Young baker begins work experience
with family business
One of Bread & Beyond's star bakers has
taken a huge leap forward in his baking
career by starting work experience at a
family-run bakery.
Prior's Court young adult
Ricardo last month began
a weekly work experience
at Warings Bakery, which
has been providing handbaked
goods to the people
of Berkshire since 1932.
Ricardo is supported
each week by our Job Coach Laura Parker to access
Warings' central bakery in Spencers Wood where he
works with Warings staff to supply the company's
shops in Reading and Thatcham.
The regular work experience opportunity came about
after a successful trial visit at the end of May where
Ricardo worked well with the Warings team, making
100 Viennese swirls, 40 lemon Swiss rolls and 20
jubilee sponges
In his time at Warings so far, Ricardo has made
real progress in making the products look more
professional, as he sets about making bulk bakes
of up to 300 items at a time. He has also learned
more reducing wastage, a real difference between
practice sessions at Bread & Beyond and working in a
commercial setting.
The philosophy behind
having an industrystandard
bakery at
Prior's Court's site is
to make the transition
to "real world" working
environments less stressful, as
has been the case for Ricardo
so far.
Laura, who has supported Ricardo
during his time at Bread & Beyond, said:
"We are hugely grateful to Warings Bakery for their
support in giving Ricardo this chance to show all the
skills he has developed in his time at Bread & Beyond.
"Ricardo is from Reading and so when his time at
Prior's Court comes to an end, having a Berkshirebased
work experience provider is really important
as it means he has a greater chance of continuing to
access this opportunity."
Prior's Court is looking to explore external work
placement opportunities for the young bakers of
Bread & Beyond and so is keen to hear from bakeries
in the West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire areas
who would be interested in supporting us. Contact
Nickie Dunphy on 07720 212600 or ndunphy@
priorscourt.org.uk.
Careers Day shines a light on the world of work
The inaugural Prior's Court Careers Day
has given our young people an insight
into the world of work.
Held in June, the morning event held on our site
featured a range of vocational learning opportunities
for our young people to encounter and explore.
This included representatives from external parties
such as Thames Valley Police and the Army providing
experiences, alongside our on-site vocational learning
staff offering sessions around baking, housekeeping,
maintenance and more.
Virtual Reality was also used to explore work in roles
such as train driving, firefighting and veterinary work.
Nickie Dunphy, our Careers Lead, said: "The aim was to
introduce our young people to a range of careers and
employers that they might not otherwise encounter.
This was to create awareness of what tasks or
responsibilities people in that job might have to do,
or what uniform they wear. And all of this was being
delivered in a fun, interactive way.
"Vocational learning is so important to us because
individuals with autism face huge
challenging in gaining
employment and so miss
out on the benefits
that working provides,
from the financial
aspect through to
the mental and
emotional health
positives that come
from having purposeful
employment."