Young people from across Prior's Court have been practising their hospitality skills with their peers as part of our school Tuck Shop. 

The Tuck Shop is a fantastic opportunity for young people to put skills they have learned across a number of our Areas of Learning into practice. For example, they are able to practice interacting with customers and restocking the shelves when stock is low, which are both practiced elsewhere in Hospitality sessions; and to recognise coins and know what change to give, which is leant in Numeracy sessions. 

Young people Yusef, Peter, Imprahim, Alfie G, and James R are all putting their skills to the test, running our Tuck Shop between 2 and 2:45 each weekday.

Tuck shop is run by Lyn Gainey, a Level 3 Autism Practitioner in Education, and teaches the young people important transferable skills which they may be able to use later in life as part of a work placement. Teaching them these skills in a safe and familiar environment surrounded by familiar people helps to reduce external anxieties and encourages young people to engage with their tasks at hand. 

Young people have the opportunity to be both a customer and a shopkeeper, teaching them skills for when they are out in the community and for any future work placements. 

If a young person is a shopkeeper, they will be supported to stand behind the till and wait for a customer to come and see them. They will then listen to what the customer is ordering, get the item, ring it up on the till, and take the money and give the appropriate change. Real money is used to ensure the scenario is as realistic as possible, particularly as many of the autistic young people at Prior's Court struggle to conceptualise things. At the end of the session, the young person will then be supported to tidy up and make sure the shelves are properly stocked. 

If a young person is a customer, they will be supported to use a communication board in order to ask for the item they want, then they will hand over the money, and wait while the item is provided for them. They are then able to either sit down and eat or take the item away to eat at a later date. 

Read more about what young people learn at Prior's Court