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Meet Fenella Potterton and Vanessa Osborne from East Sussex College Group
This month we’re meeting Fenella Potterton and Vanessa Osborne from East Sussex College Group (ESGC) to find out more about the additional support provided to students from transition from secondary school through to being a student at the College. Fenella is Assistant Principal for Student Experience and Vanessa is the Therapy Manager and a Speech and Language Therapist.
With College open days happening at the moment, what sort of support is available for learners looking to apply to ESCG?
Our Additional Learning Support and Wellbeing team are always at open events to support learners and their families. We can be contacted in advance to ensure we are able to meet the needs of visitors, and our marketing team also organise smaller tours and visits. Our teams also organise transition visits throughout the year which can be us going into schools or learners coming to the college. We can organise quieter visits all the way through the year. We run welcome days in June and July for those who have applied and we also run smaller transition days in the summer for those students that might find a larger welcome day overwhelming. Students can come along for a day to get used to the environment in a smaller, quieter setting.
Tell us about support available at ESCG for students with additional needs
We have a wide range of staff to support student needs. From our wellbeing team through to our specialised therapy, speech and language support. In the therapy team we prioritise meeting EHCP needs and have two Speech and Language Therapists, two Occupational Therapists for the college and a team of therapy assistants on each of our campuses. We deliver various programmes supporting students with their communication and independence skills, support in recognising their emotions and to understand diagnoses. We work with students and parents and carers to understand support that has been successful in secondary school and how this can be provided at college. Where students have medical issues, we link with, for example, diabetes and epilepsy medical teams and facilitate them coming in to college to provide training for staff. We work with parents and carers as well as the young people to ensure joined up care.
Is this support available across all of your campuses?
Yes. We have members of our wellbeing staff across our main campuses in Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings as well as staff at the Automotive Training centre near Ore and our Newhaven, Marine Workshops site. Our support teams work very closely with curriculum staff. Vanessa and her team undertake training with curriculum staff around creating inclusive classrooms, understanding processing and sensory needs as well as well as specific training to meet the needs of individual students.
What spaces are there at the College for students that need a quiet or designated space?
Students can use the library and other designated quiet spaces as well as our wellbeing area. We have sensory rooms on each campus. They tend to be in an area of the College which is quieter but easily accessible. We have kitchen spaces for students identified as needing a quieter space for breaks and lunch which provide a quiet and safe environment for preparing and eating food and drink.
What support for managing mental health does the College provide for students?
We have a team of personal development and well-being mentors who work with students around low-level mental health concerns. We provide free access for Togetherall, a mental health online service for all our students. Togetherall provides preventative and early intervention mental health support moderated by healthcare professionals, trained to intervene or escalate whenever necessary. There are a lot of well-being tools and resources as well as one to one online support. The College also funds access to Anna Freud where students can have online CBT style counselling. The service also offers online support for parents and carers to access.
How can students, parents and carers and teachers get in touch to find out more?
The easiest way is to email us at transition@escg.ac.uk for anyone who would like support with the transition to college. We can then have a conversation to discuss specific need. Once students apply, we will contact them directly about any additional support based on the details they provide us on their application form. This is really useful for us to make sure everything is organised before the start of college so please make sure this section of the application form is completed! For more general information of support available and opportunities to visit the College, click on the links below: