Testimonials

Lambeth College – ESOL Curriculum Manager

Our ESOL team has been working with Cultural Capital for the past three years. We immensely value the contribution made by the CC team to our learners and the college as a whole. We have been supported by the team on the following areas:

 

  • Student Bursary applications and procedures
  • Pastoral care
  • Dealing with social services
  • Helping learners open bank accounts
  • Working with Safeguarding Team to keep our learners safe
  • Dealing with behavioural issues
  • Referrals to college counsellor
  • Mentoring scheme
  • Support with housing applications and /or issues

In addition to these, CC team employ a Counsellor who provide counselling sessions to our learners. Without CC’s counsellor, our learners would have been waiting for CAMHS appointment for months.

 

Cultural Capital have financially contributed to lots of trips and activities which have enhanced our learners’ experience. They have also purchased 26 laptops which are being used by our teachers and learners on a daily basis which added value to their learning.

 

Our diverse ESOL learners come from deprived backgrounds. Many individuals are either refugees or asylum seekers who flee from violence and adversity from their home countries. With the support our learners get from the CC team, they adapt to their new life in the UK and stay and achieve on their course.

Hale Pearce
ESOL Curriculum Manager – ESOL 16-18
Lambeth College – Career College

Kingston College - Head Of School

I have had the pleasure to work with the Cultural Capital team now for three years and they have been an asset to the college. Mehdi and his team have helped staff and students in various situations. We have faced some challenging experiences with the students and the Cultural Capital team have assisted where they can and have helped build the confidence in our students.

Mehdi and his team have been extremely professional and have the students’ welfare at the forefront. They have worked with staff in tutorials to develop students understanding of various topics but also on a one to one level with students that may have been struggling with day to day life scenarios. 

The Cultural Capital team have also given some students great opportunities that they would never have had experience of doing so if they had not partnered with Kingston; ranging from trips to Poland and seeing the devastating consequences of the concentration camps to students having access to engaging guest speakers.


I hope that Mehdi and his team continue working with Kingston for the benefit of the students and the staff.

Charlotte Veale
Head of School – Creative Industries
Creative Industries School
Kingston College

Kingston College - Head of Engagement and Support Services

The Cultural Capital team has offered the College highly beneficial prevention resources to learners at risk of academic non-engagement. The mentoring programme has provided our younger students with the opportunity to enhance their long-term aspirations and goals whilst studying here.  

Holly Abdelghafar
Head of Engagement and Support Services
Kingston College

Lambeth College

It’s the second year that I have worked with Mehdi and his team and it has been a genuinely enriching experience for the students. Not only does Cultural Capital organise workshops for the students, but also offer them individual help and support that they so desperately need at that age.

ESOL students especially appreciate all the extra support that they can get from Mehdi’s team and always feel grateful about that.

Cultural Capital mentors know how to relate to the students and can offer them help in those areas which we, teachers, sometimes cannot.

Thanks to the money provided by Mehdi, the students have had a chance to go on numerous trips, go ice skating or visit museums. They all appreciated those opportunities, which unfortunately they do not often have in their lives.

I hope that we will continue working with Cultural Capital for many years to come. 

College - Mental Health & Wellbeing

We have been working with Cultural Capital for the past 2 years. Our work has involved providing mental health services to students in colleges. These have included ESOL learners, unaccompanied minors (refugees and asylum seekers) and young people from deprived backgrounds.

We have worked jointly in the delivery of mental health support through;

  • Individual face-to-face therapy sessions
  • Mental health training workshops delivered to students
  • CPD Mental health training workshops aimed at empowering frontline college staff
  • Student focus groups addressing various psycho-social factors
  • Suicide risk management awareness and support offered to learner support and safeguarding teams

Throughout our partnership, Cultural Capital has stressed the importance of prioritising student’s mental health wellbeing and together we have put the students / young peoples’ mental health and wellbeing needs first. We will continue to work together and offer mental health support to students and young people.

Lambeth College - Head Of Learner Development

We have been working with Cultural Capital since 2016 providing pastoral support to our ESOL and Art & Media learners. Their mentors provide 1:1 support covering social, emotional and behavioural issues as well as dealing with safeguarding cases along with the College Safeguarding Team.

Cultural Capital Mentors also deliver a number of tutorial based workshops covering topical issues and PHSE. Cultural Capital has also supported and introduced us to other activities such as Girls Network which has been commanded by college principal.

Lambeth College does not have a trained counsellor on site, Cultural Capital has provided the college with a part time counsellor who provides counselling for a number of learners from ESOL and Art & Media department.

I meet with Cultural Capital mentors and the Youth Engagement manager on a regular basis to discuss how we can work together and review the work that is going on. Before the start of the academic year I worked closely with Cultural Capital’s Youth Engagement Manager to address what their targeted and funded work with specific students is during that academic year.

Laura Ryan
Head of Learner Development
Lambeth College – The Careers College

South Thames College - Centre Safeguarding Lead

We are happily engaged in our second year of contracting with Cultural Capital and they work alongside our College Enrichment Team’s Youth Workers in support of our pastoral tutoring programme which supports student with a broad range of personal and social wellbeing issues.

Their staff on site here are very experienced youth workers who are based in our busy Enrichment Centre. They help us to extend our pastoral support offer of one to one support and they reach out to a wider audience by delivering key topical group sessions within curriculum area classroom settings. 

Before the start of the academic year I work closely with Cultural Capital’s Regional Manager to address what their targeted and funded work with specific students is during that academic year and then we combine those requirements within our own business plans going forwards so that we have a seamless service offer available for our students. What we receive from Cultural Capital is an additional and varied menu of workshops and individual expertise that we use to embed and bolster our enrichment provision so that the students receive a very broad range of help from more professional people.  

Weekly meetings with the regional manager determine how our targets are being met and cover a wide range of issues around safeguarding, workshops and any emergent patterns of student behaviour that we need to consider.

Kevin Grindley
Head of Student Experience and Welfare
Centre Safeguarding Lead (Wandsworth)
South Thames College

Leytonstone School - Acting Head Teacher

Your work in guiding them through their college applications, personal statements and general careers advice has been invaluable. Our students are now well positioned to continue their journey beyond their time here at Leytonstone School and we are particularly grateful for the fact that you stepped in at such short notice. Despite this, the quality of your service was still very good.

We hope that we can continue doing work with Cultural Capital in the future, as we know it makes a difference to the life chances of our children.

Thanks again for all your support, it is very much appreciated.

Raza Ali
Acting Head Teacher
Leytonstone School

Parent 1

A really supportive programme. My daughter is really enjoying it and is progressing well. The tutor and mentor have kept in regular communication with me and todays parents evening has helped me understand what my son is working towards over the next 3 months.

 

Parent 2

My son enjoys the course. It has definitely improved his self-esteem and confidence. The tutors and mentors are very supportive and are ensuring my son is getting the additional support with his Maths and English to pass this year. Programmes like these should be available in all colleges.

Parent 3

I have seen huge improvements in my son, especially with the functional skills. I am regularly updated with progress and phoned when my son does not attend college which is important for me. I like that my son is given homework, this makes sure he is constantly challenged and he is given dedicated support when he needs it.