The Natspec Awards aim to recognise and celebrate excellent practice in the specialist further education sector. We want to promote innovation, continuous improvement, and raise standards across the sector.
Today, we are pleased to announce the shortlisted entries for the 2022 awards.
The shortlisted entries in the eight categories will now go forward to be considered by our independent panel of experts chaired by Nigel Evans former lead HMI for High Needs.
The winners will be announced in a glittering awards ceremony at Natspec’s National Conference on Wednesday 22 June.
Clare Howard, Natspec’s Chief Executive said:
“This is the third year of the Natspec Awards and we have been impressed by the time committed and the enthusiasm displayed by applicants, despite the pressures colleges have faced regarding staffing and re-establishing pre-Covid working patterns. We received 54 entries and the shortlisting process included examining all the entries to test them against the main criteria of demonstrating innovation resulting in a positive impact on students.”
The Natspec Awards are sponsored by PBS Cloud.
The shortlist
Curriculum innovation
Henshaws Specialist College: Taking Next Steps into the community
National Star College: National Star Curriculum Pathways
Sense College Loughborough: The Green Shop at Sense College Loughborough
Equality, diversity & inclusion
Beaumont College: Art Enterprise Projects
Sheiling College: Making Waves; Sheiling College’s Innovative Inclusion in Higher Education Project
Inter-disciplinary working
Ambitious College: Collaborative working at the heart of what we do
Treloar College: Multi Disciplinary Team working and the role of the Progress and Transition Coordinator
Partnership working
Heart of Birmingham Vocational College: HBVC’s Sport and Education Programme
Linkage College: Community involvement with networking opportunities
Sense College Loughborough: Sense College Loughborough’s Ongoing Partnership with NHS LPT
Treloar College: Treloar College and HSDC Alton Partnership
Pathways into employment
Derwen College: Working towards employment: Supporting students towards their employment aspirations
Hive College: Competency-Led Approach to Measuring Progress for Work Placements
Landmarks Specialist College: The Archer and Wayfinder
Student voice
Ruskin Mill College: The Voice of the students, by the students, for the students
The Deaf Academy: From hands to voice
Wellbeing and mental health
Orchard Hill College: Trauma informed provision
Orpheus: Orpheus Continuous Cycle of Wellbeing
Portland College: Be Healthy, Active and Courageous (BHAC)
Innovative use of technology
We have not been able to shortlist any entries for the innovative use of technology award this year. Although there were entries demonstrating effective practice which clearly benefitted students, we felt that there was insufficient evidence of innovation in the applications to enable us to select a shortlist for the award.