Three young people with SEND are taking the first steps towards fulfilling careers after starting Supported Internships at Warwickshire County Council.

Warwickshire College students Abigail Masters, Katherine Webb and Charlie Nutt have joined WCC as interns and will be working with the Council for a whole academic year.

They will rotate each term between placements with Business Support, Shire Hall Meet & Greet, and Heritage & Culture.

Those departments have been chosen because much of their day-to-day activity is people-facing and requires many of the skills that young people need to go on and build a career.

The three students attend college once a week and work at the council for three days, supported in their placements by their job coach, Karen Griffin, who works for Warwickshire College Group. 

Supported Internships are a full-time, structured work-based education programme based primarily with an employer. They help young people aged 16-24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan to achieve paid employment and usually last for an academic year. While in the workplace, the intern is supported by both their employer and their job coach. The primary goal of the programme for the young person is to move into paid employment.

This is not the first time that WCC has hosted Supported Internships. The scheme initially began in 2019 but had to conclude due to the pandemic. It is a concept which the County Council resoundingly supports, however, and is pleased to have now reactivated, said WCC Apprenticeships and Placements Practitioner, Dan Nash.

“It’s brilliant to have the scheme return and to support young people with such an inclusive and life-changing opportunity,” said Dan. “It was always our ambition to bring the scheme back and to make it work here at the Council. Abi, Katherine and Charlie are only a month in but have progressed really well and settled so quickly since joining us which is great to see. This is their last year of full-time education so for them to be gaining such direct experience of a workplace is brilliant. They will be with us for the whole academic year, from September to July,

“The placements they will do with their respective teams are very much focused on customer service and administration skills which are key foundation skills for young people in general. We built the Internships around that and are really grateful to the teams in Meet & Greet, Business Support and Heritage & Culture for putting themselves forward as champions of enabling employment for all. They have made the students very welcome.

“The students have responded by bringing their valuable skills to the role and, a month in, I’m already thinking what could they possibly go on to do in terms of paid employment because that’s key. It’s not just about the duration of the internships, it’s making sure it leads to something tangible. It’s very much my intention to enable paid employment for these three by the end of the year, ideally with the Council but elsewhere if a better opportunity awaits there.”

Alicia Hookey, Work Experience and Supported Internship Coordinator at Warwickshire College Group, said: "The students completing this placement are progressing well and already growing in confidence and independence skills. The support from the job coach and placement hosts, ensures the job roles are accessible for all learners, meaning they are gaining practical experience of the workplace whilst building employability and skills needed for the future.