Okaies, I have a dilema on my hands. My step daughter has been acceted at college on the provision that she gets the GCSE grades she needs to complete a course in animal biology and care (cannot remember the exact name of qualification).

It is great and she is really excited about it, as was I until I heard the words...."Barnsley College".
Now the husband believes I am just trying to put a downer on things because I am the wicked witch step mother and all that, but having lived in Barnsley for a good number of years and also attended Barnsley college I am concerned that it may not be the best move she could make.

So I would like to know peoples opinions.

If given the choice would you take your education to Sheffield or Barnsley?

Thank you
Moon

Without knowing what the different colleges offer I couldn't base my opinion on anything other than you get to stay in bed longer if you go to the local college.

Hope that helps.

sheff college

well probably cos i go here!
i at parson cross, id prefer to go to loxley, but they only did my course here!
but sheff col is ok :thumbsup:

which is more local for her?

With her being in Stocksbridge I guess either!

Moon

Don't know anthing about Barnsley college, Sheffield college looks pretty good. But maybe Barnsley college has changed since you were there, or the course she wants to do maybe taught better there than other colleges as different departments can vary so much. You could go and look at the college so that you cant get accused of being negative about it without trying to be positive.

yes
check them both out.
it is her choice though!
so take her to both, talk to the teachers.
did you go to the open days?

My ex took a journalism course there last year so I have a pretty good idea of how the college is. But I agree about going for an open day.

Moon

Not sure how travelling allowances work for under 19's in Full time Education.

If your step-daughter lives in Stocksbridge, would public transport not be better for Sheffield College, and would she be entitled to a Sheffield bus pass? Was just thinking you may not get the same allowances for Barnsley college as it is a different district.

If it was me, I'd go to Loxley, given that it's in about 10 minutes walking distance from home, but at the moment I go 1 day a week down to Parson Cross for an Art course.

If really bothered, speak to each department and find out pass rates of the courses. See which is most successful.

im at norton college and love it, while i know someone who is at barnsley adn hates it, so id go for sheffield colleges

Personally, Id check out Sheffield college first.

http://www.sheffcol.ac.uk

Just discovered that Barnsley College open evening is a night I canne get!!!
But there is an option to make an appointment.

Looks like they do the course she is accepted on at Sheffield college so it isn't that.

moon

When my daughter was choosing which college we went to the open evening at Barnsley as she was interested in the course that was aimed specifically at Interior Design (Barnsley was the only place to do this course) -she has since changed her mind and is going to PE teaching instead(I know there's a big difference) . Anyhow back to the college. Laura wasn't at all impressed with Barnsley, we felt that the different parts of the campus were a long way apart from each other and that they weren't very organised. Having said that we have a friend who's daughter went to Barnsley for Beauty Therapy and loved it. In the end Laura went to Thomas Rotherham college but I would suggest that you base it on the open evenings or separate appointments because they do give a good indication of how the place feels and are certainly worth going to.

When I went to Barnsley college I was given a free bus pass by Barnsley education authority because I lived 5miles away from my school/college.
If I remember correctly if you lived outside the area you had to apply to your local education authority to see what you could get with regards to help.

Thank you for that Wendy. A friend of mine completed the interior design course up to Degree standard at Barnsley college..she is now an estate agent.

The argument I put to my husband on this was when you get to CV standard. If you have two candidates for a job, the decision 'may' come down to qualifications. If the last two have the same qualification and same grade if one qualified at Barnsley and one at Sheffield, most employers would go to take on Sheffield simply by reputation.

Moon

I have no experiences of Sheffield or Barnsley college. But I feel you will not be getting an unbiased view from this forum from the majority of people

This is a Sheffield Forum after all, most people are going to say Sheffield College is better. I mean Barnsley isn't highly thought of in Sheffield.

In regard to whether Sheffield or Barnsley could offer better employment prospects then I don't think that is the issue in todays day and age. Experience is what counts.

If I can move a step up the education ladder to graduates, to take an example. You will often find that those graduates who went to a polytechnic, obtained a degree and have plenty of work experience will be considered above a graduate who went to a red brick university and has no work experience.

I'd go for Sheffield College if I had the choice - it's a well known and well respected college with loads of facilities etc. Plus how is Barnsley College going to look on her CV ;)

I've just had another thought on this. You don't say what she wants to go on and do ultimately? If she is looking to go into anything that would require her to study at University any employer would be looking at her higher university qualifications and not which college she went to. As far as the university is concerned in their selection they will be more interested in her expected grades, personal statement and interests to be really interested in where the college was.

Sheffield College... Not been like, but apparently its better than Barnsley college.

After having worked at the Sheffield College for 4 1/2 years, I have to say I'm undecided. Part of my remit was to provide in-class support, amongst other things, so I was in the priviledged position of observing how the other professionals delivered sessions.

There were pockets of good practice; some 'lecturers' shouldn't have been allowed to have a hand in shaping students future. There were certain sessions that you knew were going to be a waste of time, even before you walked into the classroom and yet had to remain professional. I guess that's the same with any profession - some of them are pretty good practitioners, others are mediocre and some let the side down.

I think one thing that's quite telling is whether the lecturers would send their own kids there.

Just thought, the College was reinspected because of poor management grades... you should be able to check on the website what grade the Learning & Skills Council gave the programme area your daughter's proposed course of study falls in
www.sheffcol.ac.uk

I think one thing that's quite telling is whether the lecturers would send their own kids there.

True true!
My Father went to see a car a few weeks ago (private sale) and I got chatting to the lady who was selling it. She works at the Norton centre and she was asking me where I went etc. I told her I'd declined a place at Norton college and she said she didn't blame me because she wouldn't send her own kids there... This is coming from a lecturer at the college. She'd sent her daughter to Tapton. :rolleyes:

Having said that, if your daughter wants to do a animal course, then college would probably be better than a 6th form, as I don't know of a 6th form that does that sort of course.

I think it really does depend.

As a person who has been at 3 college for the 16-18 study period (A 6th form, and 2 centres of The Sheffield College).

For me, i was sick of being treated like a kid and so i found colleges to be better places to learn. They make it perfectly clear that this is all about personal study, if you mess about, you'll be kicked off.

I found Sixth Form to be very constricting. They assumed that whatever i wanted from life was just a phase and that i couldn't make my own decisions.

I'd say Sheffield college was a great place but then again i am a strong supporter of the FE system.

Wilf