‘Imagining the Future’: Defining new approaches to connect young Europeans with learning disabilities to supported employment, and the community. Erasmus Project

Project Title

‘Imagining the Future’: Defining new approaches to connect young Europeans with learning disabilities to supported employment, and the community.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Disabilities – special needs; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Project Summary

‘Imagining the Future’ was a project for connecting young Europeans with learning disabilities to supported employment and community. Participating young people accessed valuable opportunities to develop skills for more independent adult living and participating professionals were also able to enhance the range of skills and strategies to use when supporting them.

As part of the project, professionals also created a range of innovative new resources, to enable widespread practice develop, and systemic change. This includes the ‘Share Fair’ website which teaches aspects of financial literacy in a safe and contextualised way. This website is now used by 18 different schools, and has been accessed by 126 teachers.

The lead partner for the ‘Imagining the Future’ project was Swiss Cottage School, Development and Research Centre (Swiss Cottage School (DRC): an all-age (2-19) special school in North London with an onsite teacher education facility. Other partners in the project included the Municipality of Linkoping (Sweden), Junedalskollen (a school in Jonkoping, Sweden) Northridge School (in Doncaster, UK) and the Centre for Special Educational Needs and Psychology (Lithuania). By having two UK partners and two Swedish partners, a greater number of young people, with more complex learning disabilities were able to participate in exchange visits, and also interact with a contrasting locality within their country. It also meant that sustainable national networks could be formed through the project activity.

As a result of the project, a number of individual young people from the UK and Sweden exceeded their aspirational goals, and transitioned from full time education, to full time employment, as evidenced through our ‘Imagining the Future Case Studies’ (Intellectual Output 5). Other young people reached significant developmental milestones in areas such as communication, self-care and cognition. The project also led onto some seismic organisational changes, including the development of new policies for supporting preparation for adulthood, and new supported internship programmes to “bridge” the move away from being in school, to being at work. The project therefore supported a new thinking around special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 159611,86 Eur

Project Coordinator

Swiss Cottage School, Development and Research Centre & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Municipal of Linköping, Department of Education
• Specialiosios pedagogikos ir psichologijos centras
• Northridge Community School
• Junedalsskolan