Introduction

Digital Independent Specialist College (DISC) is committed to supporting young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to prepare for adulthood and employment. We provide a unique, supportive, work-based environment where industry and teaching professionals help talented young people to fulfil their potential and their dreams. This is underpinned by all of DISC’s values:

  • providing an inclusive, purposeful and bespoke curriculum for young people entering the 21st Century digital workplace.
  • Provide industry-standard experiential learning in a unique digital workspace that provides the agency necessary to progress into great careers.
  • Cater to the needs of neurodivergent learners and staff, by creating an environment to feel safe and included.
  • Ensure both staff and learners can develop professionally and personally.
  • Help establish our interns as independent citizens, whilst also feeling empowered to seek support when needed.

DISC is a small, sensory-friendly environment with wrap-around pastoral care.We offer support from industry, teaching, and caring professionals that is customised to the needs of each learner Whether as a Foundation, Gateway or Supported Intern, all our efforts are channelled into supporting young people into work, HE or other positive destinations.

Intent and Scope

The college  provides guidance to prospective students and their parents/carers and commissioning local authorities. It sets out the commitment of DISC  to accessibility, safeguarding, and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults. The college provides appropriate, challenging, and meaningful learning programmes, to increase employability skills.  

Responsibilities and Communication

Any reference to the College ‘team’ means all staff and volunteers working at DISC.  

The College Accessibility Statement complies with the Equality Act 2010.

The College provide an enabling environment with accessible facilities and resources. We are mindful that equality means respecting diversity, not treating everyone the same but according to their individual needs for them to be fully involved in college and community life. Access, facilities, and resources at the College are regularly assessed and updated where necessary in response to our students’ needs. The college is committed to working with our employment partners and building provider to ensure that all are physically accessible spaces. 

Access to the curriculum

All students have an individual learning plan which includes the personal targets and objectives they need to achieve in order to reach their chosen destination at the end of their course.  

Core skills identified in Education, Health and Care Plans are delivered through their Individual Learning Programmes and focus on addressing the needs of young people with high needs including neurodiversity, social, emotional,mental health needs and anxiety. Learner Pathways are differentiated to meet the needs of each student.

Access to information, advice and careers guidance

Information, advice, and guidance supports equality and diversity.  We provide effective, accessible, and appropriate information at the College and on our website. Our team offer appropriate advice to all students.  We provide training and support to both work placement and prospective employers on how to effectively work with and manage employees with disabilities, mental ill-health, anxiety, and neurodivergence. 

Key Principles and Duties

Where a student has a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision, all institutions within the further education sector must use their best endeavours to put appropriate support in place to ensure those needs are met.  

Young people should be supported to participate in discussions about their aspirations, their needs, and the support that they think will help them best. 

Support should be aimed at promoting student independence and enabling the young person to make good progress towards employment and/or higher education, independent living, good health and participating in the community. 

Assessing what support is needed

Where a student is identified as having SEN and needing SEN support, colleges should bring together all the relevant information from the school, from the student, from those working with the student and from any screening test or assessment the college has carried out. This information should be discussed with the student. 

The student should be offered support at this meeting and might be accompanied by a parent, advocate or other supporter. 

This discussion may identify the need for a more specialist assessment from within the college or beyond. Where the college decides a student needs SEN support, the college should discuss with the student their ambitions, the nature of the support to be put in place, the expected impact on progress and a date for reviewing the support.

Plans should be developed with the student. 

The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the student’s aspirations, and should be based on reliable evidence of effectiveness and provided by practitioners with the relevant skills and knowledge. 

Special educational support might include, for example:assistive technology; specialist tuition with our industry professionals, note-takers, one-to-one and small group learning support independent living training’ access to therapies (for example,workplace communication specialist)

Putting in place and reviewing support

Colleges should ensure that the agreed support is put in place, and that appropriately qualified staff provide the support needed. The college should, in discussion with the student, assess the impact and success of the intervention. The effectiveness of the support and its impact on the student’s progress should be reviewed regularly, which may lead to changes in the type and level of their support. The college and the student together should plan any changes in support.  

Colleges should revisit this cycle of action, refining and revising their decisions about support as they gain a richer understanding of the student, and what is most effective in helping them secure good outcomes.