City College Norwich

City College Norwich (CCN) is a college of further and higher education which is located on Ipswich Road, in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The college has a second site at St Andrews House in Norwich city centre, which is also home to the National Skills Academy for Financial Services. Founded in 1891, City College Norwich has been situated in its current location since 1953. It is one of the largest colleges in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Overview

City College Norwich has over 14,000 students on a wide range of vocational, academic and professional courses. The College’s provision spans work with 14–16 year olds (around 1,000 of whom attend college one day a week whilst attending high school), full and part-time further education courses for young people and adults, higher education courses, apprenticeships and other bespoke training for employers. The college has around a thousand full and part-time staff^{[citation needed]}.

The College has one of the most developed and independent Students' Unions in the country within Further Education in terms of representation, staff, activities, active participation, finance, and services. In 2010, the Students’ Union was named a runner-up in the NUS Further Education Union of the Year award.^{[citation needed]}

Campus

The College is based on a large campus close to Norwich city centre on the Ipswich Road from where the majority of its courses are delivered. The Norwich Building was opened in 1953 and other buildings have been opened at various times since. The Ipswich Road campus is home to the Debut Restaurant,^[1] based within the College’s Hotel School, which is open to the public during term time. Members of the public can also visit the College’s Solutions Hair and Beauty Salons,^[2] and Solutions Gym^[3] — all part of the College’s learning model of giving students work experience in real working environments. A shop "Ego", staffed by the College’s retail students, opened in 2011, giving retail students the opportunity to experience the full range of roles within a real working environment.^{[citation needed]}

The College also has a site at St Andrews House in the centre of Norwich. Opened by the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alastair Darling, in December 2007, St Andrews House is home to the National Skills Academy for Financial Services and is the base for the College's business and professional courses. Here students are taught in a modern environment with the latest facilities which have been modelled on those that would be found in any contemporary financial services company headquarters.

City College Norwich has a strong reputation for employer engagement. The College is unique in having 5 sector-based National Skills Academies—in Creative and Cultural skills, Financial Services, Hospitality, Manufacturing and Retail. In 2008 the College won a National Training Award for its work with Lotus Cars.

In 2009 the College won a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its work with students with Asperger’s Syndrome. The College’s RUGroom^[4] provides a safe haven and a social and study space for students with AS and other Autistic Spectrum Disorders. The unique ingredient has been the involvement of the College’s AS learners — who named themselves “The Really Useful Group” — in the design of an AS friendly physical environment which developed into the RUGroom. The RUGroom was opened in February 2008 by Charles Clarke, a member of parliament at the time, and has since won a string of awards in recognition of the excellence of its leading edge work including two National Training Awards in 2008 and 2009.

In 2011 the college has came under critisism for making over 30 of its staff redundent and closing departments, including ICT. ^[5]

Principal

The principal of City College Norwich is Dick Palmer.^[6] Since becoming the Principal of City College Norwich in 2003, student success rates have risen by over 16%^{[citation needed]}. Palmer was previously the deputy principal at Lewisham College. In 2010, Palmer was named “Principal of the Year” at the Learning and Skills Improvement Service’s Leading the Learner Voice Awards.

Palmer’s teaching background is in ICT, and he was seconded to the DfES in 2000–2001 to create the national e-Learning unit.^{[citation needed]} Palmer is a significant voice on the national stage on a variety of education and training bodies. He is also actively involved with local business organisations and strategy groups including the regional CBI council, the Norfolk Institute of Directors, the Norwich Chamber of Commerce’s Business Council, the Norwich Local Strategic Partnership, and the Norfolk Skills & Employment Board among many others.

Notable alumni

Previous notable students of CCN include:

• Tom Aikens — professional and Michelin starred chef
• Stephen Fry — comedian and actor
• Rodolfo Gonzalez — GP2 driver
• Maria Landon^[7] — former streetworker turned author

References

1. ^ Debut Restaurant, City College Norwich, UK.
2. ^ Solutions Hair and Beauty Salons, City College Norwich, UK.
3. ^ Solutions Gym, City College Norwich, UK.
4. ^ RUGroom.
5. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-13200493
6. ^ Dick Palmer: Principal — City College Norwich, Business in the Community, UK.
7. ^ Maria Landon, Network Norwich, UK.

External links

• City College Norwich website
• City College Norwich Students' Union website

Coordinates: 52°37′04″N 1°17′10″E / 52.6179°N 1.2861°E / 52.6179; 1.2861