Our Transitions Officers support young people in schools to make informed decisions about their next move.

We understand the challenges young people face and know it can be daunting to think about what you are going to do when you leave school. Our team will guide you through all of the options.

Over the years we have developed close links with special and mainstream schools to provide the support and guidance that young people need to take the next step forward.

We work closely with teachers to ensure that our support is timely and relevant to each young person that we support. Your Transitions Officer will work with you to develop a personalised transitions plan to clearly outline ambitions and realistic goals for:

• Further education
• Work experience
• Short courses

With the right support, we know that you can develop a pathway to a bright future.

This can include:

• Participation in Stepping Stones NI’s Youth Service
• Sourced and supported work experience to help build your vocational skills
• Work placements in Stepping Stones NI’s social enterprises
• Short training courses to help prepare for the world of work
• Support in enrolling and applying for training, education or employment
• Taster Days for further education and training options
• Keeping in touch days

We will help you transition from school providing guidance and signposting to all the choices available.

“As a parent it’s hard to know the steps to take to make sure your child moves on to a happy, safe, productive setting when they leave school.  You rely so much on support from the professionals involved in your child’s life.  Thankfully, the Stepping Stones NI Transitions coordinator attended Ellen’s annual reviews at school once she turned 14.  This meant the Transitions coordinator got to know Ellen, and her abilities and interests, over a few years and was able to develop a plan that met her needs perfectly.  

It can be daunting for young people to move from a school environment that is all they’ve ever known to a new world of training and work.  It’s a worry for their parents too, to make sure their young person copes with the transition and gains confidence. However, we felt the transitions staff listened to input from us and from Ellen about her strengths, interests and preferred training option.  Her move from school to a work setting has been very smooth and the fact that she’s working on an NVQ qualification shows how much tailored support she continues to get from Stepping Stones NI”

Angela McMenamy
Parent

Our Transitions Officers work with young people in schools to plan for and make further education a reality.

Moving onto further education may be your ideal next step but also a daunting next move out of the school setting. We understand this and know that if you feel supported you are more likely to enjoy and progress onto further education.

We will support you to:

• Secure taster days at further educations centres and institutions to get a feel for the new environment, meet key staff and understand what is on offer for you to further develop
• Apply and enrol to further education centres and institutions
• Attend interview for further education courses
• Liaise with education centre staff and college / university lecturers to ensure a smooth transition into your new place of education
• Fully integrate into further education work and life through annual reviews and our open door policy of support

“I enjoyed school and knew I wanted to move onto further education but I was nervous about moving on and away from the comfort of school and the friends I had. My Transitions Officer supported me in school to identify options for further education and supported me to successfully secure a place at Queens University. I’m now in my second year and feel confident and more independent. Knowing I had the support of my Transitions Officer whenever I need it made a big difference”

Robert
Transition Service Beneficiary

We work with schools and young people to organise work experience and work placements that provide a valuable insight into the world of work.

Our Transitions Officers support young people in the school setting to identify areas of work they may be interested in. We then utilise our connections with employers to organise work experience that fit into the school timetable or to suit the young person outside of that schedule.

There is also opportunity for young people to gain work placements in our social enterprises after school. Our social enterprises offer a ideal opportunity to experience a real life working environment. All trainees are supervised by qualified and experienced job coaches who oversee training and development. You can try out work placements in catering, hospitality, picture framing and wedding stationery production.

Work experience and work placements are hugely valuable to young people helping them to advance their social and communications skills. Young people also gain new skills which are transferable to future education, training and work.

We support our young people throughout their work experience/placement by checking in with them and the employer. Our goal is to ensure that each young person gets the most out of the experience so that that they can develop and go further.

Each young person is provided with feedback and in some cases our young people are offered paid employment after serving a successful placement.

If you or someone you know could benefit from support to secure work experience or placement contact us today and we will talk you through our support package.

“The Transitions Service at Stepping Stones NI advised us and suggested things I wouldn’t even have thought of. It is great to have someone who could guide you when your child is leaving school and listened to what Kirsty would like to do. They had many contacts to help and support Kirsty and arranged work placements on her behalf.

Kirsty loved her time spent in Pink Elephant Cards and it was the Transitions Service that let her try different things and gave her the confidence to have a go at anything, should that be work or further education. It is a very valuable service and I would recommend it”

Linda McAllen
Parent

We offer short training courses in schools to help students develop new skills, confidence and independence.

Courses are planned into the school timetable with pupils attending once a week for a duration of around 4-6 weeks.

Courses include:

• Money Management: helping young people become more independent and to manage their money more effectively.
• Workplace Behaviour: helping young people to understand how to conduct themselves in a workplace environment and what to expect from an employer / employee relationship.

Talk to us if you would like a course to support your students incorporated into your school timetable.

“The Transitions Service helped me find what I wanted to do, I had some taster days to look at my choices when I left school and they gave me Money Management training while I was in school, it helped me count money out better and helped me budget my money.

They got me a work placement in Coiffeur hair and beauty, I loved it, I got to do things I enjoyed as well as learning new things and it let me taste what it was like to work in a beauty salon. I have now decided to go on to study beauty and nails because I found a job I’d like to do in the future.

The Transitions service is really, really good and I would tell anyone leaving school to give them a try!”

Teri
Student, Beechlawn Special School