New College Worcester
Term Time
New College Worcester is a school and college for students aged 11 to 19 years who are blind or partially sighted. As well as visual impairment, some of our students have additional disabilities or difficulties, including hearing impairment, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, including Asperger’s Syndrome and physical disability. We are not a Local Authority School so the large majority of placements are made by the Local authority in which the children and young people live.
All of our teaching staff, as well as being specialists in their subjects, are Qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired (QTVI) and we also have a Qualified Teacher of the Hearing Impaired (QTHI). Residential Care staff have appropriate training and two qualified nurses oversee medical arrangements and support. Our staff group has many years of experience working with children and young people who are visually impaired.
We follow the National Curriculum and offer a wide range of subjects at GCSE level, and over 25 AS/A level subjects and some BTEC courses. We also offer other courses which are more suitable for some of our students, including Employability Skills and Entry Level courses. Our students are taught in small groups, typically comprising 5 or 6 students. Alongside our academic provision, students are supported to develop their Independent Living Skills, Mobility, ICT skills and Braille skills (if appropriate).
We aim to provide our students with the skills to enable them to make an effective transition to Higher
Education, Further Education or the workplace when they leave us.
Being residential, we have a ‘Waking Day Curriculum’ and are able to provide programmes for our students that go beyond the timetabled day. Students have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities after the College day and at weekends. As well as providing opportunities to enjoy and achieve, the extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities supports students to practise their skills for independence and is an excellent way to develop their self-confidence and self-esteem.