Department Newsletter
FOUNDATION LEARNING
Autumn I 2024
Welcome
The One Show
Greetings from the Foundation Learning Department at Castleford College and Wakefield College! I am thrilled to welcome you to read our departmental newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading about the amazing things that happen within our Foundation Learning Department. Our main focus is to provide our students with the core skills and confidence which will prepare them for their next steps in life. That’s why we arrange for our students to take part in a rich variety of activities and experiences alongside their learning to ensure they can successfully progress onto their next steps. We also believe in the power of real stories to inspire and guide. That’s why you will be able to read about some of our student success stories in this newsletter, including some of our current and former students. The impact of our DFN Project SEARCH programme and how its enabling young adults with learning difficulties to gain valuable work experience has even been recognised by BBC’s The One Show, which you’ll be able to read more about in this newsletter.
Laura Lavender Head of Foundation Learning
Our DFN Project SEARCH students Codie Belford and William Jones recently made their big TV debut when Katie and Harvey Price visited them in their workplace at Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield. As part of a special episode of the One Show, Katie and Harvey met with Codie and William to find out how they’re getting on in their placements and how DFN Project SEARCH has benefitted them.
Viewers got a glimpse of what Codie’s internship involved as a Ward Domestic, as well as William’s role as a Facilities Porter, at the Trust. Katie and Harvey also spoke to Codie’s mum Kerry and William’s dad Stephen about what it was like for their children growing up and the opportunities that the programme has given them.
Building Your Skills and Confidence Our Foundation Learning students take part in a range of sessions and workshops designed to help you build the necessary skills for an exciting future career. Our students have been taking part in a weekly Preparing for Adulthood session, which mostly recently included a guest workshop from HSBC Banking where they learned about accessing online banking safely, avoiding fraud and making successful payments.