In this week’s TES Further, Giles Delamare, an employment preparation and supported-internship course leader at London South East Colleges, writes that students with special needs can flourish in the workplace (article free for subscribers). Delamare writes that fewer than 10,000 people with a learning disability are in paid employment. “Careers education for children with special needs is sadly severely limited,” he adds. But with the right support, a learning disability need not hold anyone back from becoming an asset to a business.

Choices for learners

David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, writes that Britain needs post-16 choices that work for everyone. At the moment, learners at 16 do not get the support they need to understand the options open to them, Hughes argues. It’s time to see more young people making “informed choices, with meaningful opportunities to experiment before a final decision”.

TES reporters Julia Belgutay and Will Martin reveal that plans to make schools give equal weight to vocational and academic routes when providing careers advice have been put on ice. Last January, the Department for Education proposed legislation that would result in schools being legally required to collaborate with colleges and training providers to ensure young people were aware of all the available options. But no further announcements have been made since the ministerial shuffle in July - despite senior leaders in the FE sector calling for the proposals to be enacted.

Apprenticeships, apprenticeships, apprenticeships

In his first ever media interview, Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair and founder of WhiteHat, tells TES that the rumours about him following in father’s political footsteps are unfounded. Rather, it is the world of apprenticeships that he has gravitated towards. Last year he set up WhiteHat, which aims to match ambitious young people with apprenticeships in some of the UK’s top companies. Speaking to FE editor Stephen Exley in this excusive interview, Blair said: “If [apprenticeships are] going to be taken seriously, they can’t be seen as the option for kids who aren’t that academically bright, who were never going to university anyway. We want a situation where smart kids, who could go to Oxbridge or Russell Group universities, have to make a difficult decision: ‘Do I go down that route, or do I join this incredible apprenticeships scheme?’”

FE needs ‘transforming’

Bob Harrison, chair of governors at Northern College and a former member of the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group writes that the FE sector needs to transform itself (article free for subscribers) if it wants to transform the lives of its learners and communities (article free for subscribers). In the face of year-on-year budget cuts, and a lack of understanding of the role and needs of the sector, Harrison writes: “We have to look at ourselves and consider whether we need to transform the way we do things.”

Behaviour: from fairy godmother to Ray Winstone

Meanwhile TES columnist Sarah Simons writes that it’s nice to be nice to your class - but sometimes it’s important to lay down the law (article free for subscribers). From fairy godmother to Ray Winstone as The Guv’nor, it was time to “ditch the happy face and get tough” in Sarah’s college this week.

All this and more in this week’s TES Further.

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