Historical Background
The Orchardville Society in partnership with Tor Bank School established a transition programme in 1995 as a result of securing funding from the Horizon initiative. At that time the Orchardville Society was working with people from the age of 19 and the message from other professionals and research carried out by the Orchardville Society identified a clear need for a project that worked exclusively with young people entering the penultimate year of special education.

Through theTransitions Programme eight young people were given the opportunity to access vocational training, job sampling and work experience opportunities. A key aspect of the project involved working closely with parents to raise expectations and awareness about the many opportunities available for young people. At this time parental support and commitment formed the basis of a contract between parents, the school and Orchardville Society.

The Transitions programme also established a template for effective inter agency working with a good relationship being forged between teaching staff and management within Tor Bank and employment officers and management at the Orchardville Society.

In 2003 an additional new Transitions Programme was setup, based on the same model as Torbank School, to include students from Glenveagh School. Funding was secured for a period of three years, until June 2006.

The Current Transitions Programme
The current programme has evolved since 1995 but the core components have remained consistent. Young people on the programme are given the opportunity to follow an individually developed career plan that allows them to explore different career options and avail of training opportunities offered within the Orchardville Society. The following is a comprehensive list of the core components of the career Development Programme:

Referral
A referral is made to the project by the teacher responsible for co-orinating the school programme. Referrals can only be made for people residing within the South & East Belfast Trust area and this is a major area of difficulty as there are many other young people who would be suitable for the progamme but live outside the geographical remit.

Vocational Profiling
This commences once a young person is referred to the project usually around the age of 16.

Vocational Training
as required (e.g. communication, personal development assertiveness, independent travel, Basic Food Hygiene, NVQ Catering & Hospitality, NVQ Business Administration, IT, Wordpower etc)

Job Sampling
Usually a short taster of a work environment may include attending one of the Orchardville Society training sites.

Work Placement
A work placement is arranged in a vocational setting of the persons choosing. Students may try different placements before remaining on a longer term placement that they may be attending when they leave school.

Paid Employment
It is the aspiration of the Orchardville Society and Tor Bank School that whenever possible young people will enter a form of paid employment when they exit from school.

Regular reviews are held between the school and project staff to monitor progress and development. Project staff are also invited to attend school reviews to discuss student progress and options post 19.

The Orchardville Society in collaboration with the school inputs into the general career awareness programme involving all young people at school over the age of 16. The Orchardville Society mainly organises the industrial visits to various vocational settings and carries out follow up training with young people involved in the Transitions Programme.

Learning
Since 1995 the Transitions programme has evolved and developed and many lessons and good practice have been established. Main areas were learning has occurred includes the following:

• Roles and responsibilities of different professionals need to be clarified at the outset in order to avoid duplication. Emphasize that agencies complement each other.
  
• A certain amount of flexibility is required with student time tables to allow them to access career related activates.
  
• It is essential that a member of the teaching staff is allocated specific time to develop the programme and co-ordinate activities within the school. Indeed it is a key recommendation of Tor Bank and Orchardville Society that a teacher is allocated time to build partnership working as without this it creates a barrier to progress the student.
  
• Parental support at the outset is essential in order for young people to make a successful transition from school to adult life.
  
• The Orchardville Society should commence working with young people and their parents as early as possible in order to allow the maximum amount of time to prepare young people and their parents for the transition from school. It also allows all those involved with the young person the opportunity to emphasise work culture and the work ethic. In order to allow the maximum amount of time to prepare young people for adult life the school has recommended that 14 is a better time to commence working with young people and their parents.
  
• Realistic planning and goal setting for both the short and long term is necessary.
  
• An honest and open exchange of information is required by all those involved with a young person in order set realistic goals and offer suitable options for the future.
  
• The school acknowledges there are many advantages of working with an outside agency as it links young people to a more adult setting that will not change when they leave school. Therefore, due to the continuity aspect there is less apprehension and anxiety about leaving school as the Orchardville Society is familiar to both the young person and parents. There is also considerable added value as work placement and training opportunities, while preparing people for the adult world, also enhances confidence, esteem and independence and can lead to recognised accredited qualifications that have currency in the adult world.
  
• Independent travel is a key service that needs to be offered to young people as it widens opportunities once they leave school. This can also be linked to the new voucher system.

To conclude the Transitions programme has been developed over the last nine to ten years and has offered opportunities to sixty plus young people preparing to leave education. The partnership has been developed built on trust and respect of professional roles and responsibilities. At the core of the programme are the principles of Person Centered Planning and the necessity of good communication to engage all relevant stakeholders in the transition process.