Planning for the future

Helping your child to start thinking about their future is an exciting but also daunting process and it might seem confusing and worrying. Whatever you and your child are feeling, the most important thing to remember is that your child/young person should be at the centre of these discussions.

All reviews, meetings/plans and decisions, whether they are to do with transition or not, should be person-centred and have your child or young person at heart. Hopefully, discussions about developing their independence, making friends and feeling positive about being in their local community are things that have been spoken and talked about from the earliest stages with staff from schools and other agencies. Whether the young person has an EHCP or is on SEN support, all reviews and plans should be centred around their needs, hopes and aspirations for their future. It is always helpful if the school and other agencies (for example, health, careers service, social care) support the young person in helping them to make these decisions and voice their feelings and views, regardless of their level of SEND.

Questions you might like to discuss with your child

These are a list of suggested questions you might like to discuss with your child. It might be helpful to involve the people who know your child well, such as teachers, family and friends, leisure activity leaders, social groups etc. You can ask for an interview to be arranged with the school's career advisor to help you through this

• What does your child enjoy? Do they have any hobbies or interests?
• What sort of person are they? Do they:
  • like being with people?
  • like working with animals?
  • prefer being outside or indoors?
  • enjoy being creative/musical?
  • like working with their hands?
  • like order, detail or numbers?
• What is important to them?
• Do they like staying near home or being independent?
• Do they want to discover new places and people?
• Do they have ideas about what sort of work they would like to do?

One-page profile

A one-page profile is created by the child/ young person in terms of what is important to them, about them and what kind of communication/support they prefer. Many schools and settings have one-page profiles/ passports for children and young people as they easily share needs and ways of communicating in the young person's words what will be effective. These one-page profiles are person centred tools to be completed with your child, together with the people who know them well.

Routes and pathways into education, training and employment

Completing a Vocational Profile and discussing with Careers Services and other professionals will help you to decide the pathway that might interest you most.

Career Planning Tools

Vocational profile

A Vocational Profile is a summary of the aspirations of the young people towards the world of work, whether this is paid or voluntary. It is a useful tool to discuss the skills that they have and those that they want to develop, the kind of environment that they would like to work in and the kind of activities that they would want to undertake. It gives the young person a powerful tool to help decide where best they would want to be and for those that are supporting them more information and insight as to exactly where to start!

Employment plan

An employment plan is similar to a vocational profile but is used by employers and the young person to discuss their needs and to plan the support within the setting that they are in. This employment plan is aimed to help you and your employer to talk about and agree things that might help you both whilst in the workplace. The changes or plans that you agree to help you at work are sometimes called 'reasonable adjustments'. Every person and every employer is different. This employment plan might not include everything you need but it is designed to be a helpful tool. You might want to add your own questions to it.

Careers team

From Year 9 onwards, make sure you discuss with the school the Post-16 options available and start to visit further education (FE) departments, colleges, Supported Internships, training providers and voluntary opportunities. Schools and colleges should provide students with independent career advice and offer opportunities for taster sessions, work experience, mentoring and inspirational speakers/role models to help young people with SEND make informed choices and decisions about their future aspirations. If your child has an Education, Health and Care plan, their SEND Case Officer will also be involved with this process.