Event Report - Supporting SEND students into and after Higher Education Event
On the 16th May, Linking London held an event aimed at addressing the gap in available support by focusing on the pre- and post-HE parts of SEND students' journeys.
After introductions and an opening welcome from Dr Jakub Kowalewski, we had a presentation from Pedro de Senna and Jack du Pille from Middlesex University who discussed “Performance for Futures,” a module developed for the innovative FUTURES project, and delivered to SEND students at Barnet and Southgate College. It involved hands-on and practical sessions, which invited students to “use the future” to inform present thinking about their personal and professional development – including the assessment if higher education is right for them.
We then heard from Claire Toogood, Research and Insights Manager at AGCAS who presented on their recent research from AGCAS which found the continued existence of a disability employment gap in the UK, even for recent graduates and that disabled graduates were less likely to be in employment, and they were also less likely to be in highly skilled, secure employment, and less likely to use their qualification in their work. This was followed by Ann-Marie Hall, Interim Director of Marketing & Communications at Shaw Trust who presented on their Disabled Graduate Research which found that disabled graduates’ career journeys are shaped by their experiences as an individual, their support systems, and potential employers and that there needs to be positive change around career advisory services to be more accessible and positive dialogue with employers.
Lastly, attendees got together in breakout groups to discuss how can our HE and FE partners effectively support SEND students, including challenges and good practise. You can find the full write up of the discussion on our Partner Area.
The event closed with thanking everyone for their contributions throughout the afternoon.
Further Information
Presentations, recording and discussion notes
To view the recording, presentations and the notes from the day please click here.
This link will take you to the Linking London SharePoint Partners' Area. You must be a Linking London member to access this section of the website. If you do not have access, please email info@linkinglondon.ac.uk.