51吃瓜

Introduction to Bellway

Bellway are a responsible employer, who are committed to being an inclusive organisation that strives to create a working environment that is open, diverse, and free from all forms of prejudice and discrimination. Everyone at Bellway is treated with dignity and respect.

鈥淚 got lots of support to do the job and a great induction鈥�
Sharna Student of PHF 51吃瓜

Working Together

Partnerships were built between Bellway and Percy 51吃瓜 as a result of Kerry Robinson reaching out to the HR team.

鈥�51吃瓜鈥檚 Beyond鈥� Project Manager, Kerry Robinson explained: 鈥淭here are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Of these, only around a fifth are currently in employment, evidence has shown that they are dedicated workers, having fewer sickness a absences, on average than other employees. In addition, people with a learning disability generally stay in entry-level jobs longer, saving employers money on recruiting and training new staff. Many employers also report that their staff team morale increases because of working with their colleagues with a learning disability鈥�.

This aligned perfectly with Bellways core value of creating a workplace which enables people to be themselves 鈥� Embrace your uniqueness, grow in confidence as we support your development both personally and professionally鈥� Kerry understood our ambition and quickly engaged in plans to share knowledge, expertise and to develop a meaningful work placement. The Beyond team with the support of students as experts by experience completed an accessibility audit of the head office. Bellway delivered a session to students on interview and application process and attended and sponsored the PHF awards evening.

A Collaborative Approach

A collaborative approach to creating a work placement developed, with Percy 51吃瓜 visiting site to carry out robust health and safety assessment with Bellway. Percy 51吃瓜 led on 鈥楯ob Carving鈥�, which was at the heart of creating a role that would prove mutually beneficial for the student and Bellway team. According to disability job board Evenbreak, job carving “refers to customizing duties or creating specialist jobs for people with disabilities鈥� A job description was created for a one day per week work placement with the admin team, and Sharna aged 21, researched Bellway and applied for the role. She was successfully matched to the placement and joined the team on 6th February 2024, chaperoned by her support worker, Claire Boyd.

鈥淪harna said she liked working at Bellway and she thought it was good, she has fun and the team are really friendly鈥�

The original plan was for Sharna to complete a 6 week one day per week placement from February 2024 to end in April 2024. Suzanne Hall who supervised Sharna welcomed an extension and the placement continue every Tuesday during term time until December 2024.

This is the original task list which was produced for Sharna:

• Sort incoming post
• Deliver the post around the building
• Fold letters to put into envelopes
• Use the franking machine for outgoing post
• Put paper into the photocopier machines
• Restock all of the tea and coffee around the building

Sharna was supported by Claire during her placement, we did try to reduce the level of support however Sharna became de motivated and therefore Claire was on hand at all times.

Sharna work experience targets this year were:

• Communicate with others in a professional manner
• Work on tasks independently
• Complete tasks in a timely manner

Impact and Outcomes

Overall Sharna developed her skills to complete tasks in a timely manner, she built relationships with the team at Bellway and conducted herself in a professional manner at all times. We continue to support Sharna in work placements to develop the motivation to work on tasks independently

Feeback

Suzanne Hall told us, she likes Sharna coming in on a Tuesday, she knows Sharna is able to do the job and is confident that Sharna is more than capable of doing the role with minimal supervision, however Sharna was less motivated to work when they tried Claire (support worker) taking a step back. Suzanne told me that Claire is able to motivate Sharna and will ensure she is kept on task. Suzanne told me that Sharna does not rely so heavily on her soft toy during the day and is confident in speaking with other staff within the Bellway team.

Claire Boyd shared: The task list which was given to Sharna at the start of placement helped her to learn the tasks and follow the instructions, she became more independent in time however still required some prompts to complete the role. Sharna learnt valuable tasks which would help in a business admin role. She built her work skills and developed her confidence to speak with others and has learnt how to behave appropriately in a professional office environment. Everyone was very welcoming at Bellway and a special thanks to Suzanne for her patience and support.