Assistant principal SARAH JONES explains why our personal development programme is such an important part of the Telford College journey
Life at Telford College is about much more than just gaining qualifications. They’re hugely important, of course – but so are the softer social skills which prepare students for the next stage of their career journey.
Learning should create well-rounded individuals and be challenging, rewarding and fun. Students’ time should be filled with milestones and memories as they develop the knowledge and skills required for a long and fruitful career.
And that’s where EMERGE comes in. It’s Telford College’s quality kitemark, offering equality of opportunity, a joined-up approach to life outside of the classroom, and the chance for everyone to play their part in a fulsome, joyful and rewarding programme which encourages ambition.
We are committed to preparing students for life beyond college, and our comprehensive and intelligently data driven EMERGE programme is a fundamental component. It’s designed to give students the skills to fulfil their potential, and achieve their goals.
- It’s about life skills, British values, culture, diversity and democracy . . .
- It’s about enrichment, empowerment, respect, and tolerance . . .
- It’s about giving students a voice, and providing them with support and motivation to be the best they can be.
EMERGE is best described as a student-focused personal development programme that runs alongside their studies.
It is part of everyone’s college journey, whichever academic or professional pathway they choose.
All students joining college are given two distinct but interwoven parts of their student journey clearly mapped out: their main study programme, and their EMERGE programme with a list of activities and skills-building sessions.
There’s an EMERGE app being built for September 2024, and opportunities to get involved in a wide range of projects including Prince’s Trust and Duke of Edinburgh programmes.
Students can expect to be developed as individuals, learn new skills, soft skills and life skills – with plenty of opportunities to shine and shape the direction of the college too.
And at the end of the process, they’ll have developed high-quality and long-lasting written, communication, organisation, and time management skills which are so important to employers, all clearly mapped out on a CV.
And most importantly of all, they’ll have achieved this through extra-curricular activities which are engaging, effective and fun.
All of this lines up perfectly with Telford College’s core values, which are based around principles of Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement.
EMERGE packages this up into a clearly-defined personal development programme giving our students opportunities, experiences and support that extends far beyond the basics.
It will nurture them, develop their character, promote professional growth and ambition and, by extension, continue to develop the reputational growth of the college too.
Well-rounded students are people who reflect wisely, learn eagerly and behave with integrity.
There are other advantages to EMERGE too. Data gathered intelligently from the programme enables the college leadership team to build a wider picture of the student population’s overall wellbeing – which in turn could impact on decision-making further down the line.
It’s well established that mental health and wellbeing influence young people’s cognitive development and learning, as well as their social and emotional health.
Telford College adopts a whole college approach to mental health and wellbeing, and we have used resources from Anna Freud to develop this aspect of the EMERGE programme.
It’s one of the reasons why so many of the activities on offer through EMERGE link directly to the improvement of overall wellbeing of students.
We believe that EMERGE is pivotal to establishing Telford College’s reputation as an education provider which embraces not just the academic and vocational achievement of students, but soft skills development too.
