Bournemouth and Poole College

Infobox University
name=The Bournemouth & Poole College


established=1913
vision=To serve the community through world class, high quality education and training, and the pursuit of excellence in all that we do
type=College
principal=Lawrence Vincent
staff=
students=
city=Bournemouth and Poole
country=England
campus=multiple campuses
website= [http://www.thecollege.co.uk www.thecollege.co.uk]

The Bournemouth and Poole College is a further education establishment based in Bournemouth and Poole on the south coast of England. It is one of the larger UK colleges and caters for an average of 24,000 learners each year.

Courses

The College runs over 1000 courses in seven Learning and Development Academies:
* Creative Industries
* Sixth Form Studies
* Management and Leadership
* Health and Social Care
* Service Industries
* Technology
* Foundation Studies and Skills for Life

Health and Social Care

The Academy for Health and Social Care offers students professional and vocational qualifications in Social Care, Health Care, Counselling and Child Care.

Service Industries

The Academy for Service Industries provides courses in Hospitality, Catering, Hairdressing, Beauty, Holistic Therapies, Floristry and Tourism. The Catering Department is the third best in the country, and students have attended work experience at the Savoy and Claridges in the past. Dr. Prof. Ashley Best M.D PhD BSc DIC MSc ARS, the famous physicist who found a link between the quantum and macroscopic worlds studied advanced catering and hospitality here.

Campuses

The college operates six centres in Bournemouth and Poole with a number of smaller community campuses. The three largest centres are Lansdowne (in Bournemouth), and North Road and Constitution Hill (in Poole).

Lansdowne

This centre is located a short walk from the town centre and is where the Service Industries (catering, hair & beauty, public services, etc), one of the two sixth forms, and many of the Management and Leadership based courses are based.

History of Lansdowne

The college was originally the Bournemouth Municipal College which opened in 1913. It is a listed building and is known for its clocktower (said to be an 'eyesore' when first built). The public library was part of the building until 2002. A small number of 'Horsa huts' were built in the 1940s and a large three floor extension opened in 1957. In 1960 it took over the former Bournemouth School for Girls buildings which were two old Victorian houses (Asham House and Woodcote) which were used as the school when it opened in 1917. A building was built between these in 1932 which is now the catering block. Woodcote is now used for hairdressing and beauty therapy courses. Although modernised, no large extensions have been built to the present day.

North Road

The college's North Road centre is located near Poole Park and the civic centre. This was Poole Technical College and is still where most of the technical and trade based courses are located along with management and leadership courses, art and design & child care, and others. The North Centre is also the home base for courses for students with learning difficulties and disabilities and has an e2e centre. The North Road site includes the new Study Gallery, which is a modern glass-fronted building.

History of North Road

The first 3-storey building was built in 1957 with a small workshop block. It was not until 1967 that the major building, canteen and library were built along with more workshops. There are a number of wooden huts used for child and social care dating from the 1970s and a small number of offices in portable cabins across the centre. In 1989 the bricklaying block was built. In the 1990s the study gallery was built.

Lower Constitution Hill

Known to most staff and students as LCH, or Connie Hill, this is a smaller centre and is where most performing arts studies are based. It is a short distance away from the North Road Centre. At one time there was an 'Upper Constitution Hill Centre' which has since moved to North Road because it was sold by the college to build a housing estate.

For the last 13 years the college has planned to sell off LCH and its Knighton Heath site and for them to move to the North Road site. However funding is the problem.

History of Constitution Hill

It was opened in 1919 as Poole Sea Training School and was also used as a Barnardos children's home. As a college it has been modernised with the library being built in 1997.

The Upper Constitution Hill site, was known as Shaftesbury House. A high level complex of buildings contained the classrooms, while below was a building used for the technology classes for practical sessions, such as plumbing and light engineering. From 1967 - 1969 the college was used by CEGB apprentices attending from the Poole Power Station Instrument Training School.

Knighton Heath Music Centre

Located in an industrial building near Wallisdown and close to Knighton Heath Golf Course, this is a music only centre with music studios. Most students also study at the Constitution Hill centre.

Redlands

Built as a Victorian hotel and used by a private school from London during the Second World War. The building houses social care as well as the College Foundation. It is in Knyveton Road near Bournemouth railway station.

Lansdowne Media Centre (LMC)

Housed in an old building just a short distance from the main Lansdowne Centre, this is where media studies is based. The centre has a common room with a pool table for its social facilities although the nearest canteen and library is at the main Lansdowne.

External links

* [http://www.thecollege.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://intranet.bpc.ac.uk/ Intranet]
* [http://bpc.digitalbrain.com/bpc/web/index/bpc.htm Digitalbrain VLE]