Making it Work - Call for Information

Embedding a supported employment approach in vocational education and training for people with learning difficulties

Making it Work is a two-year project funded by the Department of Health. The project aim is to:

Produce and pilot a training pack for staff working with people with learning difficulties in the post-16 education sector. Staff, parents/carers, employers and learners will be involved, providing ideas and examples of embedding a supported employment approach in vocational education and training. Multi-agency working and person-centred approaches will underpin the training.

In its 2006 strategy for disabled learners Learning for Living and Work the LSC stated that by September 2010 it will no longer fund vocational provision for disabled learners that does not have a focus on the supported employment model or learning in the work place.

Feedback from education and training providers working with people with learning difficulties indicates a need and desire for training on how to develop vocational provision based on the supported employment model. Conversations with staff in the field show that a wide range of levels of understanding about supported employment exist, illustrated by comments such as:

The Making it Work project will enable NIACE to consult, develop, pilot and launch a staff training pack. The experience and expertise of practitioners who are successfully supporting people with learning difficulties into work, will be drawn and built upon when writing the pack.

If you can help with any information for this project about practice that focuses on supporting adults with learning difficulties in the transition from education to employment then please complete the attached call for evidence form and return it to anne.agius@niace.org.uk by 20 July 2008.

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