New Curriculum Offer

The College secured £500,000 S.106 funds which have been used to develop a range of new facilities on both the Waterloo and Bermondsey sites of the College to support the delivery of 7 new curriculum areas. This new curriculum provision has been designed by employers to support the training and employment of local people, with the support of the Shard developers, Sellar, who want to create a sustainable legacy for Southwark. The College's mission has been to improve the employment prospects of local people and thus has developed Real Work Environments for learners to gain vocational training in industry standard facilities. These S.106 funds (and a Skills Funding Agency capital grant) have enabled the provision of training for a range for construction trades, beauty therapy, hairdressing, sports therapy, personal training, catering and hospitality.

The new 'Real Working Environments' are where students can get training and experience on customer service and generally interacting with the public as well as learning a craft or vocation. Employers often say to us that learners have qualifications but lack practical experience and the College is seeking to redress this and give learners a competitive edge when applying for jobs.

Sellar and Southwark Borough Council are actively engaged in the project management of the training provision we provide. Sellar has also ensured that their service providers/contractors for the Shard play an active part in helping to design training programmes now to ensure learners have national qualifications that include customised practical training that really prepares them for employment opportunities at the Shard. However, it does not end there- in order to ensure a sustainable legacy for the community, the training facilities that have received investment support the regeneration of the borough and therefore other long-term employment prospects for students /local residents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13401241