This blog is part of our Quality Times series, inviting professionals working with young people with SEND / ALN in further education to speak about their work developing quality provision.
It is written by Claire Hughes Davies, Head of Additional Learning Needs & Independent Living Skills at The College, Merthyr Tydfil, Doctorate student at Cardiff University.
I am Head of Additional Learning Needs and Independent Living Skills at The College, Merthyr Tydfil, a mainstream further education (FE) college which provides a range of courses from non-accredited provision through to higher education degree level programmes. Independent Living Skills (ILS) provides a non-accredited route which is suitable for learners who have required a higher level of support at school or have attended a specialist provision. We offer four courses within three non-accredited pathways. Our learners benefit from a maximum class size of 12 learners with two support staff and a tutor. I would like to share our experience of developing and reviewing a transition course for learners preparing to progress from specialist school provision into a mainstream, FE college.
Our ILS provision provides an opportunity to develop key independence skills, as individuals with additional learning needs (ALN) progress along their journey into the adult world. They have the opportunity to develop the specific skills to engage in employment and participate within their community. The ILS journey starts with establishing the learner’s aspirations, identifying and targeting the skills required to reach their goal, and culminates by integration into supported employment, voluntary positions or opportunities provided through local social care providers. The learner’s journey is only effective through collaboration between the learners and their families, schools and associated key professionals. The old proverb of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ could be adapted to… ‘it takes a community to develop the skills of an ILS learner’.
The transition period from school into FE can be unsettling for any young person, but for learners with ALN transitional challenges can be difficult to overcome without careful planning and support. Learners who may have been in their previous school for many years, have to adapt to a setting which is very different from school. Their families are also adapting to the end of an era, the journey from childhood to adulthood, combined with the transition from children’s to adults’ support services and networks. The beginning of the new academic year can also be an unsettling time for tutors, who continually review the engagement of all their learners and make curriculum and environmental adaptations to meet the specific needs of their new cohort. The intention of our transition course is to provide learners with the very best preparation and experiences to support a successful transition into their FE programme.
As newly appointed managers, the school’s post 16 lead and I had an opportunity to look at the current transition course from a fresh perspective. We reviewed the provision and established the true rationale of the course. We agreed that it should not led by qualification outcomes, but focus on the learner’s engagement within college life. Removing the demands of a qualification provided an opportunity for school and college staff to assess the feasibility of the ILS route for each learner. We decided to offer the transition course to learners who said they aspired to progress to college during their annual review.
The transition curriculum offered replicates the non-accredited ILS curriculum and provides tasters within themes such as health and well-being and independence. The course was delivered one morning each week, over one academic year. It was important that the learners were fully integrated within the ILS department and accessed the wider experiences that college offered. Sessions were delivered within the ILS department and learners stayed for lunch. It is important to mention that our transition course was delivered by college ILS staff, at a cost to the school. This course is currently offered to our main feeder specialist school, but hopefully, this will be reviewed to include specialist resource bases in our other feeder mainstream high schools in the future.
The ILS transition course provides an opportunity for learners to become familiar with a college setting over a period of time. As Thalia commented, “I was scared and nervous at first, but as the weeks went along, I got better. Now I’ve started college, I feel more confident.” The course is currently delivered by our staff, alongside the school learning support staff. This arrangement has not only ensured support is consistent, but has provided first-hand guidance in transferring effective support strategies across the educational placements. The legislation to support learners with additional learning needs, The Additional Learning Needs and Tribunal Act 2018 (ALNET 2018), has had a positive impact on post 16 transition planning, transition and delivery within FE. Individual development plans and one-page-profiles assist in the delivery of effective support, but working alongside the learner’s current support staff has been extremely informative. As Jean mentioned, “I got to know the learners really well before they started and how they ticked.”
The first transition cohort has now settled as full-time college learners within the ILS pathways. The learners have even played an integral part of the induction of the new cohort, through providing a question-and-answer session. Obviously, we have experienced a few teething difficulties such as the lack of a quiet space for lunch, anxieties around a revolving door and the development of new friendships, but on the whole the learners are happy and engaged. The transition course has provided the successful outcome of ensuring college is the appropriate setting for learners who require a higher level of support.
This year, I have had the privilege of delivering this course and watching the learners grow in confidence. Through offering this course, the college has also developed a stronger, collaborative relationship with the school and we aim to work together to share staff training opportunities in the future. I hope our tale of transition has provided you with some ideas as you review your transition processes for the following academic year.