More than 300 students, teachers and parents attended Wolverhampton's second city-wide Moving into Adulthood Careers Fair for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) recently.
The City of Wolverhampton Council, with support from Tettenhall Wood School, held the free event at Wolverhampton Racecourse, aimed at young people in Year 9 and above, parents, carers and staff who support the children in their current educational setting. They were invited to find out about the options available for further education, training and employment from exhibitors including colleges, providers, supported employers, social care settings and community groups.
Councillor Jacqui Coogan, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Work, attended alongside the council’s Deputy Director for Education Brenda Wile. Cllr. Coogan said: "As a council and as a city, we have made it a top priority to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities are able to live their lives to the full, and we were delighted to stage this second fair.
“It was even bigger and better than our inaugural event last year and we had really positive feedback. We hope it gave everyone involved plenty of food for thought about the opportunities that are out there for our children and young people with SEND as they move into adulthood.”
An exhibitors’ guide outlined the type and level of qualifications offered by providers as well as details of associated support services, and Connexions Wolverhampton careers advisors were on hand to offer on-the-spot advice to parents, carers and young people. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Outreach Service created a sensory zone for anyone who needed to regulate away from the busy exhibition hall.
Exhibitors reported that they felt that the engagement of the young people, parents and school staff in the event was extremely positive, and were motivated to support young people with SEND to progress their plans for the future. Parental feedback was very strong with comments like, “10 out of 10”, “the event was brilliant, very informative”, and “well organised and creates real awareness”.
Cllr. Coogan added: “Given the many positive comments we have received about this event from parents, carers, education professionals and exhibitors, we will be looking to run something similar again next year.”
