Campus Development

RNC’s £21.5 million, four-building development will ensure that everyone who comes here from all over the UK and abroad to prepare for university, employment and independent life has access to the very best facilities for many years to come.

 

 

 

The construction of our state of the art sports, complementary therapy and conference centre has forged ahead over the last year and thePoint4 opened for business in April.

 

thePoint4 is a centre of excellence for disability sports, equipped with first class teaching and training gyms, international standard indoor and outdoor sports pitches and a fantastic complementary therapy department with a hydrotherapy / fitness pool, spa and treatment rooms.

 

We have created brand new training, work experience and leisure opportunities so that our students can benefit from more interaction with our local communities, and in turn, our local communities can benefit from access to some outstanding sport, leisure and conference facilities.

 

 

thePoint4 has already begun to have a significant positive impact on students as well as our local communities and partner organisations.

 

The international-standard, all-weather futsal / blind football pitch was one of the first elements of the build to be completed, allowing the College to open the world’s first Blind Football Academy.

 

RNC is the home training ground of the national blind football squad and we are delighted to have been chosen as the venue for the 2010 World Blind Football Championships. In August next year, the very best blind football teams in the world will be coming to Hereford to take part in this exciting tournament.

 

We have also been included in the 2012 Paralympic Training Camp Guide for the West Midlands, and hope to welcome athletes from a participating country to train here before the London Games begin.

 

Visit thePoint4 pages to find out more.

 

 

 

RNC recently opened a fantastic new Art department, ready to link in with proposed new Performing Arts, Music Technology and Media departments. With a purpose-designed space and extensive industry-standard equipment already available for students on Art programmes, we want students with career ambitions and interests in the fields of acting, singing, dance, sound engineering and media to have the same opportunities.

 

We plan to replace existing inadequate buildings and facilities with a new, purpose-built Centre for Performing and Creative Arts.

 

It will provide modern, cohesive facilities for teaching and practising the Arts, and allow students to develop their creativity, gain confidence and hone skills within a professional environment, making sure they embark on their chosen careers in these competitive industries with the right skills and experience. 

 

As a further benefit to creating a dedicated environment for these subjects, we will be able to forge new partnerships and initiate collaborations across college departments, with external arts organisations and members of our local community.

 

Fundraising continues for this project, which will be planned as the last phase of the development scheme. To find out how you can help raise valuable funds for this project, please visit Support us. 

 

 

 

This existing three-storey building on campus has been converted into a dedicated assessment centre, bringing together the teams responsible for undertaking internal and external assessments at RNC.

 

It is now the largest pan-disability assessment centre in the UK, and plays an important role in evaluating our prospective and current students' needs as well as offering specialist services to people across the region and beyond as part of the National Network of Assessment Centres.

 

Thanks to support from many charitable and partner organisations, businesses and individuals, our team can help anyone with any disability, to access the help they need to study or work. We have dedicated rooms and the latest equipment for low vision and eye condition diagnostics, hearing impairment assessments, learning difficulty assessments and ergonomics assessments.

 

With comfortable overnight accommodation available and a pleasant cafe on-site, we are able to make assessees and their families as relaxed as possible when they visit, which often makes for a more productive assessment. 

 

Select here to find out more about Gardner Assessment Centre.

 

 

 

Preliminary works began on a new student residence in the summer of 2007 and by October 2008 learners were able to move into the 56-room purpose-designed Orchard Hall.

 

We are now able to offer on-campus accommodation to all students. This is an important element of the college’s mission to help people affected by sight loss to prepare for life beyond study and work. In particular, it allows us to offer a convenient and well supported pathway into taking on the responsibilities of independent life, something that many of our students are facing for the first time when they arrive at RNC.

 

Orchard Hall residents have spacious en-suite rooms, grouped in apartments housing between one and eight people. Fully-equipped kitchen, laundry and social zones, along with broadband access throughout, ensure everyone has all the mod-cons they require for living and learning. A proportion of rooms are available for learners with specific requirements such as wheelchair access, space for guide dogs and equipment such as vibrating alarm pillows for hearing impaired residents.

 

With this building close to our three existing halls of residence, a ‘village’ atmosphere has been created with pathways, landscaping and meeting points connecting them. Residents of all four halls are also due to benefit from being right next door to the best recreational facilities in town!