Hereward College to Host “Living Independently” Seminar for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Users

Hereward Student using AAC equipment

1Voice will be offering a free seminar for users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) on 22nd June, between 11 am – 3 pm, at Hereward College. The seminar will be held by AAC users with the purpose of explaining how they manage to live independently.

Communication is a skill that is learned and developed by everyone and can be continuously improved. However, for children with speech, language and/or communication needs, the daily struggle to communicate means they could be shut out of everyday life.

AAC covers all forms of communication, other than oral speech, including facial expressions or gestures, symbols and pictures, or writing. People with severe speech or language problems rely on AAC to supplement existing speech or replace speech that is not functional. Special augmentative aids, such as picture and symbol communication boards and electronic devices, are available to help people express themselves. This may increase social interaction, school performance, and feelings of self-worth.

1Voice is a charitable organisation for people with speech impediments who use AAC, which takes a family and social perspective on communication and recognises the great need for adult role models to inspire children and families alike. 1Voice promotes families supporting each other to overcome the isolation that being unable to communicate can bring. They offer network and support for children and families using communication aids.

During the event, participants will get the opportunity to learn about managing their finances, practical and interpersonal skills, managing personal assistants and active safeguarding. Participants will also receive tips and ideas about using AAC and will get the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions about living independently with the 1Voice representatives.

The event is supported by Hereward College, an all-inclusive FE College in Coventry with specialist provision for students with diverse and complex support requirements. Hereward was selected by 1Voice to host the seminar due to its expertise in Speech and Language Therapy and because many students at Hereward are AAC users. The College puts a high value on developing independence skills which enable its students to become active members of society.

Patrick Bates, ex-student at Hereward College and attendee at previous 1Voice events said:

“I would definitely recommend the 1Voice events to anyone who is using AAC equipment, regardless of age. Their expertise is truly valuable.”

The event is free, but pre-booking is essential. If you’d like to attend please contact Julie Atkinson on Julie.atkinson2@nhs.net or 07773 639281 to register.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, make sure you visit our Website to find out more about Hereward College!

Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS FEED to get our stories through email.

Students from Hereward to demonstrate their “Employ Ability”

Students from Hereward College will join with other young disabled people from Coventry, Warwick and Milton Keynes to showcase their talents at a special ‘Employ Ability’ event at Rugby Centre on 22 May, between 10:30 am – 2:00 pm.

The event, which has been organised and managed by the students themselves, brings together employers, educators and young people with disabilities to showcase their skills and talents along with examples of how employers are successfully working with them.

Hereward College, Warwickshire College in Coventry, Roundoak School in Daventry and Slated Row School in Milton Keynes have formed a cluster group in response to the government green paper on supporting young people with disabilities. The group has worked with the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) on a project to focus on developing more effective ways to help disabled young people into work, which is culminating in the “Employ Ability” showcase.

The event includes workshops and presentations from employment support organisations and businesses including National Grid and BT. These will help employers understand and appreciate the business and wider benefits of employing young people with disabilities, as well as find out what support is available to help make it happen. Educators will be able to see how to establish relationships with employers that can really make a difference in supporting students into work.

Students will also be showcasing their creative talents in a drama piece and flash mob performance. Attendees will get the opportunity to interact with the actors during a forum theatre performance.

Mike Shaw, Vice Principal of Quality and Curriculum at Hereward College said “Every young person has the right to aspire to the very best for their future and every employer wants the best for their business. That’s why this event is so important to bring together stakeholders, employers and our learners, to showcase their skills and aspirations and the work we do to support them in education."

“There is still much work to do to make employability a reality especially for disabled people, but we hope that everyone at the event will be inspired by seeing what can be achieved.”

If you’ve enjoyed this post, make sure you visit our Website to find out more about Hereward College!

Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS FEED to get our stories through email.

The Hereward Art Prize 2013 - Competition for Hereward Staff and Students

Do you want to take part in an exciting opportunity to showcase your talent? Want a chance to free your creative juices and see your hard work on display?

Well then the Hereward Art Prize is the perfect opportunity for you. We want to see your best work, and what more it’s free to enter! If you’ve got a lovely piece of artwork that’s been hanging around doing nothing or even a media or performance piece that you can’t wait to showcase, then send it to us. What’s more there will be prizes for three winners!

All pieces are that entered into the competition will be displayed in the exhibition that will take place during the Hereward Festival in the last two weeks of term. You can enter as an individual or as a group and share the prize!

There are 3 categories:

• Entry Level
• Level 1 and 2
• Level 3 and staff

There are five levels of criteria for any work submitted:

• Photographic and Digital art-No bigger than A3
• 3D-No bigger than 50cm by 50cm
• Painting and drawing-No bigger than A3
• Media and Performance-No longer than 3 minutes
• Textiles-No bigger than A3

To enter you must pick up an application form James Bachelor or Chris Samuel in the art department, room 28 , and this must be handed in along with your piece. Work can be dropped off to Anouska (art technician – room 28 art department) a week before the deadline. The judging will take place on the 17th of June.

If you need to talk with us about anything please contact us: HerewardArtPrize@hereward.ac.uk

Rules for the competition

• Your work needs to be mounted or framed or ready to display..
• Your work must meet the criteria.
• Anything offensive will not be allowed to enter.
• Only one piece per person/group is to be submitted.
• You must fill and hand in the application form with your work.

The deadline is the 10^th of June, so get your creative juices flowing!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, make sure you visit our Website to find out more about Hereward College!

Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS FEED to get our stories through email.

Celebrating success – Curriculum April 2013

Visual Arts

·         2 students from the visual arts department have designed and implemented an arts competition for all staff and students in the college.  Participants are encouraged to produce a piece of art work and the competition will run as part of the Hereward Festival

Sports

·         Staff and students from the department successfully hosted the regional ability counts football tournament at the college on Friday 26^th April.  20 Hereward students took part in the event as competitors, organisers, timekeepers, officials (Matt Jarvis referee). 6 other colleges from the region attended the event, which was a huge success.

Performance & Music

·         The Band music competition is gathering pace and students from the music department are busily preparing for the event with independent rehearsals and gig preparation.

·         Students from the dance department are involved in supported an LSIS employability awareness day.  The students will be performing a flash mob dance as part of the day which has been jointly organised by staff and students from Hereward along with other schools and colleges in the region.

·         The Arts Award is up and running for this term which involves 6 students gaining valuable life and employment skills via all arts forms.  This is being led by Zoe Hopkins with a view to being rolled out to more students from September.  The arts award has strengthened our links with key partners such as The Warwick Arts Centre.

Employability

·         Employability Stats – 5 students during the month of April have undertaken a successful external work experience placement – Notable Corey Scott had a very successful placement at the Coventry Council House Electoral services.  Corey has received excellent feedback from the placement including a glowing report from an external training company that attended the council house whilst Corey was on placement.

·         To date there have been 37 successful external placements with more planned in the summer term.

·         External placements - S: drive, Allusers, Work experience photographs 2012-13

·         16 students applied and were successful at interview for roles at the forthcoming ‘The Band’ competition.  Students gained valuable employability skills and experiences as part of this process.

Business & ICT

·         The young enterprise group led by Una Moore and Ingrid terry have won 2 awards for their enterprise work this year.  The group attended a regional awards ceremony on Wednesday 24^th April at Coventry University.

·         A group of students from the department have won a national competition for their project relating to the money for life scheme.  At the final they were joined by 5 other regional finalists runners up, two representatives from the team have also been invited to London to compete for the UK People’s Prize. – Fantastic achievement

Functional Skills Department

       The online Functional Skills tests have begun and we had a number of passes at Level 1 & 2 for English and Maths. Successful learners this time were: David Williams, Nick Brennan, Martin Bamber, James Batchelor, Nathan Grainger, Timi Sosan, James Stewart, Alex Nemar, Chris Cotton (x2), Oliver Baskaran, Robbie Fleming, Alex Sutton, Cameron Wood, Jacob Jones. Well done everyone!

Entry level programmes

·         Jon Gaulton and James Rowlatt from the Entry level 3 Skills for Working life Horticulture and Floristry course have been offered a day work placement at Ryton Gardens with Andrea Jones who has been teaching the course one day per week. They will be going over to Ryton Gardens on 13^th May where they will be designing the growing beds at the entrance to the gardens. This will also give them the opportunity to gain an extra qualification through Ryton Gardens at level 1. This will be a huge achievement for them.

·         Both year one and year two of the skills for working life and independence course will be given work experience at Ryton Gardens for a day again with Andrea and will be building a clay oven. They will be given a day pass for the summer holiday to go back and make pizzas using the oven. Andrea is keen to get the press involved in this as she feels that it has been her most successful project working with the students this year and would like to showcase what the student have been doing. She would like for Siobhan Mason or/and Katie Howell to be involved in the photo shoot.

·         Two entry one learners from the Personal Progress course made it through to gain a position for The Band day. Richard Hines will be working as a catering assistant and Liam Clarke as an MC. This is a huge achievement for them both.

·         On Wednesday 1^st May Personal Progress students had a sports morning where they took part in various games which they had been learning and practicing their skills for over the academic year with the physiotherapy department.  All students received a medal for taking part.

·         Personal Progress group 4 went to watch Allen Marston practicing his gymnastics. Students went with Hannah Bradley, Elise McDowell and Rachel Holtom. Students enjoyed the evening and AJ’s parents were really happy to see his peers showing support for him.

·         Josie Shingler, Mouaz Mohammed, Richard Hines and Prasant Patel have been given the opportunity to visit a school and have a look and a go at rebound therapy.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, make sure you visit our Website to find out more about Hereward College!

Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS FEED to get our stories through email.