Coláiste Íde - You’re Here, We Care, So Let’s Connect

Though Coláiste Íde was always an inclusive College of Further Education, even we were unprepared for the impact Covid had on our learners.  Their lives were affected beyond recognition. 

Our current multi-disciplinary team model needed to radically respond to keep our learners engaged, so we developed a new initiative You’re Here, We Care, So Let’s Connect  

During Covid many of our learners disconnected, became isolated and lonely, losing their sense of direction and what possibilities the world might offer them.  In setting up this team we drew on best practice from second and third level and healthcare models to establish a multidisciplinary team where staffs’ expertise and interests could be used to work with learners so that they are always connected to the college team. 

We are a team who meet weekly ensuring that our service to our learners is connected, consistent, and caring. 

All team members’ offices have a visual pink door so learners know where they can connect with any member of the team this means that learners are encouraged to connect with the team when they need it without judgement in a safe environment.  Often learners don’t know where to go but by having this in the college it is a recognisable safe place where they can go to get help and support.

Since we started our new initiative we have noticed an increase in learner retention and engagement with the service especially with our vulnerable or challenged learners. 

We keep our students in the now, empower them to believe in themselves and make informed choices for a meaningful future.

In addition to a student support centre where students are supported in their academic work, we added a multi-sensory room to this suite where learners can relax and regulate their nervous system.  The room is constantly used in a ‘drop-in’ capacity and is another point of reference in the college where learners who are overwhelmed can connect with team members or simply ‘chill out’.  We are the only College of Further Education in the City of Dublin ETB who have this facility.

We recognised that with the increase in mental health issues of our learners that we needed to have an onsite professional counselling service as part of this new initiative, which is not normally found in colleges of Further Education.  We offer our learners one-to-one professional counselling by a fully accredited counsellor and psychotherapist where the focus is to support our learners to increase their mental health and wellbeing, thus enable them to stay engaged in their learning journey.

As a college we recognised that though the team members were psychologically aware of the learner’s needs who presented to them, many of our staff felt unable to support learners who had mental health issues, though they were willing to learn. The significance in our initiative is firstly at our weekly meetings the Principal, who is psychologically qualified, was prepared to upskill the members of the team in mental health issues such as schizophrenia, depression etc.  This knowledge was then delivered to other staff at staff meetings and in small in-service groups.  This peer-to-peer support empowered all staff members enabling them to approach learners to discuss mental health issues.  The success of this is that it is in-house training and is changing the culture around mental health issues in the college.

The impact of providing these new support initiatives for our learners is that they are fully aware that this college will do everything in its power to ensure that they reach their full potential. Our new learner support initiatives and revised personnel structures ensures that we support our learners and they know it. They recognise that their care and wellbeing is our highest priority. It's a culture which embodies You’re Here, We Care, So Let’s Connect.