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USP College

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Coordinates: 51°33′45″N 0°35′01″E / 51.5625°N 0.5835°E / 51.5625; 0.5835
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USP College
Location
Map
Essex
,
RM17 5TD (Palmer's Campus)
SS7 1TW (Seevic Campus)
Information
TypeGeneral further education college
MottoYour life Your Career
Established1706 (Palmer's College)
1972 (Seevic College)
Department for Education URN130681 Tables
OfstedReports
Principal and CEODan Pearson
GenderCo-educational
Age16 to 25+
Enrolment3,588
Former namesPalmer's College &
Seevic College
Websitehttps://www.uspcollege.ac.uk/

Unified Seevic Palmer's College, trading as USP College[1][2] (previously known as Seevic and Palmer's Colleges Group),[3] is a large general further education college in Essex, England.[4] It was established in August 2017 from the merger of Palmer's College in Grays, Thurrock, and Seevic College in Thundersley, Benfleet, and traces its history back to the establishment of Palmer's as a charity school in 1706. Seevic College was established as a sixth form college in 1972, with Seevic originally being an acronym for South East Essex Sixth (VI) Form College.[5] Seevic and Palmer's now make up two of the college's three campuses, with the XTEND Digital Campus in Canvey Island forming its third campus.[6] There were 3,588 students enrolled to the college as of November 2021.[4]

The Seevic Campus offers adult education courses for learners of any age. Both campuses offer a special needs department for anyone with a learning disability. The Palmer's campus opened its special needs department in September 2018, following the success of the Seevic Campus one which has been running for several years and has over 94 students in the department.

In 2018 Seevic merged with Palmer's College as part of a government initiative.[7] From September 2018 the colleges were renamed USP College with a new logo.

It was announced in March 2019 that USP had purchased local apprenticeship provider ITEC Learning Technologies which would increase the number of apprenticeship training options USP could offer.[8]

Merging

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In 2017 it was announced that Palmer's College and Seevic College would merge to make one college,[9] over the year running up to September 2018, both colleges underwent extensive changes. In June 2018 the college was officially renamed USP College. The new name included a new logo and a new look to both campuses. The new college would continue to offer a mixture of Further Education, Adult Education and Higher Education courses.

Seevic College

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Seevic entrance

SEEVIC College was a Sixth Form college located on the A13 in Thundersley, Essex. It offered a variety of GCSEs, A-Levels and Higher Education courses (in association with The University of Hertfordshire, Writtle University College and The Docklands Academy). This is now the SEEVIC campus of USP College.

History

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Seevic aerial view in 1987

The name was originally an acronym for South East Essex Sixth (VI) Form College. The College in Thundersley opened in September 1972 and was designed to support 12 partner schools across Castle Point and Rochford districts.[10] During the 1990s the college expanded into the former temporary home of Castle Point Borough Council in a building called the White House, the Training for the Millennium Centre on Canvey[11] and a small centre at the former Park School site in Rayleigh.[10] During the noughties they had planned to expand by knocking both the main site and the White House down and rebuilding.[12]

In 2017 OFSTED rated SEEVIC as requires improvement[13] however, it came third in the national results for GCSE in Maths.[14]

The college offers courses such as performing arts, science, health and social care. Approximately 2,500 students attend the college.

New Campus Basildon

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In 2008 SEEVIC opened a new centre at the Icon in Basildon, named New Campus Basildon in partnership with Prospects College and South East Essex College as part of a government initiative to increase FE provision in the town. In 2011 a second campus was opened at Church Walk,[15] but after the merger of Thurrock and Basildon College with South East Essex College in 2010, the ICON building was closed. New Campus Basildon as an FE centre was closed[16] and it became a Studio school in 2013, with SEEVIC as its main sponsor. SEEVIC withdrew from sponsoring the studio school in 2016[17] and it closed in 2017.[18]

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A construction contract for work at Seevic College undertaken by ISG Construction Ltd., commencing in February 2013, gave rise to a legal ruling on the interim payment provisions in Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.[19] When a dispute arose about the value of the work undertaken to date for which the contractor sought interim payment, the College was late in issuing a notice stating that its payment would be less than the contractor had requested. The contractor initiated an adjudication process to resolve the issue of timing, but the College then initiated a second adjudication, asking the same adjudicator to rule on the interim value of the work completed. The judge commented that

the statutory regime would be completely undermined if an employer, having failed to issue the necessary payment or a "pay less notice", could refer to adjudication the question of the value of the contractor's work at the time of the interim application (or some later date) and then seek a decision requiring either a payment to the contractor or a repayment by the contractor based on the difference between the value of the work as determined by the adjudicator and the sums already paid under the contract.

and ruled therefore that the contractor was entitled to payment at the value sought.[20] A slightly later case, Galliford Try Building v Estura Ltd., confirmed this position in relation to interim payments. A further construction case, Harding (t/a M J Harding Contractors) v Paice & Anor, on which the England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled on 1 December 2015, stated that the payment requirement following adjudication, where the employer who had failed to issue a timely "pay less notice", applied to the value of a payment claimed at an interim stage: such payment must be made, allowing the parties to "argue about the figures later". This would not, however, prevent the employer from requesting a further adjudication in order to identify the correct value for the contractor's final account.[21]

Notable alumni

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Palmer's College

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Palmer's entrance

Palmer's College was a sixth form college for 16- to 19-year-olds in Thurrock, Essex, England. It offers a wide range of courses including A-levels, BTECs and Secretarial. It is now one of two campuses of USP College.

History

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Palmer's was first opened in 1706 when the merchant William Palmer founded a charity school for "ten poore children" of the parish of Grays Essex, endowing it with valuable property in the town and Lombard Street in the City of London. Initially located in a small building inside the churchyard the school evolved into a boys' school. However, in response to the changing educational landscape initiated by the 1870 Education Act, the trustees of Palmer's charity re-launched the school on a new site on the hill above the town in 1874. To this a girls' school was added in 1876.[25] The schools were grammar schools for both boys and girls, and William Strang, 1st Baron Strang, perhaps Palmer's most distinguished alumnus, recalled it in 1905 as 'a modest establishment, modest that is in size and in material equipment, but not at all modest in the opinion which it held of itself'.[26] The boys' school which admitted both day pupils and boarders until 1970, achieved the status of a public school in 1931–46. In 1972, as part of the reorganisation of education in Essex, the boys' and girls' schools amalgamated, together with Aveley Technical High School, to constitute a sixth form college. During the mid-1970s, the boys' and Aveley schools relocated to the College's present site (until then occupied by the Girls' School alone). The College was supported by the William Palmer College Education Trust, the direct successor of the trustees William Palmer appointed to administer his charity. Artifacts from the schools' past can be seen in the College library.

A 2007 inspection by Ofsted concluded: "Palmer's is an outstanding college." Student achievement and the standard of work were good and success rates overall 'well above national averages for learners from all backgrounds'. The College was also praised for its retention rates and value-added scores.[27]

In 2013 a subsequent report rated the college as "Requires Improvement" because few students studying academic courses were achieving high grades, there were no consistent standards of teaching, learning and assessment, and the college's leadership had failed to maintain the high standards reached in 2007, with many of the implemented measures, particularly regarding the performance management of teachers, being ineffective.[28]

2008 saw a record number of students applying to the College with over 2000 students enrolling. The College was equipped with modern teaching facilities set in landscaped grounds. Both students and the general public had access to a newly refurbished sports and fitness centre (including gym), Palmer's hosts a variety of events for children from local schools on its playing fields.

The Student Executive were the "voice of the students" within the college; they were responsible for organising various college events. The Student Executive of 2007–2008 raised £4,000 for Little Havens Children's Hospice while the Student Executive of 2008/9 raised £3,000 for Cancer Research UK as well as hosting various social events and fundraising days over the course of the year.

The school had a good record of students attaining places on the prestigious Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme. The school achieved its first two students in the inaugural year of the programme, 2008. In 2009 it had another successful applicant.[29]

In 2006 Palmer's College celebrated its 300th anniversary.

Location

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The location of Palmer's Campus is situated on Chadwell Road (B149) next to the A1089 just north of the A126 junction (Marshfoot Interchange).[30] It is close to the boundary between Little Thurrock (to the west) and Chadwell St Mary. It is administratively in Thurrock and although its postal address is Grays, it is located in the religious parish of St Mary the Virgin, Little Thurrock.[31]

Notable alumni

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Palmer's Grammar School for Boys

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Palmer's Grammar School for Girls

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Palmer's College

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ITEC Learning Technologies

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Basildon ITEC was formed in 1983 by Malcom Bridges, as a provider of IT training when PC's were in their infancy, and had been influenced by the then education minister Ken Baker.[36] They are located at Burnt Mills, in the former Burnt Mills Primary School building and offer a wide range of IT training including foundation degree courses and apprenticeships.

References

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  1. ^ "USP College Access and Widening Participation Statement 2018/19" (PDF). USP College. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Governance". USP College. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  3. ^ New college gives students USP Archived 20 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine 19 July 2018
  4. ^ a b This article contains OGL licensed text This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: "Inspection of USP College". Ofsted. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Our History". USP College. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  6. ^ "USP College awarded Good grading by Ofsted". USP College. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Where Are We - Seevic College". www.seevic-college.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  8. ^ "USP College and ITEC merger to deliver more choice in high quality apprenticeships - YouThurrock.com p.1 March 2019". March 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  9. ^ "REVEALED: Seevic College and Palmer's College to merge to save cash and increase course options - Evening Echo p.23 March 2017". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Seevic College Report from the Inspectorate - The Further Education Funding Council p. February 1997" (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ^ "SEEVIC's hi-tech vision for the new century - The Daily Gazette p.22 January 1999". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  12. ^ "£70m to be pumped into Seevic revamp - Evening Echo Calkin.S p.19 June 2008". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Inspectors conclude Seevic College still 'requires improvement' in Ofsted report - The Yellow Advertiser Cox.M p.15 February 2017". 8 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Who will run the FE centres of excellence for maths? - FE News Allen-Kinross.P p.2 December 2017". 2 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Seevic opens second campus in Basildon - Evening Echo Jones.A p.12 January 2011". Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Seevic to close in Basildon - Evening Echo p.27 May 2013". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Town centre school rated "inadequate" is set to be taken on by new sponsors - Evening Echo Porter.M p.18 April 2016". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Sixteenth studio school confirms it will close - FE Week Camden.B p.3 May 2017". 3 May 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  19. ^ Fenwick Elliott, ISG Construction Ltd v Seevic College, published 3 December 2014, accessed 5 August 2022
  20. ^ England and Wales High Court (Technology and Construction Court), ISG Construction Ltd v Seevic College (2014) EWHC 4007, delivered 3 December 2014, accessed 25 April 2023, paragraphs 47, 58
  21. ^ Vinden, P., Payment Notices, Interim and Final Payments – Time for a Free Lunch?, accessed 30 September 2023
  22. ^ "Final rally call for TV talent show group Diversity". Evening Echo. 29 May 2009.
  23. ^ "USP College on Instagram: "Did you see former student @jordbanjo enter the jungle yesterday? #teamjordan #imaceleb #student #seevic #college"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  24. ^ "ISSUU - Seevic College 16-19 Prospectus 2011/12 by Seevic College". Seevic College. p. 58. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  25. ^ Herbert Brooks, William Palmer and his School. Being an account of the founder of Palmer's Charity at Grays Thurrock, Essex (Colchester, 1928).
  26. ^ Lord Strang, 'Fifty Years Ago', in J. R. Hayston (ed.), 250 Years on. To commemorate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the trust deed by which William Palmer endowed in 1706 a school in Grays Thurrock (1956), p. 59. See also Strang's autobiography, Home and abroad (1956)
  27. ^ "2007 Palmers College Report - Ofsted May 2017". Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  28. ^ "Further Education and Skills Inspection report: Palmer's College" (PDF). Ofsted. 18 November 2013.
  29. ^ British Council website "Fellows" accessed 10 November 2009.Archived 12 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "Geograph:: Palmers College © Glyn Baker".
  31. ^ St Mary the Virgin
  32. ^ "School Notes" (PDF). The Palmerian. Vol. 1, no. 5. July 1949. p. 10. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  33. ^ "Emmy Dinkel-Keet". The Independent. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  34. ^ "Festival was best yet, says Tall Dark Friend". Maldon and Burnham Standard. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  35. ^ Day-Parker, Jessica (6 July 2024). "General Election: South Essex new Members of Parliament". Basildon Canvey and Southend Echo.
  36. ^ "Pioneering IT guru reflects on 25 years of computer teaching - Evening Echo King.T p.25 November 2008". Retrieved 14 June 2019.

51°33′45″N 0°35′01″E / 51.5625°N 0.5835°E / 51.5625; 0.5835

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