Talentino has been the strategic partner for SEND for the Careers and Enterprise Company since 2018, and we work together to create resources and tools for ALL types of schools to use with their young people.

“It makes me very proud to reflect on the terrific distance being travelled now in the context of CEC’s role in the SEND space with you. Of course there are still mountains to climb but the scale of the festival and will of all to make a sustained difference is great.”

Nicola Hall
Director of Eduction

What Talentino And CEC Achieved in Strategic Partnership…

  • Inspire and prepare young people with SEND for the world beyond education.
  • Support progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks in Special Schools.
  • Support Careers Leaders in Special Schools with a training offer including both online and face to face options.
  • Extend our reach to all Special Schools in England
  • Facilitate a network that is knowledgeable around the career needs of young people with SEND.
  • Build awareness and confidence in Employers to engage further with young people with SEND.
  • Highlight types of support for parents/carers/families of young people with SEND.

CEC’s Impact on SEND and careers (2016 – 2023)

Talentino was asked recently to do a report looking at the impact of the Careers and Enterprise Company on the progress of career development for young people with SEND and the findings make good reading:

  • Responses to the survey came from over 130 respondents with 69% coming from special schools, 64% had been involved in careers for over 3 years and 30% for over 6 years.
  • Respondents told us when they first engaged with careers was:
    • Significant investment has been made – 76% in curriculum, 75% training,73% in resources, 60% changes organisational structures, 49% invested more financially and 36% invested in extra staff
    • The original level of support for SEND Careers was viewed by 36% as poor and good/very good by 24% but now, 5% said poor and 69% said good/very good
    • 64% of respondents said destinations had improved because career development had improved
    • The go-to organisations for support are the CEC – 79%, Employers 57% and 52% would go to Enterprise Coordinators, Careers Leaders and Talentino
    • Improvements were seen in careers programmes (68%) and resources (63%) but employer engagement only scored 43% and WEX 37%
    • The top residual Barriers were the lack of employer led employment and training opportunities (63% and 57% respectively)
  • Actions going forward need to focus on continued encouragement of employers to engage with SEND students and consider the opportunities they could offer school leavers

Measuring the Success of Careers Development

Regular assessment of each school’s deliverance of the Gatsby Benchmarks in Special Schools is conducted using the CEC’s evaluative Compass for Special Schools Tool. Compass uses language which is more inclusive and aligned to:

  • Identify areas within a school’s career activity which are successful and areas that need developed.
  • Source relevant information for improving compass scores against the Benchmarks.
  • Easily share evaluation results to allow discussion and support from different networks.
  • Measure progress against the widest range of student’s abilities and career destinations.
  • Indicate where further support is needed, for example with families and careers information.

Resources produced by CEC

PERSPECTIVE FROM SEND SECTOR

cec-perspective-send-sectorDownload

WHAT WORKS? TRANSITION PROGRAMMES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND

cec-transition-programme-what-worksDownload

THE SEND GATSBY TOOLKIT

1051_SEND Gatsby Toolkit Refresh V8Download