1. Student

Newman University is committed to supporting all of its students, and has a dedicated member of staff who can provide support for those who come from a background in care. We are here to support care leavers and care experienced students alike right from the moment they apply and throughout their studies.

Contextual admissions

Newman has a contextual admissions policy which gives a reduced points offer to students who have been in care for more than six months.

Dedicated Webpage

We have a dedicated webpage for care leavers which details the support available from Newman, the contact details of our care leaver contact and details of the financial support that is available via Student Finance England and the local authority.

We also have a hosted page, Propel. Our care leaver webpage and propel page will be reviewed annually and kept up to date.

A dedicated contact for Care Leaver and Care-experienced students

For students who are currently in care, or are leaving / have previously been in care, Newman has a dedicated care leaver contact, Tammy Oyekanmi, Student Welfare Adviser who can offer tailored support prior to arrival and throughout the students time with us. T.oyekanmi@newman.ac.uk

Pre entry support

We offer care experienced students guidance from their first interest in applying for university right through to studying with us. All of our support is optional and students can decide how much support they need at any stage.

HEADstart

Care experienced students have a guaranteed acceptance onto HEADstart , a preparatory course for new single, joint and combined honours students. The aim of HEADstart is to help students adapt to “student life” as quickly and smoothly as possible. HEADstart is delivered in the two weeks before Welcome Week. For further details of the programme visit our HEADstart page.

When students arrive

If a student chooses to disclose their care leaver or care experienced status to Newman either via their UCAS application form or to our care leaver contact, they will be contacted at the beginning of their first year with Newman. Our care leaver contact will invite students to a meeting, either remotely or on campus to explain the range of support that is available and students will be given a welcome pack which, for 2020/21 includes an Amazon gift card.

Accommodation

As a care leaver or care experienced student you can apply for and access university accommodation for 365 days per year if required.

Financial support

Our care leaver contact provides advice and guidance to prospective and current care leaver students with regards to their financial entitlements. Care Leavers can access support to apply for student loans, hardship funds and external charitable grants.

We reference and keep updated external monetary grants that our care leaver students may be eligible to apply for on our website and provide details of all financial support available in our care leaver welcome packs.

Newman has a support fund which any eligible, home student can apply for if they are experiencing financial hardship.

Student Support

Our care leaver contact advises all care leavers about the range of support available in areas such as Counselling and Mental Health, Welfare, Disability, Dyslexia and Academic Development. Care leavers are able to self-refer for support or can be referred via our care leaver contact. Care leaver support is fast tracked within student support.

Careers Support

We have a named contact, Teresa Waring, Senior Progression Coach, in the careers team for Care Leavers to approach for initial career related questions and advice. T.waring@newman.ac.uk. Teresa can support Care Leavers to access;

• 1:1 appointment for those looking for part-time jobs, work experience and careers advice in Years 1 and 2.
• Progression coaching, enhanced careers advice, in final year and first year after graduation through the Transformation West Midlands
• Workshops and Events access through My Career.
• Job opportunities as accessed through My Career.

2. A Robust Employment Offer

Further consultation work is needed with the university’s Human Resources team to explore opportunities to identify Care Leaver applicants and consider how we can best meet their needs.

3. Community

Newman offers a range of engagement opportunities with the local community and works in partnership with local schools and colleges to raise awareness and opportunity to access higher education. Our current community engagement includes the programmes below.

Reach Out 

ReachOut is Newman University’s outreach Youth and Community Work project. It is currently funded through the Aim Higher plus initiative whose overarching objective is to increase levels of participation in H.E. from disadvantaged areas – care leavers are a feature of the targeted demographic.

National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) brings together 29 partnerships of universities, colleges and other local partners to deliver outreach programmes to young people in years 9-13. These young people are from targeted demographics, such as care leavers / those with experience of care.

Newman University is proud to be part of the National Collaborative Outreach Programme ( NCOP ) programme and since the programme began in 2017, the University has contributed to the lives of many young people within the local Birmingham area. Newman currently partners with 6 local schools.

Newman University runs a number of events for its partner schools, which have included UniFest, Get Moving – an insider into sports, CSI Birmingham – in conjunction with Pulse CSI who put on an interactive day into the world of forensics, Step into the Arts – a performing arts focus visit to London for sixth formers

Newman Health and Wellbeing

IN 2016, Newman University launched a new wellbeing service for the community – Newman Health and Wellbeing; which currently consists of a Counselling and Psychotherapy service; a Wellbeing workshops service; and our Reachout youth service. Through delivery of these services the aim is to improve the quality of life for individuals and to make a positive contribution to the local communities and organisations, schools and colleges to which they belong. Newman Health and Wellbeing provide counselling support to care leavers living in local supported accommodation and work in partnership with local authority teams to offer counselling to looked after children.

Newman University’s Student Recruitment and Outreach team