WCIT CHARITY REVIEW ORPHEUS 10
High speed internet empowers young people with disabilities to become more independent
High-quality network access is essential for a great user experience at Orpheus
Mobile devices are now usable in every room in the college and student housing
Orpheus specialist college offers supported housing and a personal care service to equip young people, with learning and / or physical disabilities, with the skills and confidence they need in order to live independent and fulfilling lives.
Orpheus teaches a diverse curriculum, from performing and visual arts to English, Maths and ICT, building on the skills that students learned at school and college. The Centre’ s mission is to enable all their students to successfully transition from full-time education to an independent adult life, and to make a positive contribution to the community.
While the Centre is proud of what it achieves, last year, Orpheus desperately needed to modernise its IT systems. Inefficiencies placed a heavy burden on staff as they fought to deal with day-to-day activities and a growing mountain of administration, ultimately impacting on the quality of work with their students.
In particular, their internet access was very slow, so that, for example, teaching staff were unable to incorporate online tools and applications into their lessons, or to provide students with additional support through these tools to use in their own time and at their own pace.
The solution was to secure wireless connection across their site and improve the WiFi access to student housing. This also allowed more use of mobile devices, such as laptops and tablets, which are great tools for people with disabilities as they deliver flexibility and portability.
Through WCIT’ s grant, Orpheus was able to upgrade its internet and network structure and install super-fast internet access. Students and staff have been delighted with the improvements. Mobile devices are now usable in every room in the college and student housing, and they can now use the internet in ways we all take for granted.
As Rodney Guduza from Orpheus says,“ High speed internet empowers young people with disabilities to become more independent. Our WiFi upgrade has removed barriers that kept students from participating in everyday activities such as researching employment, supporting their education and keeping socially connected. Staff can now include online tools in their teaching. We are very thankful to WCIT for enabling us to achieve this.”