North Hertfordshire College’s Pathways 1 learners have been working on their Independent Travel accreditation as part of their overall qualification! The course is designed to provide learners with independent living, employability, and functional skills to prepare for adulthood, and the confidence to travel alone to reach a destination is a key part of that learning process.
As part of the project to achieve accreditation, students planned a trip out into the community. They worked in teams to create ideas of where they could go and included key information in their plans on how to travel to the destinations, what they can do there, and how much it would cost. Each group then presented their ideas back to the class and voted on their favourite choice.
The students decided that, for their trip, they would get the bus from college to Hitchin, where they would visit the Hertfordshire Museum and have lunch at Chicken George. They used their digital skills to plan their journey from Stevenage to Hitchin via public transport. They also researched an appropriate time to travel, and even found the best bus route they could take for a comfortable journey.
We’re proud of the independent skills that the students showed throughout the whole trip, including demonstrating how to get to the bus stop, how to use a bus pass or purchase a ticket, and how to keep themselves safe.
As well as gaining confidence and independence, our students also found the experience fun and entertaining! The students were lucky enough to catch the last few days of the touring exhibition about Roald Dahl’s BFG at the museum, which they enjoyed. They were able to engage in the activities, try out the dressing up section, and test out the interactive equipment.
Tanisha, one of our Pathways students, told us: “I really enjoyed going to the museum, I really enjoyed the monkey on the bike.”
After all that entertainment, our learners were ready for some lunch. They continued to demonstrate their independence skills by choosing, ordering, and paying for their lunch at a chicken shop on their own. Not only did the students complete this task with little support from the staff, but they were very happy with their choice of location – it was a big hit!
Chloe, another of NHC’s Pathways 1 students, commented: “I really loved the whole trip and enjoyed practising my independent travelling by using my bus pass.”
To find out more about North Hertfordshire College’s full range of Supported Studies courses, check out our Supported Studies showcase page!