Preston College – Support for deaf students

I would just like to introduce myself, I am Jane Hilton and I’m the SEND Resources Leader at Preston College. I am responsible for organising the support of learners from high schools/specialist schools when they come to college and will meet them to see what reasonable adjustments the college can put in place to try and ease their transition into college.

I work closely with the Deaf team in college where communication support is not restricted to classroom activities. All D/deaf learners are supported to access all areas of college life both through learning and non-learning activities. We currently have 4 D/deaf 16-19 year old learners, 2 x 19-25 years of age and 3 over the age of 25. All of these learners have progressed through different courses such as maths, English, art, media production, bricklaying etc  

If you have or know of any D/deaf learners that may be looking at colleges and would like further information or to meet with myself please don’t hesitate to contact me – email – jhilton@preston.ac.uk  or Tel: (01772) 225317.

I have listed some further information about the college below:

Preston College is a general further education college serving the city of Preston, the Fylde coast and South Ribble areas of Lancashire. We are a technical, specialist college, rated Good by Ofsted, who take great pride in supporting all of our learners to achieve the qualifications and outcomes they need alongside the skills, knowledge and experience that employers and universities are looking for. In short, it’s our mission to help make learners the most employable, allowing everyone to thrive in their chosen career. Working closely with employers from across the wider Lancashire area, we have built extensive partnerships with leading businesses, allowing us to support learners in developing the skills needed to address local gaps, creating a workforce ready to meet regional and economic needs. We aim to provide a culture, environment, facilities, innovation and services to enable learners at all career stages, local businesses and the College itself to develop and maintain social mobility and a thriving local economy.

Our main learner groups are: 

• Technical and professional study programmes for 16-19 learners from Entry Level to Level 4 studies – both full and part-time
• 14-16 school partnership vocational training programs
• Adult learners who have returned to study
• Adults in employment who wish to upskill and gain professionally recognised qualifications
• Learning for personal development through our community learning provision
• Workforce development and pre-employment programmes for employers and in partnership with the Department for Work  and Pensions (DWP)
• Partnership and collaborations including Prince’s Trust and Preston North End 
• Apprentices from Level 2 to Higher Apprenticeship programmes
• Higher Education

• We are a technical College firmly grounded in the community of Preston and Central Lancashire, with a mission to make our learners the most employable that they can be, now and in the future.
• We provide a high quality technical and vocational curriculum, blending technical skills development with underpinning knowledge whilst embedding the important employment and digital skills that learners require.
• Our curriculum is aligned to industry, business and community needs, and is designed with industry to ensure it delivers the skills required.  The learning environments, where possible, encompass workplace professional practices, and use industry standard equipment. 
• We value our diverse range of learners, providing integrated support for individuals as well as equipping them with the skills and knowledge to support their personal and economic wellbeing.
• We add value to the learner experience through effective partnerships and proactive collaborations with a range of organisations to further enhance our curriculum offer.
• Our curriculum enables good progression and end destinations into employment, further training and Higher Education; creating aspirational pathways aligning to careers.

Many thanks for taking the time to read through this information and I hope to have contact with you soon

Kind regards

Jane

Clare Stocks (on behalf of Jane Hilton)

Communication Support Worker (CSW) 

Support for Learners/SEND 

cstocks@preston.ac.uk