South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

This article is about South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) made up of the former Filton and Stroud colleges.

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
Established 2012
Type Further education college
Principal Kevin Hamblin
Chair of Governors John Huggett
Location Filton Avenue
Bristol
BS34 7AT
England
Coordinates: 51°30′49″N 2°34′22″W / 51.5136°N 2.5728°W / 51.5136; -2.5728
Local authority South Gloucestershire
DfE URN 139238 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students 15,521
Ages 14–Adult
Website www.sgscol.ac.uk

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (Also called SGS) is a further education college based in South Gloucestershire and Stroud, England. It was established in February 2012 following the merger of Filton College and Stroud College.

The college is made up of five campuses located in and around North Bristol and Stroud.

History

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College was formed when Filton College and Stroud College merged in early 2012. The two previous colleges had a rich history.

Filton College was founded in 1960 as Filton Technical College.[1] By 1965 the college had over 2000 students, many of whom were part-time. In 1990 the college officially changed its name to Filton College. The next major development for the college was in 2005 when the WISE Campus (West of England Institute of Specialised Education) was opened, at a cost of £17.5 million. It is dedicated to performing arts, fine art and sport.[2]

Stroud College started in the School of Art in 1860. This was later renamed The Technical College, and was located in various buildings in Stroud. Only in the 1950s, after the town council was gifted Stratford Park, did the college relocate to the present campus on Stratford Road. The Art Department remained for many years in the Art School in Stroud. The Gloucestershire College of Art was created from the merger of the Stroud School of Art and the Cheltenham College of Art in 1959.[3][4]

A 10-year Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the University of Gloucestershire Vice-Chancellor and the Principals of Gloucestershire College and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College to support access to higher education locally in Gloucestershire.[5]

Courses

The college offers a range of foundation degree and HNC courses in conjunction with University of the West of England. It provides for a number of qualifications, including GCSE and A-level, as well as a number of vocational courses leading to BTEC First and National Diplomas and other similar qualifications, and some higher education courses leading to HND and foundation degrees. It also runs EFL programmes for non-native speakers of English.

The College is a Centre of Vocational Excellence in gas engineering in partnership with Centrica and is a partner in a CoVE in aeronautical engineering led by City of Bristol College.

Campuses

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) has five campuses, Filton, Wise, Bristol, Clifton and Stroud.

SGS Filton

The Filton campus of the college is located in Filton Avenue, Filton, Bristol. A-level Students attend classes at the main A-level Block (A-Block), adjacent to the main campus or in classrooms within the main site. At the A-level Block there is a small cafe selling hot drinks and a few hot meals. BTEC/National Diploma students attend classes in the main block or in the Arts block (F-Block). Media/Photography Students attend classes in F-Block, which is across the car park from the main site or at WISE. The campus has a refectory where hot food is served, a small sweet shop, and a Student Centre. CIC painted a mural in the canteen of the Filton campus, where Inkie and Felix Braun were students.

It has a workshop area known as "Construction Academy" (Formerly Bristol Construction Academy pre-SGS merger) which takes place in "R-Block". It does a variety of trades, including plumbing, brick laying, gas and engineering.

SGS WISE

The WISE (West of England Institute of Specialist Education) campus is located in New Road, Stoke Gifford adjacent to Abbeywood Community School and opened in 2005 at a cost of £17.5 million. It is the main site for sports activities and performing arts courses at the college.

Bristol Academy of Sport

Logo of the Bristol Academy of Sport

The Bristol Academy of Sport is based at the colleges WISE campus, and provides sports coaching and college-level education to potential elite-level athletes.

The academy has partnerships with Bristol Flyers basketball team, Bristol Rovers, Bristol Rugby and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, and the women's football team, Bristol Academy W.F.C., plays at the highest level in England, the FA WSL.

Teams based at the academy include:

South West Academy of Dramatic Arts (SWADA)

The WISE campus also home to SWADA which is the South West Academy of Dramatic Arts, he academy offers BTEC Introductory, First, National and Higher National Diplomas (HND), and Professional Diploma courses in Performing Arts. Disciplines available for study include Music, Musical Theatre, Technical Theatre, Acting, and Dance.

SWADA is also home to the Olympus Theatre that exhibits work from courses throughout the year, as well as being available for bookings to external theatre companies.

SGS Stroud

The Stroud campus is located in Stratford Road, Stroud. The campus has a remote education centre located in Dursley, Gloucestershire, and a co-operative sixth form site at Downfield Sixth Form with Marling School, Stroud High School and Archway School. The Stroud campus has a learning resource centre, construction workshops, learn IT centre, Envy hair and beauty salon, refectory, conference facilities as well as sports and leisure facilities.

SGS Bristol

SGS Bristol Logo

The SGS Bristol Campus is located in the right wing of The Royal West of England Academy in Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol. The academy was Bristols' first art gallery and constructed in 1857.

Bristol School of Art

The campus' only department is The Bristol School of Art and the main course at the campus is Foundation Diploma in Art, Design and Media. There are also a range of part-time courses available relating to Art and Design.[6]

SGS Clifton

The SGS Clifton Campus is located at Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton, Bristol.

Bristol Zoo Gardens

The Clifton campus is used for Animal care and management courses, courses can be split between the Zoo and the Filton campus.

Ofsted reports

Filton College was inspected by Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate in November 2003. They found that "The overall quality of the provision is satisfactory: of the eleven areas of learning inspected, eight were judged to be satisfactory and three, good. The work-based learning in childcare was judged to be good, as was the professional management provision in business administration, management and professional." Key strengths identified by the report were strong and effective leadership by the principal, clear strategic direction provided by governors, high pass rates on most courses, a responsive range of provision for the wider community, effective strategies to promote social inclusion, and very good relationships. Areas identified for improvement were the consistency of course management, the monitoring of teaching and learning, the rigour of course reviews and self-assessment reports, students' attendance, the monitoring of student support services, and the use of information and learning technology (ILT) in teaching and learning.

A further inspection of Filton College in February 2008 found that "the quality of provision is good overall and outstanding in sports, leisure, travel and tourism. Four of the six learning areas inspected improved their grade from the last inspection." Key strengths identified by the report were outstanding provision and resources in sport, leisure, travel and tourism; good teaching and learning enhanced by ILT; strong and flexible response to employers’ training needs; effective links with the community to promote inclusiveness; a wide range of effective personal and specialist support; clear strategic direction shared by staff and governors; highly effective action to address areas for improvement from the last inspection; robust lesson observation and development process bringing about significant improvements in teaching and learning. Areas identified for improvement were success rates for adult learners, the progress made by students on BTEC national courses, insufficient opportunities for work-based learning, and the inconsistent implementation of strategies to raise key skills success rates. In 2014 it was rated as Good for overall effectiveness.[7]

Notable alumni

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Lytton, Charlotte (17 April 2013). "South Gloucestershire and Stroud College guide". Telegraph. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "College History". South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Timeline of two centuries of educational history". University of Gloucestershire. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  4. ↑ '150 years of Art Education', 2002, University of Gloucestershire
  5. ↑ "Gloucestershire colleges and university pledge a revolution in higher education provision". Gloucestershire Echo. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bristol School of Art". Creative Bristol. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Learning and skills inspection report 2014" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "AoC Sport member colleges represented as England and Wales clash at Rugby World Cup". AOC Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Gill, Stephen". Arles. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Trophy Cabinet". English Colleges Football Association. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Mitch Hewer". elebrity Height. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Evans, Darren (30 June 2015). "FE's future 'hangs in the balance', claims Labour's Chuka Umunna". Times Educational Supplement. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Toby Faletau picked in the Welsh Senior International Squad". Bristol Academy of Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Dent & Miles end season on high". Bristol Academy of Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Bristol Rovers sign up starlet Lamar Powell". Bristol Post. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Precious Lara Quigaman Biography". Pinoystop. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "Rugby Union Player Success". Bristol Academy of Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Former pupil turned photographer returns to school as part of project". Scunthorpe Telegraph. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "will bayley - Google Search". www.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-03.

External links

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