It is no secret that the past year has been a tough one for many people, especially students who have been forced into home learning and unable to complete the exams they have worked hard to study for.
But City of Bristol College has now recruited two Catch-Up Coordinators to support those students who have been impacted by the recent lockdowns and require extra help to reach their ‘short and long-term goals’.
Daniel Holley and Govinda Rajpal started at the college at the end of last term and have already made steps to work with students to progress with their learning.
“We can help our students identify short and long-term goals, whatever they may be. This is facilitated through curiosity; it is solution-based with the student in mind. We are here to help our students get one step closer to their dreams, aspirations and hopes.”
Govinda Rajpal, Catch-Up Coordinator
The positions have been funded through the National Tutoring Programme – from which City of Bristol College received £474,000 of the £96 million pot. The programme supports students aged 16-19 who achieved up to a grade 4 in GCSE English and Maths.
At the time of the government announcement, Principal and Chief Executive Andy Forbes said: “Several hundred young students who joined us this September after six months of disruption to their education will be supported through the catch-up funding.”
Now the College has utilised that money to recruit Daniel and Govinda, whose skills and experience specialise in life and performance coaching.
Andy added: “Our two Catch-Up Coordinators are here to give our students a much-needed boost after all the disruption of lockdowns. Our new team will help get learners back on track, catching up with their work and setting their sights high for getting good results despite everything.”
Students who seek Govinda and Daniel’s help can expect clarity, honesty, understanding and transparency throughout their time together.
The pair have recently set up a podcast and YouTube show – The G&D Show – for the college’s students AND staff members, where the audience can send in questions, answers of stories they would like to share.
New episodes of the podcast are available now, use the player below to listen or visit Podbean.
The duo are also running group online sessions every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 4pm called ‘The Other Subject’. If you wish to be included into these sessions, please contact either Daniel or Govinda.
Govinda added: “We are essentially here for them to succeed, so our help doesn’t come with judgements on what they should do, we unlock their potential for them so they can learn to have confidence in themselves and their abilities, while picking up introspective and reflective techniques by virtue of the work they do with us.”
The pair will be providing the coaching sessions on Microsoft Teams for the time being while the college is closed due to the third national lockdown, but will then move to both face-to-face and Teams meetings, respecting the choice of the student.
Get in touch with Govinda and Daniel either through your tutor or lecturer or by email them directly at Daniel.Holley@cityofbristol.ac.uk and Govinda.Rajpal@cityofbristol.ac.uk
