Care Leaver Covenant
At BMet we are proud of our diverse learner and staff community and we are committed to working alongside our college community and external partners to ensure we remove any barriers to education or work to ensure that individuals who work and study with us are given the right support as soon as they join BMet. As a college we are committed to supporting Care Leavers evidenced through the Care Leaver Covenant.
BMet believes in inclusivity and opportunity for all and are working as a whole college to create a positive learning experience and remove barriers for students who may have or been subject to negative life experiences, social, emotional and educational or may have learning difficulties and/or disabilities
BMet is committed to supporting our care experienced students, staff and potential new staff through a whole college approach regardless of length of time individuals have experienced in care. We will evaluate our support mechanisms on an annual basis and commit to adapting and making changes with the students and staff being the focus of continuous improvements at BMet.
We welcome feedback from students on how we can further improve through our Learner Voice with similar feedback mechanisms for our staff.
We work closely with virtual schools across the country to support students who have enrolled at BMet. Students under the care of the Local Authority have a designated Performance Coach who contacts them during their induction weeks to support them in their PEP as well as providing mentoring support during their studies at BMet, mentoring or coaching services are voluntary.
A Robust Employment Offer
As a college we have signed the Covenant Care Leaver Friendly Employment and we are committed collectively to support both care experienced students as well as those in the community via our employment opportunities.
We will invite our care experienced learners to apply for any BMet vacancies that fit their interests and aspirations through:
- a poster campaign with clear messaging inviting under-represented groups, including care experienced people, to apply; detailing the offer of support as below
- news posts and news stories on the learner landing page on the College intranet
BMet has strong relationships with other 1000 employers both nationally and across the region. We work with a range of employers across different sectors including Advanced Manufacturing, Construction, Business and Professional Services, Medical and Health, Creative and Digital to support them with their recruitment and training needs. This can be through training current staff, helping them to recruit new staff and opening up their industry to our students through work experience models.
Our Employer Engagement team manage a strong onboarding process with employers ensuring that they have the right structure and requirements to support care experienced people. The team advocate on behalf of the young person to ensure that salaries and wages meet legal requirements of the national living wage, being considerate that the lived/ living experiences of an apprentice who is also care leaver may include sole responsibility for their housing and daily expenditure.
