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Brentwood College

Skills For Life

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Employment

Students learn about the world of work through Social Enterprise as well as internal and external work experience. 

 

Current Enterprises include our Farm shop which sells vegetable boxes, Tuck Shop, and the Brentwood Car Wash. Students are supported to consistently run our enterprises. Within each enterprise students learn to complete jobs to a required standard using adapted support appropriate for their skills and abilities. 

 

Throughout the Employment Curriculum links are encouraged with other curriculum areas; e.g. social enterprise links to independent living, work experience links to functional English and Maths. There is also opportunities for progression for example from internal College Café to our Community Café and external work experiences in a local cafe.

 

Enterprise provides opportunities for the contextual use of functional skills. Students are encouraged to be independent in their tasks through the use of adapted support and there are many opportunities for developing communication skills. Numeracy opportunities occur through counting orders, items, handling money, monitoring stock and the repetition of tasks.

 

Students work in our extensive horticulture area learning to grow plants, fruit and vegetables in our raised beds and polytunnel. Fruit and vegetables are eaten or sold in our farm shop and hanging baskets/bulbs are potted up for selling .  Students learn about the safe use of tools, what clothes to wear and about growing plants indoors and outdoors.

 

Animal Care is used to provide opportunities for work experiences, independence tasks and communication and interaction. Students learn to care for the animals providing them with water, food and a clean living environment. The chickens' eggs are sold in the farm shop. Thea the therapy dog may accompany students on walks and visits.

 

Where appropriate, students are able to access internal and then external supported work experiences.

 

Internal work experiences include classroom jobs, grounds maintenance including litter picking, feeding our animals and volunteering in the school.  

 

External work experiences exist with Manchester United, The Bread and Butter Thing foodbank, The Dressing Room Cafe, The Life Centre and Princes Park garden centre.

 

Progress in Employment is measured through specific IEP targets in this area or Awards in Vocational & Volunteering, Social Enterprise and Digital Skills.

 

Students gain experience across this breadth of opportunity which provides them with the chance to express their preferences for types of work. This is shared at annual reviews where with independent advice and guidance, students and their families/ carers can make choices about what opportunities they would like to engage in after education.

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