DYW

Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) the Carronhill School way

According to Education Scotland, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) is one of the policy drivers for Scottish Education.  It is a seven-year programme that aims to prepare children and young people aged 3-18 for the world beyond school.  One of the ambitions of DYW is that educational establishments and employers work together to equip young people with skills and knowledge.

In Summer 2019, Carronhill School set up a business partnership with What’s For Tea Tonight farm shop.  Through this partnership we hope to give the young people hand-on experiences of farming in the field, developing skills in tending crops and caring for animals.  Carronhill is the first ASN school in Aberdeenshire to have a business partnership and all involved are looking forward to a productive partnership.

In Summer 2021 we started to develop formalised community links with providers who will be supporting our learners in the world post-school. We think of developing the young workforce as develop the skills of our learners to give the best they can to the community they are in. This does not have to be in a formal workplace but can be at an adult centre, residential setting or in college.

Our community links have recently included Montrose Playhouse cinema. The staff have accepted the outreach from the school to develop their own skills in Makaton, symbols and preparing the cinema for clients with additional support needs. By providing this experience for Carronihll Pupils, there has been an increase in opportunities for quiet sessions for families to visit.

We further developed our community outreach by visiting the local library at Stonehaven. Staff have visited the school and have been on a learning journey with us regarding the way our pupils interact with books, stories and the sensory world of story telling.  We are really enjoying the quiet, patient approach of our local librarians in helping make this venue accessible.

As part of our redesign of the Senior Phase, we are identifying opportunities in the local community that our learners will be exposed to and require. Working with the local Stagecoach depot we are giving our learners experiences in traveling on the local buses using their National Entitlement Card . We have developed a skills progression on using the bus in the local community.