£1.2m revamp for Hopwood Hall College

Principals Question Time

Hopwood Hall College has invested £1.2m to revamp its student facilities in time for the start of the new academic year this September.

Along with many other colleges in the country, Hopwood Hall College lost government funding for brand new buildings in 2009. However, Principal Derek O’Toole was determined not to let students suffer and so embarked on an ambitious investment plan to modernise students’ facilities.

In order to decide what needed to be done and prioritise the spending, the students views were gathered through a variety of innovative ‘Learner Voice’ activities; these include Principals Question Time, surveys, focus groups and a ‘Have your Say Initiative’ where students are encouraged to fill in a card or submit a comment online.

Through these activities, the college found out what students want and made it happen.

New developments for this year include:

• £0.5m on the redevelopment of its Learning Resources Centres, turning them from simple libraries, full of books, into state-of-the-art Technology Centres with a strong focus on e-learning.
• £100K was then spent on redeveloping the students’ social spaces. These include a Starbucks-style café environment with plenty of comfortable seating, complete with WiFi. They have also made separate games rooms for students to relax in, complete with Nintendo Wis, foosball tables, table tennis, music, videos and soft seating.
• The Media department has had £350K spent on new purpose built areas at the Rochdale campus. The College now boasts 5 specialist suites, of which 3 are editing suites, 1 is a radio station and 1 TV studio. The Radio station, for which students are responsible, broadcasts 24 hours a day, across the campus, providing them with excellent real-life work experience.
• Another extremely popular department is the Catering Department; the College has seen a 50% increase in demand in this year alone for full time courses. Derek waved his magic wand again and £250K was invested in high-tech, industry-standard catering facilities, including 2 fully-equipped skill development kitchens, complete with the latest industrial equipment. 

Derek O’Toole said:“The College considered this investment as essential spend in order to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and provide the very best facilities for our learners."