A new £5m centre for Nottingham College could be built in the city after funding for the project was secured. The new Independent Living and Employability Centre will be developed for up to 200 students who have learning difficulties or disabilities.
It comes after a government grant of £4m was awarded through the FE Transformation Fund on top of the £1m from the college. The new centre will be built within the College’s Basford site, itself the beneficiary of a Government grant back in 2014.
The new Grade A, purpose-built centre will be energy efficient and offer the latest in specialist teaching and learning resources for special educational needs and disability (SEND) education. The bid, submitted back in 2021, was agreed earlier in April and subject to planning approval, the new centre will be open and available for students from September 2024.
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The College currently supports around 90 Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities. (SLDD) students at its Basford campus, but the majority of its provision is located within its Arthur Mee Centre in Stapleford. It comes as the Victorian former school-house is no longer fit for purpose and requires significant restoration and innovation to meet the specialist requirements of these students.
Transport is currently provided for students in order for them to access provision at Arthur Mee. The same transport arrangements will be in place for learners accessing the new site at Basford.
An architect's indicative illustration for the new centre depicts a facility with all the latest equipment and resources in modern, light and comfortable classrooms, IT suites, workshops, training kitchens and community gardens. Martin Sim, Interim CEO and Principal for Nottingham College, said: "All of our students deserve the very best learning environments we can offer, and over the last few years, the College has worked hard to transform its estate and deliver an improved experience for all.
"We're delighted to be able to continue with our ambitions with this new grant, which will not only enable us to deliver a new and improved learning environment to our SLDD learners, but allow us to better integrate this specialist provision with the vast vocational provision we already have on offer at our Basford campus.
Carl Ara, Head of Centre for both Basford and the current Arthur Mee campus, said: "Bringing provision together into one site presents a number of exciting opportunities, not least the chance for our construction students to have a real-life project on their doorstep to learn from. For our SLDD learners, I'm really keen to get them involved in the planning and design process for the new build, ensuring it best reflects their needs and aspirations.
“This represents a once in a generation investment for SLDD teaching and learning and I'm proud to have played my part in securing this opportunity for our students, their families and our staff, who care so passionately for the welfare and wellbeing of our SLDD student community.”
The College will not be moving its SLDD provision until the new centre is ready to open in September 2024.
