Trafford and Stockport College Group achieves Inclusivity Award status
13 Nov 2024
Trafford and Stockport College Group has recently met the criteria for LCL Awards’ Inclusivity Charter, thanks to its dedication to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for both students and staff.
We caught up with Stewart Quayle, the Group’s Head of Studies for Construction and Sustainability, to find out more.
“Our campuses are set in multi-cultural areas which gives us a wide range of learners to work with. There’s a wonderful mix of cultures across the college’s five sites and we’re proud of the ethnic diversity we have here. Typically, the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) groups we work with are made up of at least six nationalities. One of the biggest challenges we have is getting everyone to understand the technical terms and vocab associated with the skill they are learning. Our tutors have developed a dictionary of technical language for progressing ESOL learners and we use labelling exercises and flash cards to help overcome language barriers.
“We do all we can to welcome and celebrate different cultures here with initiatives such as the provision of different faith prayer rooms, and a programme of activities to promote cultural diversity. This includes sharing food from different countries in our restaurants, celebrating events like Black History Month and PRIDE and running awareness campaigns on issues such as FGM. We regularly bring in speakers from the community – we had a huge steel band from a local school up on our big stage a month back – they were fantastic!
“We’re a strong team here and take a proactive approach wherever we can. If we’ve not already anticipated a need, we address any shortcomings as soon as possible, it’s important to be vigilant. Our staff training is mapped around cultural diversity - we are trained to be aware, on the look-out for situations that don’t look right and to support students going through a hard time.
“Young people have to deal with a lot these days. We support initiatives such as White Ribbon, the charity that engages men and boys in ending violence against women and girls, and State of Mind and Lighthouse that focus on mental health. Education has changed. Now it’s much more student-focussed and we work hard to provide the structure that seems to be lacking in many of their lives.
“There’s a real emphasis on student and staff wellbeing at the college. We offer counsellors and debt management advice to anyone who needs need it, staff included. Working with young people can be tough at times, especially when you’re providing pastoral care as well as delivering the curriculum.
“Around 20% of the young adults in our construction department have EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) outlining their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and we’re well set up to adapt to their learning requirements. As well as around 900 full time students we also train around 600 of adults in construction, with employees across the north-west, looking to up-skill their workforces. This naturally means we’re dealing with a number of diverse cohorts at any one time.
“Sustainability is a driving force in the education we offer here. We believe in the future of green energy and have invested heavily in innovation. The qualifications we offer are designed to train the workforces of the future, but we go further than that in providing our learners with the most up to date equipment to work with. Two, soon three, of our sites we have 3D imagery classrooms, known as CAVEs (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), where we can immerse learners in a ‘real-life’ working environment. This provides the opportunity to practice working in someone’s home, for example, and face the challenges that that can bring with it. We have screens set up outside the space so that fellow learners can share the experience and benefit from whatever their classmate is learning.
“We can also use this space to set up different systems so that the students get the chance to work on a range of EV charging points, heat pumps and Solar photovoltaic systems. It’s very adaptable and it excites the candidates, they enjoy what they’re learning.
“The college runs various initiatives to empower students, sharing stories of their success. Next year we are hosting the Northwest regional heat for 'Construction Skills Build 2025' – construction’s Olympic Games! Our students are really excited about it already.
“Anything we can do to highlight the success of our learners and share best practice is worth focussing on. I’m delighted that we’ve been awarded LCL Awards Inclusivity Charter and that we’re able to do all we do to support diversity.”
To learn more about TSCG, please click here. And to find out more about LCL Awards’ Inclusivity Charter and the guidance we can give you in supporting your learners, please click here.
Trafford and Stockport College Group has recently met the criteria for LCL Awards’ Inclusivity Charter, thanks to its dedication to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for both students and staff.
We caught up with Stewart Quayle, the Group’s Head of Studies for Construction and Sustainability, to find out more.
“Our campuses are set in multi-cultural areas which gives us a wide range of learners to work with. There’s a wonderful mix of cultures across the college’s five sites and we’re proud of the ethnic diversity we have here. Typically, the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) groups we work with are made up of at least six nationalities. One of the biggest challenges we have is getting everyone to understand the technical terms and vocab associated with the skill they are learning. Our tutors have developed a dictionary of technical language for progressing ESOL learners and we use labelling exercises and flash cards to help overcome language barriers.
“We do all we can to welcome and celebrate different cultures here with initiatives such as the provision of different faith prayer rooms, and a programme of activities to promote cultural diversity. This includes sharing food from different countries in our restaurants, celebrating events like Black History Month and PRIDE and running awareness campaigns on issues such as FGM. We regularly bring in speakers from the community – we had a huge steel band from a local school up on our big stage a month back – they were fantastic!
“We’re a strong team here and take a proactive approach wherever we can. If we’ve not already anticipated a need, we address any shortcomings as soon as possible, it’s important to be vigilant. Our staff training is mapped around cultural diversity - we are trained to be aware, on the look-out for situations that don’t look right and to support students going through a hard time.
“Young people have to deal with a lot these days. We support initiatives such as White Ribbon, the charity that engages men and boys in ending violence against women and girls, and State of Mind and Lighthouse that focus on mental health. Education has changed. Now it’s much more student-focussed and we work hard to provide the structure that seems to be lacking in many of their lives.
“There’s a real emphasis on student and staff wellbeing at the college. We offer counsellors and debt management advice to anyone who needs need it, staff included. Working with young people can be tough at times, especially when you’re providing pastoral care as well as delivering the curriculum.
“Around 20% of the young adults in our construction department have EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) outlining their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and we’re well set up to adapt to their learning requirements. As well as around 900 full time students we also train around 600 of adults in construction, with employees across the north-west, looking to up-skill their workforces. This naturally means we’re dealing with a number of diverse cohorts at any one time.
“Sustainability is a driving force in the education we offer here. We believe in the future of green energy and have invested heavily in innovation. The qualifications we offer are designed to train the workforces of the future, but we go further than that in providing our learners with the most up to date equipment to work with. Two, soon three, of our sites we have 3D imagery classrooms, known as CAVEs (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), where we can immerse learners in a ‘real-life’ working environment. This provides the opportunity to practice working in someone’s home, for example, and face the challenges that that can bring with it. We have screens set up outside the space so that fellow learners can share the experience and benefit from whatever their classmate is learning.
“We can also use this space to set up different systems so that the students get the chance to work on a range of EV charging points, heat pumps and Solar photovoltaic systems. It’s very adaptable and it excites the candidates, they enjoy what they’re learning.
“The college runs various initiatives to empower students, sharing stories of their success. Next year we are hosting the Northwest regional heat for 'Construction Skills Build 2025' – construction’s Olympic Games! Our students are really excited about it already.
“Anything we can do to highlight the success of our learners and share best practice is worth focussing on. I’m delighted that we’ve been awarded LCL Awards Inclusivity Charter and that we’re able to do all we do to support diversity.”
To learn more about TSCG, please click here. And to find out more about LCL Awards’ Inclusivity Charter and the guidance we can give you in supporting your learners, please click here.