Action For Inclusion header, includes Action For Inclusion logo and a group of young people.

A network of professionals and organisations who are working together to develop and improve education for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in the FE sector.

Specialist Mediation

Action for Inclusion Ltd's Specialist Mediation Service available for disabled people and their families.  All our mediators have mediation qualifications and significant experience at managerial level in Further Education and the S139a process.

We have also worked collaboratively with Local Education Authorities. Our services are rigorously monitored to ensure that professional standards are maintained.  Please see the Specialist Mediation Service area of the website for further information and how to request mediation from AfI Ltd

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Progression to employment

Many projects have focused on progression to employment and an improved work related curriculum, in particular through working with supported employment agencies. In 2009/10 each sub region has worked as a consortium to ensure all providers are able to participate.

Thanet, Canterbury, South Kent and Westgate Colleges established a joint initiative in Kent. Working collaboratively, they developed an effective employment programme which encouraged learners to see their time at college as the beginning of a journey that will take them to worthwhile and satisfying employment. West Kent and Mid Kent Colleges joined the project in the second year. Kent Supported Employment agency and the Royal British Legion Industries were selected to jointly provide the job agency service. The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) has referenced the Kent project as a good example of the agency and colleges working together.

Learners have benefitted from the work related curriculum. They have become more aware of different types of employment and their aspiration to be employed have increased as a result of their experiences of work and positive comments from employers and job agencies. The supported employment agencies now attend a learner’s college exit interview to help support them to progress from college. The number of learners in Kent, including those with a high level of need who gain employment, has increased as a result of this activity.

NESCOT College, Surrey decided to focus on supporting young people who were not able to progress from entry level onto other FE programmes to progress into employment. Learners now have independent work placements earlier in their courses; they have improved access to IT and job search and increased access to employment opportunities through supported employment agencies.

The college worked with over 30 employers to raise their awareness of the learners and their skills; this has also improved the college’s reputation in the local area. The college has emphasised its “can do” ethos not just with the learners, but with staff and parents who now see that young people can progress at NESCOT and that local provision can meet learner needs. Surrey colleges continue working together as a group to increase the progression opportunities for learners.

Chichester College, Sussex, offers learners tailored support throughout their final year, including accredited work preparation and travel training, vocational profiling, job search assistance, training opportunities in a retail outlet and café and on site employment support. This has raised expectations for learners, parents and carers and staff, with a college being seen as a place to gain skills for meaningful work. Multi agency planning and working in partnership with Aldingbourne Trust, a supported employment agency, have been key to the success of this project. Chichester College has supported Northbrook, Sussex Downs, City College Brighton and Hove and Central Sussex College to work in the same way. Chichester College achieved an award for this work in the 2010, “Sussex Spring Awards”.

East Berkshire College consulted learners with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC) in order to develop a project which would support them in transition to employment. The college set up a workshop to produce a newsletter, initially printed and distributed in the college and now also emailed out to a wide range of other providers and organisations. By using a ‘pen name’ students were able to express themselves more effectively and openly and to demonstrate hidden talents and abilities. Over 60 students have benefited already from the work experience they have gained and the newsletter raises awareness throughout the region.