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This week is Learning Disability Work Week and we’re celebrating the industry experts who voluntarily offer their time and experience to Derwen College, allowing us to support our students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) into work.

The College has a number of Industry Champions – business leaders who offer advice, support and training to staff and students in Retail, Hospitality, Horticulture and Creative Arts.

Neil Bevan of Oswestry-based graphic design and marketing business Hunter Bevan Branding, Graphic Design and Marketing is one of the College’s most recently appointed Industry Champions.

He says:
“Engagement as an Industry Champion may include commenting on the curriculum, talking positively about the college’s work at business networking events, supporting events, sharing news on social media, or judging skill competitions.
“This benefits the students’ experience by exposing them to ‘real-life’ business people, working in sectors such as creative, or hospitality and catering, to give them feedback on ‘real-world’ scenarios to support their learning, and, ultimately, supported employment for some students. I am always impressed by the enthusiasm, friendliness, and potential of the students I meet on my visits (as well as the commitment and enthusiasm of the staff).”

Llanfyllin Spar owner Mark Prust supports retail staff and students as well as offering valuable external work placements to students.

He says:
“I was surprised but pleased to be asked to contribute my retail experience to enhance the work done at Derwen College. I hope to be as pro-active as possible in helping out with discovering and understanding latest innovations.
“At Spar we are continuously looking at the latest technology and training for till systems, stock-taking and health and safety which is information that we can share with college staff and students.
“We enjoy having students working here along with learning support assistant Julie Bryan. We have not had to adapt the way we work around them, they have fitted in seamlessly and are a pleasure to work with.”

Derwen College is urging everyone to make Christmas more magical for children with communication difficulties by learning festive Makaton sign language at a workshop at Oswestry Library on Thursday, 21st November.

A trained tutor from our officially ‘Makaton friendly’ college will be running the two-hour Signing for Santa workshop at the library from 2.30-4.30pm.

Senior Makaton Tutor and Derwen College Head of Speech and Language Therapy Julie Hawkins will be leading the workshop which will teach Christmassy signs, symbols and songs to enable festive helpers to communicate with youngsters with learning difficulties and disabilities. The course costs just £10.

The idea for Makaton’s Santa Signing Workshop originally came about through a partnership between The Makaton Charity and Weardale Railway, in Co Durham.

Julie Hawkins explained: “A few years ago, The Makaton Charity developed Makaton signs and symbols to support Santa on the Weardale Polar Express. A mum filmed Santa signing to three-year-old Betsy – a little girl with Down’s Syndrome – which made her Christmas magical. The video went viral, with more than 50,000 views. From there two Makaton tutors developed a Makaton Workshop to teach Santas to sign. We were really pleased to run our first workshop in 2017.”

Makaton is a language programme using signs and symbols to help people to communicate. It is designed to support spoken language and the signs and symbols are used with speech.

Senior Makaton tutor Julie Hawkins said: “Makaton is become more widely known and used in specialist and mainstream educational settings and on television. Children’s television presenter Justin Fletcher, aka Mr Tumble, uses Makaton signs and symbols to support speech, and we’ve even seen celebrities on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing signing ‘thank you’ to viewers. Derwen was also proud to see Makaton founder Margaret Walker receive a Special Recognition Award at the Pride of Britain Awards 2019.”

“We believe that by learning a few simple signs, every Father and Mother Christmas and would-be elf could communicate effectively with all children ensuring that the grotto experience is truly special for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The workshops are great fun and offer a bit of extra help for grotto staff, making sure that Father Christmas is never lost for words.”

Derwen College launches the Agnes Hunt Village appeal on 7^th November, and the request for stories from people who have lived in the life-changing bungalows over the decades has uncovered many fascinating stories.

On 7^th November, former residents, businesses and community are invited to find out more about the Agnes Hunt Village, in Gobowen – its history, its present and its future.

Through a £1 million pound Derwen College Charity appeal, the bungalows will be updated to create an ideal stepping stone for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to gain independent living skills. With the hope that they will move on to future employment and supported living.

The village of 28 bungalows was the vision of Dames Agnes Hunt who founded Derwen College. Building of the village did not start until 1952, four years after her death in 1948 – it was to be her final legacy.

Guests at the launch on Thursday will include people with fond memories of living and growing up in the Dame Agnes Hunt Village, including Bob Hardy. Bob, who now lives in Pant, grew up in Bungalow Number 12 with his mother and father Eunice and Jack Hardy and brothers David and Andrew.

“We lived at Number 12,” remembers Bob. “My dad came to the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital for treatment after being invalided out of RAF. Eventually we moved into the bungalows and he worked at the hospital in Splints and Appliances. My mum nursed at both the Derwen and the hospital.”

Bob’s parents remained living in the bungalows until his dad passed away in 1974 . His mum Eunice moved to Oswestry soon after. Eunice died in 2011 at the age of 84.

Bob and his brothers all still live locally and have fond recollections of their childhood.

“I have happy memories of growing up in the Agnes Hunt Village. There were a lot of families with children mainly with parents working at the Derwen or the Orthopaedic Hospital,” he says.

“There were many people who suffered debilitating conditions or disability. We all played together and helped each other out. We played football and cricket on the lawn in the middle of the cul-de-sac. There was only one tree there at the time so it was perfect for sports. I remember a gardener called Ivor who would cut the grass perfectly for cricket.

“We knew everybody and used to play and cycle around the Derwen and follow the path through the field to fish in the brook. We used to get wheels from the old wheelchairs to make our go-karts.”

The family remains connected with the RJAH Hospital and Derwen.

Bob is particularly proud that his wife Glenna, a Specialist Nurse Practitioner for Arthroplasty at the hospital, was the first to receive the Dame Agnes Hunt Nursing Medal. She was presented with the inaugural Dame Agnes Hunt Nursing Medal by HRH Princess Alexandra during an official Royal visit in 2017.

Bob’s brothers, children and nephews continue the tradition with many family members still working at the Orthopaedic Hospital as nurses, pharmacist and admin, says Bob.

“All three of us have been closely linked to Derwen and the Orthopedic Hospital, and it’s lovely to see that link with Agnes Hunt carry on to the next generation.”

For more information regarding the Agnes Hunt Village Project and the launch on Thursday, 7th November visit www.agneshuntappeal.co.uk email fundraiser Anna Evans on [email protected] or telephone 01691 661234.

Students held their nerve to showcase vocational and creative skills for an exciting week of competitions hosted by Derwen College.

Students demonstrated their talents in catering, table-laying, housekeeping, art, functional skills, IT and design and horticulture as part of the college’s new Skills Live @Derwen event which saw students from across the UK invited to take part.

Skills Live @Derwen is a new initiative at college, with competitions open to 16-25 year olds who are currently in education in mainstream or specialist colleges or schools, and working at up to Level 1. The college was pleased to welcome students from Landmarks Specialist College, near Sheffield, and James Watt College, Birmingham, and art entries from St Rose’s and St Martins, in Gloucestershire.

Competitions were held in industry-standard conditions, and were judged by industry experts. Judges included Neil Bevan of Oswestry-based branding, graphic design and marketing business Hunter Bevan; Oswestry author and Wilfred Owen Festival co-ordinator Jan Hedger; Oswestry Library manager Siobhan Shaw; Dave Cank of Severndale Nurseries; artist Liz Neal and Jim Creed from Oswestry’s The Qube.

Taking part in the competitions is a great way for students to demonstrate their skills and readiness for work and independence. The week ended with awards presentations where winners were presented with beautiful glass trophies created by Oswestry’s Designs in Mind.

Clare Howard, Chief Executive of Natspec – an organisation which supports the specialist college sector – visited the college for the launch of the competitions.

She said: “Competitions are an effective method of stretching and challenging students – they help to measure and recognise achievement and show off the work-related skills of our learners. They drive confidence and self esteem, which are needed in the workplace, and the best competitions are based on industry standards to ensure that students are work-ready. Natspec is pleased to support the work of Derwen College and all other colleges who are using their relationships with employers to develop competitions which support students in the vocational curriculum and onto employment when they leave college.”

Derwen College ‘industry champion’ and competition judge Neil Bevan said: “As an Industry Champion for Derwen College, as well as supporting the Retail Pathway team with ‘real life’ business experience, I get invited to attend many events at the college, such as open days, performances and fundraisers. One of the highlights has been taking part in judging the [email protected] competitions.

“These competitions really showcase the skills the students from Derwen and other Colleges have in many areas that relate directly to employment opportunities. The students demonstrate skill and mastery in many different tasks from bed making to badge making – showing their creative skills and also a high degree of attention to detail. These are all skills that can be transferred directly to the workplace, if employers will give them the opportunity to show what they are capable of. The students are also great to talk to and it’s obvious that they gain a great deal from the competitions and from interacting with people from outside the College environment.”

Derwen College Principal Meryl Green said that the college was proud to be launching Skills Live competitions.

She said: “Derwen Skills Live is an exciting new step in our competition journey and part of our continued efforts to find innovative ways to improve opportunities for students. At Derwen, we are privileged to have the facilities and industry connections to run competitions to showcase the skills demonstrated by students following vocational pathways. Derwen Skills Live brings together students from a variety of schools and colleges to compete in a professional way and demonstrate learning and employability skills. We look forward to seeing Skills Live grow even further to become a national annual event.”