St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College

What does the college curriculum look like?

The college is predominately available to students from 16-19, however we do have a small number of student who stay with us until they are 20.

The college offers a range of courses which includes:

• Level 1 Vocational Studies
• Level 2 BTEC courses
• GCSE Improvement package (5 GCSE subjects)
• Level 3 AS and A2 course in 30 different subjects
• Level 3 BTEC courses
• All students must be working towards achieving a grade C in maths and English

Please see our website for further details www.stcharles.ac.uk

How will the college curriculum match my child’s needs?

Learners attend college on a full-time basis and they are supported by staff both in class and on a one to one basis depending on the student’s needs. The Learning Support Department provides specialist support for a huge variety of learners and specific needs, including:

• Those with a specific learning difficulty/disability
• Students who have ASD/Asperger’s
• Learners with English as and Additional Language (EAL) needs
• Students who have had interrupted education
• Learners with low literacy/numeracy skills

IPADS/laptops are given to students where assistive technology is recommended.  Frequent contact with the learner, parents/carers/ guardians and teachers is maintained to ensure the support is appropriate and changes are made when required.

The Learning Support department is a team of 6 fully qualified teachers: 4 of whom are specialist teachers. There is individual expertise and experience in areas such as: Dyslexia, Autism, Asperger Syndrome and EAL. The department is also skilled in supporting students who have medical and associated learning difficulties. Care reviews are attended by the Head of Department and there is frequent liaison with healthcare professionals. There are also four learning assistants who support the students in lessons and on a one to one basis when required.

All college staff engage in frequent staff training so that they can support the needs of the students. Recent training events include: ‘Working with the Autistic Learner’, How to support the Dyspraxic Learner and ‘’Dyslexia and strategies for the classroom’

The main teaching buildings and student facilities have access arrangements for those with mobility arrangements. Assistive technology and specific software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, Readwrite Gold, scanners and IPADs are regularly used and new technology is purchased when needed by individual students.

How will the college preparing my child for employment?  

Work Experience

Having the opportunity to get high quality work placements is increasingly important for young people seeking to get straight into employment, or even for university progression. St Charles College is proud of its achievement in getting over 200 young people into extended work placements each year.

We guarantee that any student on a BTEC or vocationally orientated programme will be given a placement lasting at least two weeks, or a range of work based experiences. In addition, we have also built up a number of contacts for those of our A level students who need some professional experience. Last year these included placements at top city law firms, Barclays, the BBC, Sky and the Institute of Public Policy Research. The College has also worked with groups such as the Social Mobility Foundation and the SEO Scholars organisation which provide short-term internships and professional mentoring opportunities for qualifying students that have legitimate aspirations to progress to leading universities.

How will the college prepare and support a child when they finish their course?

The college has a full time careers adviser who oversees all college systems and events relating to university, apprenticeships and job progression as well as working to support individual students with customised advice and guidance. There are also a number of external agencies, such as IntoUniversity and employers who come and speak to the students about the career progression. All students attend a Choices day event where they have individual interviews and the opportunity to meet with representatives from a number of outside organisations.

The college fully supports the students in their transition to university, work or further education. For the past four years students interested in applying to university have visited Brunel university for an educational awareness visit for students with disabilities, this has proved to be an excellent opportunity for students to see what university life is like and the support services that are available to them.