Bexhill College: Getting the Grade

Education is what separated achievement from potential; good education is what makes an outstanding student. Bexhill College’s Principal, Karen Hucker tells SBT about the exceptional post 16 education the college offers and how it helps any student to be the best they can be…

With approximately 94 sixth form colleges in England currently, there’s a wide array of choices for young people, parents and adults for the continuation of their own or their child’s education. As specialist colleges, the wide range of courses and services at sixth form colleges are aimed specifically at those aged between 16 and 19, and Bexhill College offers a high quality environment for learning and achievement.

Bexhill College has 1940 full-time students and around 400 part-time students who come from all over: Bexhill, Hastings and Rye, Battle, Robertsbridge and Hurst Green to the north and Hailsham and Eastbourne to the west. As well as offering a bridge between school life and full-time work of higher education post 16, the college also offers opportunities for adults to study in order to further their career or enhance job prospects. With an A-Level pass rate of 98%, a 100% pass rate in over 30 subjects, with 93% of students accepted into their first or second choice of university in 2015, the figures speak for themselves. Sussex Business Times speaks to Principal of Bexhill College, Karen Hucker about the services and courses that the college offers its students, and how the ethos of the college encourages students to reach these high achievement levels, become work-ready, successful and happy in whatever they do.

So, Karen, could you give readers an overview of what Bexhill College offers – what courses or levels of course you offer etcetera?

“Of course! Bexhill College offers a wide range of courses for all abilities. We are an open access college and therefore offer courses to the most able students as well as those who need a second chance. We offer both academic and vocational courses, including: 43 different A-Levels, the International Baccalaureate, BTEC Extended Diplomas (equivalent to 3 A-Levels), BTEC Subsidiary Diplomas therefore making a bespoke package of study to suit their needs. We also offer a GCSE re-sit package and level 1 courses.

One of the college’s strengths is the breadth of provision and a timetable which offers students the opportunity to study almost any combination of subjects. Students can also extend their learning by studying for the extended project alongside their A-Levels.

There is also an extensive enrichment provision. Our sports academies are unique in that they offer students the opportunity to have additional coaching in their chosen area as well as studying any subjects they want to at college. The academy students represent the college regionally and nationally and have been very successful. Current academies are in football, rugby (both men’s and women’s), basketball, tennis, table tennis, swimming, golf, athletics, badminton and cricket. A netball and women’s football academy are the latest programmes to start.”

Do you have many international students?

“International work is a new area for us and we have been actively recruiting for two years. We currently have 25 international students from all over the world including Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, Bermuda, Norway and EU countries such as Spain and Italy.”

Do you offer apprenticeships?

“We do – we offer apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeship in key areas including health and social care, early years, hospitality, business administration, customer service, hairdressing and barbering.

We also deliver LLDD work in the community and have a number of partnerships with community providers in this area.”

What are you doing for National Apprenticeship Week?

“We usually run a number of different activities during National Apprenticeship Week, including awareness raising activities, advice, guidance and workshops with both young people and local employers.”

Do you think there are benefits to doing IB over A-Levels or vice versa for a young person’s future success?

“Both options are different and therefore it really depends on the student’s interests. For the IB, students have to continue with English, Maths, a language and a science post 16 as well as two other subjects and not at all students want to do this. For some, they want the range of options A-Levels can offer them.

The IB has other elements built into the programme such as Theory of Knowledge and Creativity, Action and Service. Students also have to undertake an extended essay. With A-Levels, students would also be able to achieve this, in addition to their studies by taking on the extended project.

Both courses require significant commitment and hard work if a student wants to do well. Both lead to extensive opportunities in leading universities and neither, by any means, is an easy option. I believe the student should choose what’s best for them and what suits their ability.”

What courses do you have for adults who perhaps want to further their career or develop their skills whilst working? Are these particularly popular?

“Adults can join any of our full-time courses In addition, we offer a number of NVQs in the evening which are popular with adults who are working full-time but require a qualification. We also offer GCSE English and Maths in the evening, both of which are popular as so many jobs require a C or above in these subjects, so it gives adults a chance to further their career or apply for a job they may not have previously been able to do.”

Do you work collaboratively with local businesses throughout the term?

“Employers are involved in the work of the college through a number of avenues. With the apprenticeship programme, the college works regularly with employers delivering these programmes. Employers also provide work experience placements for students on some of our full-time courses such as early years, health and social care, travel and tourism, computing and ICT and personal training. These placements are essential to help develop work ready skills for our students.

Employers are also involved in the college through the ‘Careers Academy’, which is a national programme that develops young people’s work readiness skills. The programme offers master classes and guru talks from key business people as well as providing young people with internships during their summer vacation between year 1 and year 2. We are the only college in this area offering this programme, and it’s a huge asset for young people’s career prospects.

We also work with local companies on specialist projects. For example, the college is currently working with General Dynamics on a STEM project. Students work with the company to develop a new idea – a few years ago students developed a covert listening device for armoured vehicles through a similar project.”

Education rates have been highlighted as high priority for the Hastings and Bexhill regeneration plans – how can the Government, local authority and colleges like yourself band together to improve overall education for the next generation?

“High quality education begins with ensuring your own organisation is providing the best education it can to the community you serve. Bexhill College was inspected by Ofsted in October 2015 which resulted in an excellent outcome. The inspection confirmed the college remained a ‘good’ college but also highlighted that the college had continued to improve since its last inspection.

Local collages work together through FE Sussex and the post 16 Education Improvement Partnership. Both of these groups focus on supporting quality improvement and sharing good practise across institutions. It is essential that colleges work together across an area to ensure the needs of all students are met. We are all very different colleges with different curriculum and ethos. Different environments will suit different students and having that choice is extremely important.”

Do you think education should involve perhaps more of an entrepreneurial feel in order to promote start-ups and benefit the business climate in Sussex?

“I think all education has the ability to develop entrepreneurial skills in students which they can then use when they start work. The key is developing transferable skills which students will be able to draw on throughout their working life. It is often noted that the young people of today are likely to have a number of careers during their working life and in addition to a level of academic or vocational education, it is the job of education to give them the personal and social skills to be able to cope with that challenge. That’s the ethos we employ.”

Moving onto the campus itself, what facilities do you have? An plans for expansion or renewal?

“We have a fantastic campus which includes general classrooms as well as a wide range of specialist facilities such as science laboratories, art studios, photography studios and a film studio. Since being on this site, we have added a professional standard theatre, the Izzard Theatre, along with a hair training salon, a professional training kitchen, drama studio, music rooms and a recording studio.

We also opened up our new gym in September. This allows us to offer personal training courses as well as supporting the work of the sports students and sports academy. It is open to all students across the college for fitness training and is extremely popular.

The Sports Centre, which lies adjacent to the college, incorporates a large sports hall suitable for badminton, basketball, indoor football, cricket and netball. There is an integral climbing wall, mirrored dance studios and a spinning room. Outside there is a floodlit Astro Turf pitch which is open weekday evenings and Saturdays for hockey and five-a-side football. This is being upgraded to a 3G pitch in the summer.

A number of these modern facilities are available to hire and are ideal for professional use, events and activities. This includes a Refectory with a mezzanine area, a multi-purpose conference room, classrooms and a TV studio. The 200 seat Izzard Theatre is equipped with adjustable seating in order to cater for audience numbers, projector facilities, state of the art sound and lighting systems, male and female dressing rooms and refreshments can be served on the upper level.

 

 

 

 

For more images and details such as hiring times and fees, please visit www.schoolhire.co.uk and www.bexhillcollege.ac.uk.

Please contact 01424 214545 to make an enquiry.