Huw Davies (BASE)

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This workshop will discuss the DWP Supported Employment Trailblazer. The initiative was confirmed in the DWP Green Paper, Shaping Future Support, and the National Disability Strategy. It aims to support the employment ambitions of 1200 people with a learning disability and/or autism. The Trailblazer will cover England, Wales and Scotland and will be delivered through around 20 local authorities who can deliver using in-house and/or contracted local services. 

We anticipate that DWP will have commenced commercial procedures by the time of the conference so they will be unable to speak directly with delegates. We will bring you the latest information and will discuss the opportunities that the Trailblazer presents.

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The workshop will offer an overview of how Supported Internships are embedded into Gloucestershire County Council’s Inclusive Employment ambitions and interact with a range of providers to create pathways into sustainable employment for young people with SEND.
The workshop will explore how collaborative working can help to improve the quality of outcomes for employers, young people families and carers and build the business case for Commissioners.  Taking participants on a journey from identification of individuals through to the sustainable outcome we will identify who the key stakeholders are and how to engage with them and the importance of how the internships interact with other provision and services.

The workshop will help delegates to;

• understand the model of personalised supported internships
• identify how to present a business case to encourage local authorities to invest in supported internships and supported employment
• Learn who the key partners are and how to work together to improve outcomes 
• How to integrate supported internships into a wider employment strategy/delivery model

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This workshop will outline the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) and how to gain the SEQF kitemark.  It is now being recognised as a quality kitemark with the growing pressure from employers and commissioners for employment services to demonstrate their quality in an independent and transparent way.  The workshop will  be interactive and afford opportunities for delegates to think through how they could use the SEQF as part of continuous improvement within their services.

Learning outcomes will include:

• Understanding the standards in the SEQF
• Understanding the process of self-assessment
• Understanding how the SEQF self-assessment can be used as part of an annual cycle of continuous improvement
• Understanding of how following the SEQF can yield better outcomes for customers

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Hampshire County Council’s ‘All Our Talents: SEND Employability Action Plan’ sets out the current work and future plans for young people aged 16-24 with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). It is our ambition to ensure that all young people have the aspiration, opportunity, and support to help them to live fulfilling and independent lives.

This session will aim to explore how Hampshire has put this ambition into practice since February 2020, including: 

• Outlining the Strategy, approach, and commitment of Hampshire to supporting SEND young people into employment.
• An overview of the context in Hampshire
• Moving ‘All Our Talents’ from Strategy to Action - the intention and set up of the SEND Employability model.
• Exploring the Local Authorities' role in supporting employment engagement (our Employment and Skills Hub). 
• Exploring the tensions between educational priorities and supported employment principles. 
• Outcomes and learning to date from year one. 

Delegates will gain:

• An understanding of an inclusive, consistent, and joined up approach to supporting SEND young people into employment that is built on best practice and recognises young people, employers, and Further Education (FE) colleges as equal partners.
• Knowledge and understanding of a model that promotes inclusive practices across employers, FE colleges, and the Local Authority.
• Awareness of the support that Local Authorities can provide to support FE’s to implement this approach across a wide geographical area.
• An understanding of the Local Authorities' role in engaging and supporting employers.

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The workshop will focus on exploring building collaboration and professionalism in the sector via a mentoring/collaboration approach, promoting the use of attaining the SEQF as the SE equivalent of other industry standards and how collaboration with Kent has benefitted us both.

We'll demonstrate how we’ve worked together, what we’ve both achieved and learned from it, and future plans from the collaboration.  The workshop will also showcase the power of collaboration using the SEQF as the framework for that mentoring/collaborative relationship and how it’s help us really understand what good looks like and how that’s enabled us to plan from a base of good practice from the outset, ensuring that the employer is at the centre of our work as much as the clients we work with within our restructured service.

Learning outcomes:

• How to develop a mentoring/collaborative relationship between service
• The benefits of a mentoring/collaborative relationship on planning and performance 
• Using the SEQF as the framework to build a quality service

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This workshop will focus on the commitment from the NHS to create real and lasting change in its workforce composition by partnering with DFN Project SEARCH to create 500 new internship opportunities across England. The aim is that at least 50% of the paid roles that the interns move into will be within the Healthcare Sector. These 500 new internships will add to the 500 DFN Project SEARCH internships that already exist in the NHS in England creating a significant and sustainable pathway for change at the point of transition from education to employment. You will hear about why this pledge for change is so important to the NHS, how the DFN Project SEARCH model and quality assurance process works, how partnerships are created and the crucial role of adult supported employment partners in the model.

Delegates will leave with and understanding of:

• The NHS pledge for change and how internship programmes fit within that.
• How the DFN Project SEARCH model works and why it works so well inside the NHS
• How a DFN Project SEARCH partnership is formed
• The importance of Adult Supported Employment Partners in the DFN Project SEARCH Model
• Why the DFN project SEARCH model is sustainable

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Only 21.7% of autistic individuals are in full or part-time employment, even though the vast majority want to work. Ambitious about Autism (AaA), a national charity for autistic children and young people, offer employability programmes to improve this statistic and employment outcomes for young autistic individuals, through paid internships. 

The Employ Autism programme provides funded training and resources for employability professionals working with autistic clients. The programme also provides funded training and resources to employers who offer paid experiences of work to autistic young people. Through connecting trained employers to trained professionals we will evaluate the impact of the programme on your autistic clients, participating employers as well as the impact on your capacity to support autistic clients into paid work. 

Delegates will take away:

• Knowledge of the key skills and talents that autistic people commonly demonstrate to employers, 
• Knowledge of some of the barriers and challenges that autistic people face in the workplace and while transitioning into work.  
• Structured discussion activities, to discover best practice strategies for increasing the recruitment, retention and progression of autistic people at work. 
• An introduction to AaA’s employability programmes, Autism Exchange and Employ Autism and how to access paid opportunities of work for your clients. 
• An introduction to AaA’ s free employment resources, and how they can remove barriers and act as a bridge to employment for autistic individuals. 

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“There is a difference between being able to do a job and being able to talk about doing a job.”

When it comes to the world of recruitment and selection people with additional needs/disabilities can often be at a huge disadvantage. The world of work often functions on assumed knowledge and recruitment is no different. The process is often flawed and rests on candidate’s ability to populate an online application form and then at the interview stage talk abstractly about why they would be the best person for the role. 

At the application stage candidates have demonstrated IT skills, matching their own experiences to those in the job description and at the interview stage sales skills, these do not often equate to the competences needed to do a job and sometimes the person who was successful at interview isn’t the person you get in the workplace. 

This workshop is designed to give practitioners the basic skills, knowledge, and confidence to work with employers and support them to implement working interviews. Demonstrating the method works using case studies. From selling the concept, assisting them to identify practical tasks from job descriptions and guidance for implanting working interviews.  

By the end of this workshop, delegates will understand how to:

• Sell the concept positively to employers
• Effectively demonstrate and promote the business case
• Understand positive action
• Identify key tasks in job descriptions
• implement working interviews as inclusive recruitment methods
• Fully support the employer
• Promote your success.

Sue Wray, Andrea Smith (Essex Cares Limited)

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This workshop will offer an overview of how Essex County Council and Essex Cares Limited worked together through collaboration and co-production to use existing day opportunities funding differently to innovate and re-direct the funding towards Inclusive Employment. Delegates will learn more about how these conversations started between commissioners and provider, the journey, bumps in the road, the outcomes, team delivery and takeaway practices.

Delegates will take away learning on the following themes:

Learning outcomes:

• Co-production and collaboration
• supported employment core values
• realising potential
• engaging with employers
• vocational profiling
• understanding inclusive employment & employers

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Our Workshop is here to update you on developments from the past two years (a challenging time indeed!) and to look at the great opportunities and support being developed for the future within Supported Businesses, Social Enterprises and wider employer sectors.

We have three main themes: 

1. Distance travelled for Supported Businesses since last conference.
2. The challenges of operating in the post Covid world for Supported Businesses and Social Enterprises. 
3. Proof of Concept – A wider more inclusive approach through Access to Work which should be of interest to all delegates. 

This is a pro-active workshop, please be prepared to contribute as we are seeking to share best practice as we move into the post Covid restrictions trading environment together with new funding mechanisms. 

We also need your feedback on what will make a difference to you and your business - how can we help?

Delegates can expect to learn about the many changes to the operating practices with the DWP Transitional Employment Support Grant (TESG) that have happened since the last conference. We will look at sharing best practice as we return employees to employment, open up new opportunities and return to viable trading scenarios. Delegates will learn about and contribute to the latest developments in the Proof of Concept (PoC) for funding mechanisms (Access to Work plus) to replace TESG in April 2023, which may be available to all employers. 

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With the main objective being to make a difference, the phone plays an integral part when trying to build relationships.

Whether your role is to gain more training or job outcomes with employers or motivate customers who join your programme, this workshop will leave you with ideas on how best to apply this to your organisation.

This session covers both customer service and employer engagement tips and strategies.

• Why ‘great first impressions’ matter.
• What words and phrases work on the phone and why?
• What words and phrases ‘turn off’ listeners and why?
• Is there a danger of saying too much and, if so, what impressions does that leave?
• What can be said to customers on ‘welcome calls’ to keep them motivated to attend a programme?

The workshop is delivered by Audrey Bodman, an established Telephone Trainer and Coach with over 25 years’ experience delivering customer service, employer engagement and cold calling techniques within the sector. She is also a volunteer for a major charity delivering group sessions and 1:1 sessions for the unemployed on customer service and personal branding skills.

By the end of the workshop attendees will:

• Be able to recognise the right words and phrases to use when building both employer and customer relationships.
•  Understand how ‘words, music and dance’ – can have an impact on creating memorable first impressions. 
• Gain knowledge on why asking the right questions can demonstrate your interest in who you speak to and why.
• Recognise the benefits of ‘employer involvement’ and what a difference this will make to the conversations you have. 

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Future Choices was designed in collaboration with SEND Commissioners, Surrey Choices EmployAbility, families and young people to bridge the gap  between college and work.  It also addressed commissioners' concerns with young people repeating years at expensive education provision with no employment outcomes.  Often returning with very limited employment skills or integration into their local communities. 

Families were keen to have a 5 day provision and young people wanted opportunities to make friends and gain confidence. The pilot year showed extreme promise and word of mouth recommendations doubled the referrals. When Lockdown hit the team continued to engage the young people in year 2 and kept high satisfaction ratings and outcomes.

Future Choices combines 3 days flexible work experience, alongside one day health and wellbeing (need to be fit and have stamina to get a job) and one day addressing any barriers identified to work – this ranges from driving theory lessons to relationship building.  For those who may struggle with 5 day provision (for example if they were education refusers), there are a number of pre ad hoc hours commissioned to support any areas of concern.  For example it could be 2 hours a week to meet for a walk to get them out of their bedroom and learn to control anxiety, whatever is needed to get them on their next step towards work   The expected outcomes from Future Choices are either, straight into paid work or job seeking, progress onto a Supported Internship or occasionally return to college for a specialist vocational course to support their desired outcome.

Delegates will explore different types of provision for young learners with SEND who are not ready for supported internships or paid work.  It is aimed particularly at those who have not been attending mainstream education or are struggling to progress in other educational provision.   The expected outcomes are moving to supported internships, paid work, volunteering or possibly a specialist vocational course at college.

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This workshop will disseminate the employer recommendations for supporting people affected by perinatal mental health and how this can be achieved and the benefits of doing this. The workshop will also introduce the employment support model being offered, the approach to the project as well as introducing the website and the hub. 

Perinatal mental health is rarely discussed within the workplace and can be a real barrier for people supporting someone who is unwell or themselves. This leads onto "family friendly" approaches and the benefits of it for the employer, individual and the family.

Learning outcomes:

• What is perinatal mental health?
• How can Perinatal Health affect the family?
• Understand how employers / Employment support professionals can support
  people affected by Perinatal mental health
• Understand the research conducted and the recommendations
• Be introduced to the suite of support for professionals, individuals and
  health care workers
• Be introduced to the Employers and professionals Hub for the PATH website.

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Employ the Character- Teach the skills: a simple but effective workshop to demonstrate the ethos behind our 15 year-successful strategy around employing people with disabilities, removing barriers and creating new and exciting routes to employment. 

In this workshop, we showcase just one of our 12 programs that we have running presently at WoodMor (Millwood’s own charitable foundation) – Becoming a Beekeeper.  This year long program located at BASE member Camphill Wakefield, post-16 Specialist Provision in Wakefield, Yorkshire, is creatively designed to bring out not only the very best in people with disabilities but also to ensure that their employability attributes are fully showcased too.

Matt, Raph and Byran will take the participants on an interactive journey of discovery through the three simple stages in this program to highlight, fully explain and then prove that this approach really does work.

Attending delegates will gain valuable and exciting new initiatives, skills, terminology and confidence around the WoodMor way and, most importantly, will have the opportunity to further discuss their own barriers and boundaries when it comes to starting the journey of conversation with Employers around employing those with disabilities. Participants of the workshop will also gain a small token gift of appreciation upon completion of the workshop - courtesy of Camphill’s very own apiary which they can collect in person from the WoodMor stand after attending the workshop.

Delegates will have the opportunity to discuss employer engagement and will gain an insight into the highly aspirational partnership journey that WoodMor and Camphill Wakefield are undertaking, which places students at the centre of the process, and where employability skills acquisition is gained through an innovative project.

Tina Emery (Co-Chair, National Network of Parent Carer Forums)

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COVID has been hard on everyone, but in particular for Children, young people and their families. We will talk about how hard it has been to families and give you a simple set of tools that can help develop co-production with those families that have been most affected.

Delegates will learn how to do coproduction with families, using very simple tools to be able to deliver.

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With significant work from the sector in the growth of supported internships and the imminent release of the updated guidance, the Department of Education (DfE) has tasked key experts with the development of a quality framework for supported internships. 

In this workshop you will hear from the Centres for Excellence in SEND, Project SEARCH and Base about our approaches to the quality framework, and what research and data analysis tells us about high-quality transition to work programmes. There will be time to explore your experiences and take feedback to influence and shape the quality framework.

By getting paid employment in real businesses, young people with learning differences and autism have the chance to become economically independent and make choices about their future. 

We will explore how high-quality transition to work support and training, within local communities, allows people to live happier, healthier, and fuller lives. We will explore the impact of consistency of provision and how we can share effective practice across our sector. 

Holly Kelleher (HK Consults)

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This workshop puts you in the employer’s shoes and gives an insight of an employer being engaged in the supported employment process. Understand the approaches which are most likely to get you the ‘foot in the door’ and how to create a job analysis which will best match the needs of your job seekers and the employers. This workshop is being delivered by a supported employment manager turned entrepreneur who owns an independent retail outlet in Northumberland. 

Delegates will get the opportunity to creatively think about job opportunities available and how to create a job analysis which ensures the employer’s needs are met as a customer, and that the job match is correct for the job seeker. 

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This session will discuss how you can create a supportive, inclusive model of apprenticeship delivery to meet individual needs – focusing on apprentices with learning disabilities. 

We will share best practice and stories from several services – supported employment, apprenticeship providers and employers, about how the world of apprenticeships can enable an individual to sustain employment because they are learning the specific skills and knowledge required on the job. How apprenticeships can open the doors to progression opportunities and becoming a valued member of the team. 

Delegates will understand the supported apprenticeship model by:

• Identification of the different learner referral routes into apprenticeships.
• Discussion on the barriers and how they can be overcome. 
• Explanation of the funding and Incentives available. 
• An understanding of the supported model of delivery and key people involved. 
• Discussion on reasonable adjustments and apprenticeship flexibilities. 

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Claire Atkinson works full time as a Supported Employment Coordinator for Discovery in Somerset. She was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 42.

In this session Claire describes how she came to be diagnosed and the impact the diagnosis had on her personal and working life. She will explain how assumptions and stereotypes led people to start treating her differently and how some people struggled to accept the diagnosis.

Claire will share her own 3-point classification system that helps her communicate how she is feeling and how it helps her to shine. Finally, she will show how by using the correct labels, people with autism can thrive and shine!

WARNING – this session contains a large amount of humour.

Learning for delegates:

• The autistic spectrum and the triad of impairments – what the books say versus what autistic people experience
• The diagnostic process from the autistic person’s point of view
• Challenge the stereotypes
• “You don’t look autistic” and other things not to say!
• Be brave! We don’t bite! Come and have a conversation with us.
• How to support someone with autism in the workplace

Gillian Parker (BASE)

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Social media networking can be one of the most efficient ways to engage with employers & find job vacancies for your clients. It can also be a thief of time if you’re unsure where to focus your attention. In this workshop, delegates will learn the most productive strategies to maintain an effective social media presence in as little as 30 minutes a day.

By the end of this session delegates will be able to:

• Create a unique profile that stands out from the crowd 
• Find & make useful connections without premium add-ons
• Craft & share posts which people engage with 
• Protect yours and your client’s privacy