers, with 19 individual piloting questionnaires being filled in and collected. The project was warmly received and there were many excellent ideas generated in conversations around the table, informal discussions and exchange of contact details. We also had the opportunity to display our work through our portable Exhibition of Good Practice and banner. This was a fantastic opportunity to disseminate our project and move on with the piloting phase of the Mini Guide.
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Talking about employment for young people with SEND at the British Parliament
On Wednesday 20 July, Sheena Bell (from our English partners, the University of Northampton), was an invited speaker at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on youth employment at the Palace of Westminster. This meeting is an informal cross –party group run by and for politicians from both the House of Commons (MPs) and the House of Lords. This group is supported by Youth Employment UK (www.yeuk.org.uk).
Sheena presented the SENEL Project, and talked about the importance of employer engagement in raising the profile of young people with SEND and the contribution they can make to the workplace. Sheena answered questions from MPs and other participants including representatives of Youth Employment UK and The Leonard Cheshire organisation, including young people and support workers. She expanded on the project and on the challenges of working with small and medium sized employers. Chloe Fisher (MP) commented on what an important point was made in encouraging that organisations worked closely with Jobcentre Plus at a local level.
Blogging
Dr. Sheena Bell blogged about "Dyslexia And Employment For Young People" at Studying with dyslexia blog.