DCDP : Derby College for Deaf People : Becoming A Student : Range Of Support

All the courses at DCDP are supported by Communication Support Workers (CSW's). These are people who are specially trained to provide your preferred form of communication. You will receive full support in the classroom to make sure you have understood:

· The Lecturer
· The course notes
· The other students in the class
· The course work

You will receive one-to-one tutorials that are designed to help you understand your course and to make sure you complete any outstanding work on time.

You can also learn additional subjects such as:

· English
· Maths
· British Sign Language
· Communication Skills eg Presentation Skills
· Driving Theory
· Deaf Studies

There are also some short courses in Study Skills, Computer Skills and applying for Higher Education.

These subjects are not compulsory but many students recognise that if they want to make progress they must work hard to improve in these area's.

DCDP is committed to providing students with the skills to live Independently.
If you have difficulty:

· Cooking for yourself
· Washing your clothes
· Using the train or the bus
· Organising your free time
· Using communication strategies

Then the Learner services staff and the Care staff will help you to improve your independence skills. You can achieve a ASDAN certificate if you are prepared to build a portfolio and enter it for assessment.

Learner Services is a place where you can get help and advice about:

· Communication problems
· Money
· Travel
· Education
· Training
· Careers
· Health

The Centre aim to provide a professional service for the deaf students at DCDP.

Derby College for Deaf People has several other services that are available for the use of students.

You can choose to continue to improve your spoken language or you can receive help to learn new strategies to communicate with hearing people in a variety of different situations eg a train station, a post office, a shop, on the bus.

You can also follow a presentation course to learn how to display your work and talk to a group. This is very useful if you intend to go on to Higher Education.

You can learn or improve your sign language by following a CACDP course that are taught by our specialist BSL tutors. Examinations are taken at all levels.

If you have ambitions to go to University then DCDP run special workshops that offer help and support to:

· Complete a UCAS form
· Choose a University and a appropriate course.
· Visit a University
· Organise your communication support
· Organise your accommodation
· Understand the fee's involved

All of the above will help you with the transition from FE to HE.

If you do not want to stay in fulltime education then you will be looking for a job. DCDP has a RNID person on site who is employed to help deaf people find employment in the local area. They will also organise further training in specialist area's.