
Gretton Gateway
A Supported Internship for Autistic Young People in Key Stage 5: helping our autistic learners to successfully enter the workforce and maintain paid employment in the future.
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What we offer:
The Gretton Gateway is a new supported internship programme, providing a workplace option for learners at the end of Key Stages 4 and 5 (year 12 upwards).
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Gretton School is partnering with Project SEARCH, a well-established charity,
to offer this pioneering model. Their aim is “to support 10,000 young adults …
in the UK into paid employment by 2030”.
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Gretton Gateway will enable learners to spend one academic year in a real workplace, whilst gaining Employability and Independent Travel training qualifications alongside real-life experiences of work.
Our goal is to prepare these learners for meaningful employment in the future through the below model:
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Supported internships are a structured, work-based study programme for 16 to 24-year-olds with SEND, who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
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The programme will provide learners with:
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Invaluable experience through real working roles
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Support from a trained Employability Teacher and Job Coach to navigate the workplace and develop strong, positive working relationships
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Qualifications in Employability and Independent Travel
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Why we need this:
The percentage of young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) is 41.6%.
Autistic people make up 10.6% of this statistic.
Additionally, only 22% of autistic adults are currently in employment.
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How it works:
Learners will remain on the school roll, but will travel to - and do their learning in - a real workplace.
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Learners will arrive at school as usual to meet the Gretton Gateway Lead (and Employability Teacher) and the Job Coach and, together, they will travel using public transport to the place of employment.
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On arrival, the learners will complete 1 hour of study towards their Employability qualification and will then make their way to their job role for the day.
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Learners will be supported in the workplace by the Gateway Lead and the Job Coach, who will enable them to learn and carry out the duties required of them, build relationships with workplace colleagues and build confidence and resilience through employment.
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Throughout the school year, the learners will rotate through different job roles, giving them a wide experience of different tasks, teams and challenges
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Outcomes:
Upon completion of this supported internship, our learners will have acquired essential skills and experience, along with references from their employer, empowering them to successfully enter the workforce and maintain paid employment into the future.
We believe that Gretton Gateway will make a significant difference in the lives of our learners by equipping them with the skills they need for a successful future.
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If you have any questions or are interested in exploring Gretton Gateway as an option for your learner, please complete the form below and a member of a team will get back to you:
