Transition: Moving on

Transition services

Here at Chailey Heritage Foundation, we’re there to support you through every stage of the transition process. Whether that’s transition from our school into our young adult residential bungalows (Futures) at age 19, or to your future home after leaving our Futures bungalows at the age of 25.

Transition from school to adult services 

Leaving school at 19 and beginning adult life can be a challenging period for young people and their parents or carers. We aim to equip our young people and their families with the tools they need to manage these changes by providing information, advice and guidance.

It’s never too early to start helping a young person think about the future and what it might look like for them. We start talking with parents about this once their child reaches Year 9 – but there is no set time when these conversations should begin! At school we encourage development of the essential skills needed for success in adult life from the earliest years. All of our activities offer opportunities for development of communication, independence, confidence and self - esteem.

As young people move through the school, and grow and develop, the emphasis shifts to preparation for adulthood in a more practical sense. For some, this means a focus on choice making, whether in relation to everyday decisions or plans for the future, and the development of social skills in different situations.

We aim to do everything we can to support the future placement planning process and help parents prepare for life beyond Chailey Heritage. Throughout the transition journey, we involve colleagues from school and the residential bungalows, if the young person lives with us, as well as our therapy team. These are the professionals who know the young person well, and can support them, and their family, with the move into adulthood.

The Futures team will support with transition planning with a new provider. This involves working with the team at the new placement to ensure that they understand an individual’s needs.  We arrange for the young person to visit their new home and meet the care team who will be supporting them once they leave Chailey Heritage Foundation.

Transition to adult services coffee mornings

We run regular transition to adult services coffee mornings for families and carers. With a mixture of virtual and face-to-face sessions, these informal mornings are used to share information and host professionals to speak about topics related to the transition to adult services. These mornings are a great way to meet and learn from other families going through similar experiences and facing similar challenges with the transition to adult services.

Transition from Futures

At Chailey Heritage Foundation, we like to start our discussion early about moving on from us and what is next for you after Futures accommodation.

To support this process, every year we hold a progress review meeting and discuss moving on from Chailey. Over time these develop into moving on meetings where we support and focus on assessments for other providers. These meetings are to support the young person and the funding authority to check placement is working for you, track yearly achievements and look at additional supporting hours or changes to the services making the bespoke on your interests.

When you first arrive at Chailey Heritage Foundation we will hold a settling in meeting and then plan your progress review. We will start discussing your future plans at this meeting. We believe that it is important to have open and transparent conversations about what you want to achieve in life, so that we can help you make the best decisions for you.

These discussions will be integrated into your daily support, so that you can start preparing for your next steps. This may include visiting other placements with our support.

Options for life after Chailey Heritage Foundation can be challenging and difficult to consider and look for. You may choose to move to a new residential home with another provider, or you may return home with a Personal Assistant. We can also suggest bespoke support packages around your individual needs which could include access continual use of the LSC and Hub with PA’s or with your new home staff.

You will also be able to continue accessing the Hub, our Day Service (link to Hub) and Leisure and Skills Centre (link to LSC), which are open 50 weeks of the year. These services can be supported by Personal Assistants, or the new provider may purchase sessions.

For more information on transitioning to adult services and how we prepare young people for the future, please contact us on:

T: 01825 724 444

E: office@chf.org.uk