Here are the stories of 3 students from Heart of Birmingham Vocational College who broke barriers, accomplished milestones and developed excellent communication, confidence and employment skills throughout their placements.
Sharfin Hussain – Edgbaston Priory Club
Sharfin has worked at this placement for over 2 years. He works with the Grounds Staff, conducting various manual and physical duties, such as weeding, planting trees and shrubs, painting and staining outdoor furniture, litter picking, etc. Sharfin has been hand-picked by the Club Staff to be considered for a Supported Internship going into September 2018. The Club can see potential in him as a future employee, and an exemplar for other people with learning difficulties. Sharfin is a pre-entry learner who, at this stage, cannot read or write. The Club do not see Sharfin’s lack of literacy and numeracy ability as a barrier to achieving within the workplace.
Farjana Begum – Maple Dene Care Home
After being seen as someone who is extremely difficult to find a work placement for, Farjana has excelled within a local Care Home setting. She started in late May 2018, and has not looked back. Farjana helps set tables for lunch times, by correctly using appropriate cutlery, serviettes and plates, and also conducting any other manual tasks asked of her. She loves this placement. Moreover, the Care Home residents love Farjana’s enthusiasm and fun-filled personality. With the support of her Social Worker, this placement will continue from September 2018.
Joshua Raj – PohWer
Josh is a very literate and numerate learner, who was diagnosed quite late with his autism. He tried various placements throughout his stay with HBVC. However, none of these ever took his imagination. Then, Josh was highlighted as the ideal person to continue the College’s great work with PohWer, the advocacy organisation for people with disabilities and learning difficulties. Having already placed a learner with PohWer in 2016/17, who later obtained paid employment with them, Josh also began in a voluntary administration role. He input advocacy applications onto a bespoke computer package, and handled other associated clerical duties. Thanks to his hard work, Josh too will be in paid employment with PohWer from July 2018.
