Celebrating Equality and Diversity Booklet 2012 - Leeds City College

FacilitiesEnsuring accessibility to our buildings andservices for students is important to us. Wenot only look to meet our legal duties inrespect of accessibility but aim to providestandards that take us well beyond this.Not always easy in a college split overdifferent campuses but we have an ongoingprogramme of improvements. In respectof premises our new Keighley Campushas enabled us to incorporate the latestfacilities. We have commissioned and actedupon a review of our other premises andare invested considerable funding each yearin continuous improvement of the overallcollege estate. Indeed we are currentlylooking at improving access and facilitiesfurther by moving some of our provision totwo new sites.Provision of services to students withinour buildings is also important. We look toprovide a wide range of student supportservices including: Additional Support; NextMoves; Admissions; Connexions; Careersand Guidance; e-Learning; Childcare.Safeguarding and Work Experience. Aswell as these services we also provide awide range of support equipment and havean excellent team who work with staffand students to anticipate and make anyreasonable adjustments to meet studentneeds in respect of our equality duties.Publications / brandingThe marketing team have a directive toconsider Equality & Diversity issues withinall events and promotions they are involvedin, from producing corporate publications,to designing websites and organisingevents. The needs and requirements ofstaff, students (including volunteers) andstakeholders are all considered whenpromoting the College, including:• Accessibility of Leeds City College events.• Use and variety of brand imagery.• DDA compliancy; text style andreadability.Making a differencePolicies, procedures, practices, plans andactions are all important but what reallymatters is the impact they have on the livesof real people, our student. We believestrongly that what we have indicated wedo in respect of equality and diversitydoes make a real and positive difference.Obviously this booklet only touches thesurface of what we provide and the impactwe have but everyone is proud of thedifference they are making to people’s livesand we wanted to share some examplesof our good news stories and studentsuccesses. Each individual student mattersto us and the commitment of staff toachieving this comes through time and timeagain. The extra mile is being walked everyday!Student StoryA student achieved three A levels despitelosing his sight during his time at collegeas a result of a genetic condition. His visiondeteriorated so quickly that he lost theability to read print after his As year.The Inclusive services department (nowALS) provided large print resources untilthey were too sizeable to be useful, audioresources ad one to one support. Closeliaison with the curriculum tutors ensuredthat resources to be adapted were providedin advance. Notes from class were taken onan Alphasmart and saved onto a memorystick. This made them accessible as thestudent could listen to them with speechsoftware provided by college. The studentspent time with a specialist tutor outsideclasses to gain skills for independentlearning both for his immediate courseand the future. He learnt the basis of touchtyping and the commands for the speechsoftware which meant that he could accessand create documents and research on theinternet.Exam arrangements were put in place andthe student perfected the art of planningin his head and dictating answers veryprecisely.The emotional impact of sight loss beganto take its toll so he was directed to thecollege Counselling Service which was ableto help him adjust.The student was keen to find a part time jobso the ‘Next Move’ service worked with himon his CV and arranged a work placementvisit.This many pronged support packageresulted in the student succeeding in his Alevels and being confident enough to applyfor a college in a different area where heis currently pursuing a Level 3 course insubjects of his choosing prior to applying toHigher Education.Donation to “Help change lives”A cheque for £180,000 has been madeout to Leeds City College by the Park LaneCollege Trust to help transform the lives oflocal students. The money will be used bylearners who are facing significant increasesin the cost of their learning due to changesin Government policy.The educational charitable trust – set up anumber of years ago to forge strong linkswith the former Park Lane College andhelp support the College in its mission towiden participation amongst disadvantagedgroups – is donating this large sum to LeedsCity College to enable the FE institution toform a new college discretionary fund fordisadvantaged students.Robert Stubbs, Chairman of the Park LaneCollege Trustees, said: “We hope thismoney will continue the good work ofthe Trust and support disadvantagedstudents. This money will form thefoundation of a new discretionary fundwithin Leeds City College to benefitlearners who need extra assistance. Thismoney will help change the lives of localyoung people.”