Corseford College: The campus supporting people with complex needs
- Published
Jamie Thomson is among the first students at Corseford College
Scotland's first further education facility for young people with complex support needs welcomed its first students in September last year. BBC Scotland has spent time with its students and staff to see what kind of impact it has made.
Corseford College - in Johnstone, Renfrewshire - provides individual support for 15 teenagers to continue their education beyond school.
Before now, students had to travel to England to attend similar facilities.
The college offers subjects including literacy, numeracy, life skills and tech skills. The campus also has sensory rooms and a hydrotherapy pool.
Jamie Thomson is one of its first students.
When the 18-year-old left school last year, he faced an uncertain future - would he be able to keep learning or would he be spending time in an adult day centre with people much older than him?
Jamie has complex support needs. Autism, learning difficulties, asthma and a heart condition mean that he would not receive adequate support in a mainstream college.
He had few options until his parents enrolled him for the newly-announced Corseford College.
Attached to an existing grant-funded independent school for children with additional needs, the college is the first of its kind in Scotland.
Jamie Thomson is one the first students at the college
Jamie has been attending since September.
His mum Sarah said he receives literacy and numeracy classes at the college, alongside music training. She said her son appears calmer and is interacting with students his own age.
Before Jamie was accepted at college, his likely destination would be day centres in the city.
"Jamie wouldn't be able to manage in a mainstream college because he has no sense of danger - he has to be watched 24-7," said Sarah.
"At Corseford, he has a lot of one-to-one interaction. They make a timetable that suits the individual.
"It is giving him a lot of opportunities that he'd never have at a day care centre."
'There was nothing for them'
Corseford College is in a refurbished wing of the charity Capability Scotland's existing school campus.
The college provides support for 15 teenagers
The Scottish government and the Scottish Funding Council has pledged £316,000 to the facility in its first year.
Capability Scotland is also investing an extra £250,000 in creating a "pioneering", "state-of-the-art" campus.
Liz McConnachie, head of Corseford College, has worked in the sector for 35 years.
Asked why such a service has not been available before, she said: "There isn't enough noise made about it.
"It was the one piece of education in Scotland that was not accommodated. The only thing that was not in place was for our prospective students with complex needs leaving school.
"There was nothing for them but day care. If you see the students, they are capable of learning but it's the one area of Scottish education that is not accommodated for - until now."
'Filling a void'
Capability Scotland said the college is the first of a planned series of campuses that "will fill the nationwide void in further education opportunities for those whose needs cannot be met in mainstream further education colleges".
In the last five years, 51 young people with complex needs had to travel to England to get access to similar facilities.
Jamie Hepburn, the Scottish government's minister for further education, attended a launch event for the college this week.
He told the BBC he wanted a facility like Corseford in Scotland to avoid people travelling elsewhere.
He said: "The specific proposition that we have here hadn't been advanced to the stage where it was put before government and we were in a position to say, yes, that is something we want to support.
"But Capability Scotland spoke with me, made that proposition and I was delighted to be able to support it."