Appeal for businesses to help Round Oak students’ potato van flourish

Sixth formers at Round Oak School, are running a mobile baked potato oven as a business and are looking for a venue from which to sell the potatoes. Pictured: Sixth formers together with headteacher Jane Naylor.

Supported by jobs coaches a group of ten sixth formers from the school for those with additional learning needs and disabilities, will be in charge of all the elements of running a mobile baked potato oven and serving station and are in need of a company to provide a space in its car park from which they can serve food from the start of November.

The pupils will be part of the branding, marketing, finance, buying, selling and customer service teams - giving them practical skills based experience in the catering industry.

Claire Cookson, a second deputy headteacher at the school in Brittain Lane, said: “As we have seen from our other work based learning ventures, we are confident that this experience will be life changing for these students.

“We hope that their confidence, social communication skills as well as their practical business skills will improve hugely, ultimately inspiring them to go on to get paid employment.

“Our students would welcome the opportunity to come and pitch their ideas to any potential partners, explain more about their business and the research they are doing. “

Nationally only seven per cent of people with additional learning needs and disabilities go onto gain paid employment.

This is a statistic that the school is trying very hard to change.

It has already set up a number of supported internships with National Grid and Warwickshire County Council and is proud to say that more than 70 per cent of these students are now in paid employment.

Mrs Cookson said: “We have found that not only has this been life changing for our students, this partnership has had a huge impact on the businesses we are working with.

“This partnership working has enabled them to become disability confident as well as benefit from the talents and abilities of our students.

This has inspired us to look at other work related opportunities that we could offer to our students.”

To find out more or to offer a place for the potato van call Mrs Cookson on 423311 or email [email protected]