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When a group of our Year 12 students first began visiting Oaktree School - a special educational needs school in the local area - in 2022, we were confident the experience would be useful.

We had set up the partnership to help them build confidence, develop mentoring skills and gain a clearer sense of what working with young people with complex needs might involve.

What we did not fully anticipate was how quickly it would become one of the most valued parts of our sixth form offer.

Meaningful responsibility

Southgate School, part of Middlesex Learning Trust, had always had informal links with Oaktree. But there had not been a structured programme that enabled our students to work directly with pupils in the specialist setting every week.

We introduced the partnership through Southgate+, our wider enrichment programme, which focuses on educational enrichment, extracurricular opportunities, leadership and mentoring, and community engagement.

The aim was to give them meaningful responsibility, a chance to serve their local community and a better understanding of the careers available in special educational needs and disabilities education and support.

The programme began with 12 Year 12 volunteers supporting students aged 16-19 with English and maths qualifications, including Entry Level and GCSE study.

Since then, the programme has expanded hugely, and this year around 50 sixth-formers were involved, supporting Oaktree pupils across media, art, sport, music, English and maths.

Drumming up interest

It has been refreshingly easy to get students interested.

We introduce the opportunity at the start of Year 12, just as students are beginning their sixth form journey.

Many are drawn to the chance to gain work experience and take part in meaningful enrichment by working with pupils with additional needs.

This includes students with SEND themselves, who are often particularly keen to support peers with more complex needs.

It also gives students valuable experience to reflect on in future applications, including Ucas.

How it works

The model is simple, but it has to be carefully handled.

Students visit Oaktree weekly and work alongside experienced teachers and teaching assistants.

They are guided by staff, observe how lessons and support are adapted, and gradually take on more responsibility, even creating their own resources and activities for pupils.

For many students, this is their first experience of a specialist school. Some arrive nervous. They worry about saying the wrong thing or not knowing how to communicate well.

Regular visits allow students to see the skill, patience and professionalism involved in supporting pupils with complex needs. They also see pupils as individuals, with their own humour, interests, strengths and preferences.

That matters. If we want more young people to consider careers in education, care, therapy or specialist support, they need opportunities to understand what those roles involve.

A talk in school can help, but it is not the same as standing beside a skilled member of staff and seeing how they respond to a pupil.

Learning about yourself

The experience also teaches students about themselves.

They learn how to explain something in a different way when it has not landed. They learn when to step back, when to encourage and when to ask for help. They learn that patience is not passive; it is an active skill.

One student continued volunteering at Oaktree after her formal placement had ended. She returned in her own time for months, maintaining relationships with pupils and staff. When she eventually moved on, Oaktree pupils organised gifts to thank her.

It was not a short placement completed and forgotten. It had built genuine relationships.

The partnership has also changed how many of our students talk about inclusion.

They do not speak about it only as a principle or policy. They understand it through the pupils they have worked with, the staff they have learned from and the small moments when they have had to adapt, listen and think differently.

We are now exploring how to develop the partnership through internship opportunities in SEND education for students who are interested in working with young people with additional needs.

For some, this could be the first step towards a career they had not previously considered.

Advice and guidance

For mainstream schools interested in building similar links, the starting point should be the needs of the specialist setting.

The partnership must be useful, consistent and respectful, with students properly prepared and supported. With the right structure, they can take on real responsibility and rise to it.

Debates around SEND are often, rightly, about funding, staffing and access to the right provision.

But schools can also ask what role young people themselves might play in supporting their communities and understanding the work that happens in specialist settings.

For our sixth-formers, this partnership has opened a window into that world, shown them career paths they had not considered before and helped them become more confident and thoughtful.

It has also reminded us the best enrichment does not sit apart from education - it helps young people work out who they might become.

Clare Devlin is assistant headteacher at Southgate School in Enfield, part of Middlesex Learning Trust