Foundation Level 1

Growing as a Young Person: recover, recognise and grow

Foundation 1 is for young people aged 16 and over. It is for those who have great digital skills, but are not sure what they would like to do for a living and have not had much experience of work. On the course, interns will be exposed to a wide range of creative and digital learning and begin to recognise their talents and grow their skills, attend three days a week and start to think about their future plans by the gradual introduction of professional projects over the year.

Foundation Level 2

Growing as a Young Professional: expression, expectation and experiences

Foundation 2 is for young people who have more of an idea of their intended career path and aspirations. They will learn more about the workplace and will start to work on internal projects with other interns. They will attend four days a week and begin to work towards deadlines, developing their skills in a more work-like environment.

Bridge

DISC’s Bridge course is for young people wanting to work in the digital economy and who can commit to working with us for up to a year before they progress onto Gateway to Supported Internship. To qualify for the full time Internship they require an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and an aspiration to progress into paid work in the next two academic years.  
 
Transition to SI-  Interns are on the Foundation Bridge programme because they want to progress into paid full time or freelance work. They will develop their employability skills through both work experience and taught sessions throughout the academic year. With Studio Support workers, they will work on projects which build content for their professional portfolios to support them to transition into paid employment.  
 
Work experience - Interns may participate in work experience, assigned by the Studio Manager at DISC. Interns learn via on the job training to build their understanding of workplace norms and industry standards.  
 
Working towards completing EHCP outcomes- Interns will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own progression and spend time building their independence skills in order to achieve their EHCP outcomes.  
 
High ambitions and aspirations- The Bridge course aims to encourage young people to aim high in their career and life goals. Whilst helping them understand and advocate for their own support needs, it will also help them to see that these are not barriers to their aspirations.  
 
Preparing for Adulthood- Interns will be supported to achieve independence and Preparing for Adulthood goals, and understanding and advocating for their own reasonable adjustments. 
 
Other outcomes- It is expected that interns in this group will progress onto the Supported Internship, however, where relevant, interns may be supported to progress onto Further Education or Higher Education outcomes.  

Gateway

Building Professional Foundations: Professionally driven, prepared for adulthood, refined skills

Transition into SI - Interns are on the Gateway to Supported Internship programme because they want to progress into paid full time or freelance work. They will develop their employability skills through both work experience and taught sessions throughout the academic year. With Studio Support workers, they will work on projects which build content for their professional portfolios to support them to transition into paid employment. 

 

Work experience - Interns may participate in work experience, assigned by the Studio Manager at DISC. Our host employer, SENDCode, may also provide client work via briefs from their agency. Interns learn via ‘on the job’ training to build their understanding of workplace norms and industry standards. 

 

Working towards completing EHCP outcomes - Interns will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own progression and spend time building their independence skills in order to achieve their EHCP outcomes. 

 

High ambitions and aspirations - The Gateway to Supported Internship course aims to encourage young people to aim high in their career and life goals. Whilst helping them understand and advocate for their own support needs: It will also help them to see that these are not barriers to their aspirations. 

 

Preparing for Adulthood - Interns will be supported to achieve independence, Preparing for Adulthood goals, understanding and advocating for their own reasonable adjustments.


Other outcomes - It is expected that interns in this group will progress onto the Supported Internship, however, where relevant, interns may be supported to progress onto Further Education or Higher Education outcomes.

Supported Internship

Becoming a Young Professional: confident, career focused, independent

Transition into paid employment -  Interns are on the Supported Internship programme because they want to progress into paid full time or freelance work. They will develop their employability skills through both work experience and taught sessions throughout the academic year. With Job Coach and Studio Manager support, they will create CVs and professional portfolios to support them to transition into paid employment. 

 

Work experience - The course provides interns with 80% of work experience. Interns will spend 16 hours per week  working on external briefs with employers via the DISC Studio Manager. Our host employer, SENDCode, will also provide client work via briefs from their agency. Interns learn via on the job training to build their understanding of workplace norms and industry standards. 

 

Achieving EHCP outcomes - Interns will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own progression and spend time building their independence skills in order to achieve their EHCP outcomes. 

 

High ambitions and aspirations -The Supported Internship aims to encourage young people to aim high in their career and life goals. Whilst helping them understand and advocate for their own support needs, it will also help them to see that these are not barriers to their aspirations. 

 

Preparing for Adulthood - Interns will be supported to achieve independence and Preparing for Adulthood goals, together with understanding and advocating for their own reasonable adjustments.


Other outcomes - Where relevant, interns may be supported to progress onto Further Education or Higher Education outcomes.

DISC Alumni

It is important that our support continues beyond their time with us at DISC so we stay in touch wherever we can. Our alumni are great assets for our community. They demonstrate that our provision works and are often still involved in DISC, DA and SENDCode. Many have gone on to get great jobs and are embarking on the careers they deserve. Many remain as advocates, volunteers, mentors, guides and an inspiration to the current generation of young people. A few have become DA Trustees and DISC Governors making us proud of their continued growth and development.