Help for students with disabilities
The College aims to provide a supportive environment and equality of opportunity
for students with disabilities and/or learning difficulties. If you have a disability
or special need and feel that you may need help with your application, or whilst
on course, assistance is available. Should you need advice about support, please
contact a member of the Learner Support Team on 01702 220 400. Further information
is available in our Disability Guide, this
is available in a variety of formats on request. This guide contains our Disability
Statement.
Learning Support
Learning Support focuses on making the curriculum and College life accessible to
students with particular needs. Programmes of support are designed to suit your
individual need and nothing is too small or unimportant if it is causing you concern.
If you think you need support, we will need you to take part in a brief assessment.
Following the assessment, support we can offer may include:
- Note takers / scribes
- Assistance with organisation and motivation
- Equipment loans
- Support to access the full range of College services and facilities
- Special Exam Considerations
- Reviews with internal/external agencies.
Sensory Impairment Support / Communicator support
Our Sensory Impairment Officers are available to offer support and advice to Visually
or Hearing Impaired students.
The support available may include:
- Notetaking, modification of resources and Specialist Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) for
those with a Hearing Impairment
- Mobility and orientation training, notetaking, modification of resources and Specialist
Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TOVI) for those with a Visual Impairment
- Access to specialist technology and resources including Braille, large print format,
DVD/ Disk, CCTV, Mountbatten Brailler (electronic), Perkins Brailler (manual), JAWS
( text to voice software), laptops, voice-activated tape recorders for use in lessons,
Zoom Text (magnifier), Dragon Naturally Speaking (Speech Recognition Software)
You can contact our Sensory Impairment staff by telephone (01702 220620), Minicom
(01702 220642), Fax (01702 432320) and/or email guidance@southend.ac.uk. If you
would prefer to visit us in person, we also have support staff trained in British
Sign Language, Sign Supported English lipspeaking and Cued Speech.
Personal Care
The College is well placed to meet the needs of learners with complex personal care
needs (toileting, feeding etc.). We have a well equipped and accessible building
which includes an accessible toilet with a ceiling mounted hoist, closo-mat toilet
and couch.
Personal care services are generally provided in partnership with SPDNS, a well
established local nursing agency. Carers also provide learning support services
during lessons.
Additional Tutorials
Many people applying to study at the College have particular special needs (for
example, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome or mental health difficulties). We want all our
students to be successful and realise that some learners require additional support
to settle into College and achieve their full potential. Our Additional Tutorial
Support Team has been created to offer a flexible services which aims to meet your
needs.
Additional Tutorial Advisers can:
- Assist with assessing and reviewing your support needs
- Help support learners with disabilities/difficulties
- Provide mentoring and advocacy
- Make referrals to external agencies
- Give advice regarding bullying and harassment
- Negotiate Special Exam arrangements (although you need to discuss and request these)
- Arrange Alternative Education placements and support
Looked After Children and Young Carers
The aim of the College is to make your time here a pleasurable, successful experience
and to help you overcome any problems that may occur along the way. We understand
that if you are a Looked After Child or a Young Carer, you may require additional
support from time to time. We know that sometimes life can be difficult, complicated
and frustrating, and that you may face many obstacles and challenges as a result
of your circumstances.
The Learner Support team has a staff member who can work closely with you if you
are in the care system or are a young carer and can:
- Meet you before you enrol and start communication between outside agencies to ensure
you are provided with the best support possible as soon as you start your course
- Assess and review your support needs
- Provide open access or set weekly arrangement of additional tutorial sessions tailored
to meet your individual needs
- Liaise with your personal tutor to ensure you are able to complete your course successfully,
and provide advocacy where necessary
- Liaise closely with outside agencies such as Leaving Care team, Foster Carers, Connexions,
Supported Housing Officers, Key Workers, and Health Professionals
- Attend Looked After Children reviews, providing positive action
- Complete Personal Education Plans with you, your social worker, personal tutor and
carer
Counselling
We offer a confidential counselling service for students to talk through any issues
that are concerning you. Our trained Counsellor also works with specialist agencies
such as CRUSE and Relate, and where appropriate will be able to refer you to other
organisations that can more fully meet your needs.