Work placements 'invaluable' for specialist college students

Students who are getting ready to leave National Star College in Gloucestershire are taking part in work placements to help prepare them for the next stage of their lives.

BBC News is following six students who are in their final year at the college which provides specialist education for young people with physical and learning disabilities.

Kate, from Bath, has cerebral palsy and is currently on placement with Mira Showers in Cheltenham where she is working on her own project to design a bespoke grip for a shower head as she finds it hard to use one when showering.

"When I try and hold a normal handle its slippy and not easy to grip very well when its wet," she said.

Kate has had her hand moulded around a shower head handle using plasticine which has been scanned.

It will then be 3D printed so that it can be tested.

Kate said the team at Mira are "very helpful and good at understanding how I find it hard and trying to figure out a way to help".

The opportunity to do work like this is invaluable to students like Kate as work placements are difficult to come by, the college said.

Senior job coach at National Star Mel Cowie said such placements give students the "confidence to apply for jobs".

They also give students the skills they need to work independently, she said.

It works both ways and for firms it can have benefits too.

Toby Risbey, a staff engineer at Mira Showers, said the company was using Kate's "knowledge and understanding of accessibility to assess our site and make adjustments to allow Kate full access".

Kate is due to leave in the next few months and is hoping to move into supported living just outside Bath.

She has also been accepted onto a year's internship at the specialist college, Finding Futures.

In Tewkesbury, Chris is working in National Star's new charity shop.

He wants to set up his own e-commerce business so is training on a computer system that sorts books for recycling or selling.

He is visually impaired so the system uses large green or red lights to help him.

"Its easy to do," said Chris.

"You don't really need to look at what you're doing so it's using less of my eye vision so I can do it all using my hands."

Chris said the work was invaluable to him and he hopes to get paid work at the shop when he leaves in the summer.

Jo Morton, the store manager, said: "For someone like Chris - giving him a work outcome, to build a CV [and] his confidence - we just couldn't ask for more.

"If we can help Chris on the next piece of his journey, well, that's a privilege."

In Cheltenham, Sophie is still waiting to see if Gloucestershire County Council will fund an extension to her stay at college.

She would like to do that alongside working to earn some money in a cafe.

The team at Springbank Community Cafe were able to take her on a placement for a few weeks.

She helped out in the kitchen and served drinks.

"It makes me feel happy, being here." she said. "I get to meet the customers and get to serve them.

"We might then work on something different like making hot chocolates and teas."

However, part of the challenge for the college is getting placements like this in the first place, finding businesses and organisations prepared to take on students with additional needs.

Molly Rookematthews-Galpin, the Youth and Support Manager at Springbank Community Group, said that it works well having students like Sophie with them.

She said the cafe was run by volunteers who shared the same "vision and values" of helping people and giving them the opportunity to try new things.

"Everyone gets to learn and benefit from it," she said.

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