Young people with learning difficulties enjoy Royal Leamington Spa College annual spring show

Over one hundred young people with learning difficulties enjoyed getting together at Royal Leamington Spa College when they attended the annual Supported Learning Spring Show. 

The show, held on 1 May, has been an annual event for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities for many years, with participating colleges taking it in turn to host the event.

Students with additional needs studying at Evesham, Coventry, Hereward, Leamington, Moreton Morrell, Pershore, Rugby and Solihull colleges enjoyed participating in a variety of artistic and sporting activities throughout the day. They also entered into a range of competitions such as creative writing, cookery, model making and painting.

The aim of the event was to showcase and celebrate supported learning student achievement, bring a wide variety of students together, and to give them the experience of being in a new college environment.

A group of students from Royal Leamington Spa’s Ready for Adulthood course planned the event during their community networking lessons. Tasks ranged from identifying and booking the rooms needed, designing the event logo, creating quizzes for the day and deciding on activities. They also chose the competition classes and sent out invitations to colleges.

On the day, they acted as meet and greeters, porters with trolleys for the competition entries and guides for the visitors.

Mark Newall, a student on the Ready for Adulthood course thoroughly enjoyed the event. The 19-year-old from Leamington Spa said: “It was brilliant – I want to do it again. Meeting new people and finding about about them was the best part!”

Carol Savage, Supported Learning Curriculum leader at Royal Leamington Spa College, said: “Supported learning students from eight colleges came together to celebrate student achievement and creativity. Leamington students organised the event beforehand and were there all day ensuring the event ran smoothly. We are so proud of all the students who took part and showed off their incredible talent. The judges were amazed at the high standard and amount of entries there were, making judging really challenging!”