Home-schooled young people are being given the opportunity to embrace a return to education at a dedicated Bishop Burton College event.
The leading land-based college is opening its doors to prospective students and their families on 28th April, with a chance to meet staff, tour the campus and find out more about courses provided.
An hour has been planned ahead of the main open event for students who have been home-educated, enabling them to meet the team in a quiet environment, have one-to-one conversations and learn more about future college opportunities.
Bishop Burton currently has 125 students who were previously home-educated but have been inspired to return to education with confidence in the college support systems in place.
The event is aimed at young people in year 11 who would like to join Bishop Burton in September, as well as their families. Students in years nine and 10 are also welcome.
Helen Wooldridge, Vice Principal for Growth, Planning and Performance at the college, said: “There is an increasing number of young people who are home-educated and our outreach work involves us visiting schools, so we recognise they are at risk of not receiving that information, advice and guidance about post-16 options.
“We wanted to be proactive and arrange an event where all young people and their families have the opportunity to come and see what the college offers.
“We’ve spent time talking to our students who were previously home-educated to understand what has worked well when returning to education, and what more we could have done to help them make that transition.
“We’ve made some changes based on the feedback and this has helped to shape the event as we provide that supported return to education.
“We’re looking at introducing a support group for the first six weeks of the term, where young people can come together and build friendship groups while helping each other as they become familiar with college life and settle in.”
Helen said prospective students will be able to experience the college environment and the various social and quiet spaces, which could provide a welcome change to their previous educational experience.
Will Turner, who studies Level 3 Travel and Tourism at Bishop Burton, near Beverley, left school in year nine and was home-schooled for three years before rejoining mainstream education.
He will speak at the open event to share his experience and inspire other home-schooled young people to embrace the post-16 opportunities the college has to offer.
Will said: “I struggled at school because the strict routine didn’t suit me. When I rejoined mainstream education, I found it really hard but moving to Bishop Burton has been amazing. The campus is completely different and there is so much space to escape.
“I know people will worry about the transition but it really isn’t that bad. I was worried about the workload but it has been okay, and my tutors give me the support I need.
“I would 100 per cent recommend Bishop Burton to other home-schooled students. I used to be quite introverted and now I really enjoy meeting and speaking to people.
“I’m planning go to university after college and that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t come to Bishop Burton. It has completely changed my life and what I thought was possible.”
The event for home-educated students will run from 4:30pm-5:30pm on Tuesday 28th April, with the main open evening taking place from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
Booking is not essential for anyone who would like to attend. However, bookings can be made by visiting: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/home-educated-welcome-event-tickets-1987511594682