Weston College hosted its first ever ‘Reverse Careers Fair’ at the beginning of this month, as part of My Future Month, for the learners with SEND within the Faculty of Inclusive Practice (FIP).

Each student created poster boards showcasing themselves, their accolades and their skills, for employers from across the South West to review and find potential new members of their workforce.

We caught up with Nina Sinclair, the Lead Employment Navigator for Autism, who co-ordinated the event. She told us about the success and process of the reverse careers fair:

“We knew this was an important event to arrange for the leaners within the faculty. In my experience of attending the ‘normal’ job fairs, it’s really apparent that it’s not accessible. Yes, it’s physically accessible to some degree, but when you take into account the sensory and social demands, the layout and navigating, and the confidence it takes to put yourself in front of an employer in that manner, you realise that someone who is neurodivergent could find that incredibly difficult, particularly when they are trying to put their best self forward. Because of the impact that this can have, it almost feels as though they are competing with people who don’t have those barriers, and it struck me as being extremely unfair.

We heard about reverse career fairs previously and had wanted to implement something similar for learners with SEND during My Future Month, to support their progression of careers and employability. The idea of creating the poster boards seemed ideal, as the learners are still able to showcase their talents to employers, without needing to talk directly to them, or even be in the room if it felt too demanding on the day.

Furthermore, we felt flipping around the ‘traditional’ layout of a careers event would allow the employers to feel more approachable and human to the learners, and encourage those meaningful conversations that can lead to brilliant outcomes.

We knew we had to take the leap and arrange this inspiring event to take place following the constant learner feedback that we receive, including struggling to access community and college wide events, as well as virtual ones.

As a college, we’ve been offering Inclusive Employer workshops, to educate and improve employer’s understanding of inclusivity towards becoming more neurodivergence within their business, and potential employees too. We took this chance to self-reflect and practice what we preach within the college, to improve upon what we deliver to learners with SEND.

When considering which employers to invite to this event, we wanted to ensure it was bespoken to the learners showcasing themselves. To achieve this, we found out from the learners which area and industry they would like to work in, and then asked the Business Growth Team to reach out to employers which fit the description and invite them along. We then knew which employer to direct to which learner or poster board, to encourage conversations with meaningful outcomes for both participants.

As well as the employers which attended, we also had some representatives from the college’s Apprenticeships Team to present to the learners that they also have that option, but also to present to the apprenticeship team that even though our learners may require extra support in some areas, they are strong candidates for apprenticeships.

Something we desperately wanted to avoid was the idea that this would be ‘segregating’ the learners with SEND from the other learners. In order to combat this, we purposely planned this event for a week after Careers Fest, a more ‘traditional’ careers fair held by the college. If the learners attended Careers Fest but felt overwhelmed, they knew they had the Reverse Careers Fair which would be better suited to their needs, but still allow the opportunity to talk to employers and put themselves out there.

The highlight of the event for us was before the event had even happened, walking through the classrooms of the different courses within the faculty, and seeing the learners working on their boards, seeing their excitement, and the conversations that were taking place about their employability opportunities. It was fantastic to see.

Since the event took place, we’ve had some great feedback from employers, the apprenticeship team, and learners.

One employer said: “I was able to talk to several students about career progression, job opportunities and also aspirations and all came across really positive and enthusiastic. Thank you for the invitation, and I hopefully look forward to working with your team and group in the future.”

Chloe from the Apprenticeships Team, said: “This was one of the best events we have attended to date; it gave us a chance to meet a variety of neurodiverse learners in a safe space and have meaningful conversations about how they can take their next steps to getting an apprenticeship!”

As well as this, we have employers coming back to run CV and money management workshops, and the apprenticeship team want to work closer with the faculty – we know we’re going to have strong outcomes for the learners.

We wanted to take the Weston College career strategy and adapt it to fit the needs of the learners with SEND and that’s exactly what we’ve achieved; we cannot wait for the next one! This model of best practice in SEND will be shared locally and nationally through our Centre for Excellence in SEND”

Click to find out more about the Faculty of Inclusive Practice, or how you and your business can get involved.

Weston College celebrated the attendance of Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal who visited its state-of-the-art Health and Active Living Skills Centre at Loxton Campus on Thursday, March 30th, 2023.

HRH The Princess Royal was greeted by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset, Mr. Mohammed Saddiq and joined Weston College’s Principal and Chief Executive, Sir Paul Phillips CBE on a tour of the impressive facilities.

The visit included a demonstration of an inclusive sports session with Special Education Needs learners, and the College’s Football Academy students' strength and conditioning class. The tour also offered an opportunity to meet groups of Health and Social Care learners who were taking part in a nutrition and food science session, plus a chance to meet Apprenticeship students showcasing a range of medical scenarios on medical mannequins. The students explained to HRH The Princess Royal that the medical mannequins helped them to practice and improve their skills before working with real patients, so preparing them to be competent and confident healthcare professionals.

During the visit, The Princess Royal also met key members of the College leadership team and the Chair of Governors, Andrew Leighton-Price, as well as local dignitaries including Chair, North Somerset Council, Councillor Karin Haverson, Mayor, Weston-super-Mare, Councillor Sonia Russe and Member of Parliament for Weston-super-Mare, Mr. John Penrose.

Weston College’s Health and Active Living Skills Centre is a multi-million flagship facility which is inspiring and educating new generations of students and enabling the upskilling of people already in the healthcare and sport industries.

The Centre brings together the College’s health and social care, sports therapy, and active living courses into one facility, which is benefiting students, businesses, and the wider community. It features a state-of-the-art training hospital ward, science laboratories, a full size 3G pitch, a full-size rugby pitch, a multi-gym, and a sports hall.

The event concluded with The Princess Royal unveiling a plaque to officially open the Weston College Health and Active Living Skills Centre, and it is hoped that the Centre will continue to thrive and support learners, businesses, and the community for many years to come.

Commenting on the visit Sir Paul Phillips CBE, said:

“I feel both honoured and privileged to welcome and share this impressive development with The Princess Royal; this is her fourth visit to the College, The Princess Royal opened Loxton Campus in 2008, South West Skills Campus in 2018, and then the redevelopment of the Winter Gardens in 2021.

“I am very proud to see where the Weston College Group is today, and how we continue to contribute to the regeneration of Weston-super-Mare through the creation of inspiring facilities for both leaners and the community.

“We have worked with key business partners to ensure that the Health and Active Living Skills Centre is tackling the current skills shortage in the sector and address the longer-term issues that affect our health service and the health of the local population.”

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority contributed £5.4 million towards the project.

Visit Somerset have given four of our Travel and Tourism learners the very exciting opportunity to work with a prestigious animation firm on a new concept alongside Noah’s Ark Animal Park in Wraxall. Weston College has had a strong partnership with Visit Somerset for a number of years and so have recruited these learners for a week of work experience, shadowing the team and helping with content creation for the project.

The team at Visit Somerset, consisting of John Turner (CEO), Toby Jones (Digital Manager), Maisy Hatcher (Social Media Manager) & Libby James (Content Manager), held Dragon’s Den style interviews with the interested participants. The learners were encouraged to pitch themselves as a viable candidate for this placement opportunity; some even printed off their CVs for the interviewer's consideration.

Lynsey McKinstry, Business Partnership Manager at Weston College, commented: “Originally, 3 students were going to be considered but after the team from Visit Somerset met with everyone, they extended the opportunity to 4 learners due to their commitment on pitching for a place.

“Not only did the students deliver exceptional interviews, it was also a great experience for the two apprentices currently finishing their end point assessments.

“It’s incredible seeing these exciting projects open doors for our learners and allow them to experience first-hand what their future career may entail. We look forward to hearing how the students get on at Noah’s Ark and more exciting opportunities that will support not only the Travel and Tourism learners but across all our divisions where possible.”

Hannah Carstensen, the learner’s tutor, told us: “The learners have had a fantastic few days and have been able to put their Marketing knowledge from the classroom into practice. Hearing all the lovely comments from the Visit Somerset team has been so wonderful. Working with Visit Somerset will create so many opportunities for our Travel and Tourism learners moving forwards.”

John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, said: “The Visit Somerset team are honoured to have the opportunity to work alongside the Travel & Tourism students at Weston College, giving the students more knowledge of how tourist attractions function and market to their target audiences. As the lucky four students embark on their journey with Visit Somerset at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, the students will shadow the Visit Somerset team to help them understand aspects of marketing. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the success of the project!”

Weston College and Visit Somerset are also proud to announce an extension of their already strong relationship, in a three-year partnership scheme to allow more students to gain access to these wonderful opportunities, and allow them to develop their employability skills for the future. Keep your eyes out for further news on this exciting venture!