Trustees’ Week: Shaping the future of specialist education

At RSBC, our Trustee’s help oversee our strategic direction, including the development of our specialist education provision for blind and partially sighted students at Dorton College.

Our education offer includes our specialist further education college and our hybrid education model, which enables students to study at mainstream partner colleges while also accessing specialist support. This approach allows us to provide education that meets individual needs, helping students develop their skills, build confidence and work towards their personal goals.

For Trustee’s week, we spoke to Callum, Trustee of RSBC and Chair of Governors at Dorton College, about his roles, the importance of good governance and his priorities for the future of our education provision.

Q. As a Trustee and Chair of Governors, what do your roles involve and how do you help shape the college’s future?

A. There are two distinct elements. Being a Trustee for RSBC means I have a role in overseeing the strategic direction of the wider charity, with a particular focus on education.

Being Chair of Governors of the society's specialist further education (FE) college gives me overall responsibility for ensuring that teaching and learning is where it needs to be and that our students have access to the appropriate curriculum. Ensuring the college's future is all about growth and striving for continuous improvement. Always asking, how can we reach more young people with a vision impairment, and what can we do to make our offer even more unique?

Q. What inspired you to become a Trustee of RSBC and how did you become involved with the college?

A. I became a Trustee for RSBC following contact from a recruiter. I wanted to grow as an individual and, for me, being a Trustee was about ensuring that other young people had access to the same opportunities as me.

Becoming involved with the college was similarly straightforward. I was asked by the then CEO to become a Governor and, as they say, the rest is history. The college's potential was obvious from the outset, and I wanted to support turning that potential into reality.

Q. From a Trustee's perspective, what are the key priorities in ensuring the college delivers high-quality education and support?

A. The most important things to oversee would always be safeguarding, quality of teaching and learning, and the transition support available to our students.

For those looking for employment opportunities, I would always pay particular attention to our work experience and internship programmes.

Q. How does your lived experience of vision impairment influence your approach to accessibility and inclusion?

A. It puts them at the forefront of every decision I make, as they benefit everyone and not just those with a vision impairment.

Q. Why is it important for our education provision to grow, and what role does the hybrid model play?

A. It’s vital that our education provision continues to grow and thrive because we know there are young people out there who are not receiving the appropriate specialist input. Our hybrid model, where students study in mainstream partner colleges, offers a genuine solution.

Q. What does student success look like to you beyond academic achievement?

A. For me, success means every student realising their ambitions, whatever those may look like, and having the skills and confidence to be able to lead a life without limits. Vision impairment is not a barrier to success.

Q. What would you most like to see the college achieve over the next three to five years? 

A. I would like to see the development of high-quality supported internships to enable our students to feel that meaningful employment is a genuine aspiration.

Q. What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a Trustee?

A. Being a Trustee of RSBC is one of the great privileges. If you want to support an organisation where you can make a genuine difference, we are the place for you.

Being a Trustee enables you to grow, whatever your experience, and gives you a new perspective on life. Personally, it has enabled me to grow and mature and highlighted the importance of taking people with you on the journey and working as part of a team, rather than seeing yourself as an individual with sole responsibility for a given area.

I might be the Chair of Governors, but I cannot do it without the support and expertise of others.


This Trustees’ Week, we’d like to thank all our Trustees for their time, commitment and expertise, and for the important role they play in helping shape the future of RSBC and our education provision.

Interested in becoming an RSBC Trustee? If you’d like to use your skills and experience to make a difference, we'd love to hear from you. Find out more about becoming a Trustee on our vacancies page, here - Vacancies