Talk:Royal National College for the Blind/FAC suggestions and notes

NOTE

The following is an annotated copy of FAC suggestions originally posted on the talk page of this article. I'm posting it here for my own reference, and for the future reference of other interested parties.

FAC Suggestions

In response to a note on my talk page, I reviewed the article in anticipation of listing as an FAC. The article has come a long way since I reviewed it at the last FAC . It seems much more comprehensive and detailed. There are some areas where I think a bit more detail or some examples would improve it further still, and I’ve pointed them out below.

General

• The quotations are used nice and help bring the article to life. Some quotes to illustrate the history and/or some of the schools more unique contributions would be good additions.

• As it stands, the school’s accomplishments and national recognition are buried in the history sections. There is no right way to do it, of course, but it might be more readable if the TV shows, Ofsted evaluations, etc. were pulled out into their own section. Many school articles have Recognition and accomplishments sections or something similar.

• • Ofsted moved to Academics section as it really relates to that and helps to expand the section.

• What impact has this school had on the education of the visually impaired in the UK or even internationally? Clearly, it is a pioneer in technology. Has it made pioneering contributions to educational theory and practice, as well?

• • Information on this subject seems to be a bit thin on the ground. There are

Lead

• It seems like it could be reworked to better summarize the article. History and academics in particular seem underweighted. The “controversial period”, for example, could use some more explanation.

• • Made a start, but may need to expand further.

• To avoid recentism, date the claims like number of students and avoid “present home” and “present name”

• • Need to think about this one. Perhaps consult my Word Thessaurus for a better word?

• Wikilink London?

• •  Done

• “It will have a role …” is vague. What it will be?

• • Changed to "It will also act as a training facility for participants in the 2012 Paralympic Games."

• “It is regarded as a leader” By whom?

• • As I couldn't find anything to support this claim, I've changed it to "It has been a pioneer in the education of visually impaired people in Britain since the Victorian er." This is sort of mentioned again later on in the "Early years" section, but I may still rin into trouble because it's only their website which claims they were regarded as being very progressive. I'm sure that was probably the case, but an independend reference would be better.

• Briefly explain Beacon Status for us benighted Americans?

• • I'm a Brit and not even I understand Beacon status, so many changes have there been to our education system since I left school in 1990. :) I've changed to [A]s of 2010, is the only college for visually impaired students in the United Kingdom to have been awarded Beacon Status in recognition of its outstanding teaching and learning." Not sure whether it works though.

• “This led to concerns…” Was there any result of this? Seems too open ended for the lead.

• • I took this out because I couldn't find any follow up information. There appears to have been some ongoing legal stuff at one stage, but I don't know what the outcome of this was or whether it's been concluded yet.

• “The college is the subject of a 2007 documentary … “ You mean “was the subject”?

• •  Done

History

• “… support of the British Nobility.” Surely not all of them. Who in particular? I think you mean the list of eminent persons in the following sentence. If so, you could just delete this phrase here.

• • Removed references to nobility since the later sentence explains who these were.

• “… opened for business”. Too colloquial?

• • Changed to "Enrolled its first two students".

• “… the college was considered very progressive” By whom?

• • This is according to their website. There don't appear to be any independent references for this, but as I said above, it probably was considered progressive.

• “… the college admitted school age students” I don’t know what that means. The whole sentence is confusing. What ages are we talking about?

• • Presumably that means children of schoolgoing age (probably 5-12 at the time as school leaving ages in Britain have changed over the years). Not sure what to do about this one.

• Wikilink Kent?

• •  Done

• “… stands to the present day” As of 2010?

• • Remoevd as this sentence is not strictly necessary.

• “Inspectors graded the college as 'outstanding'”. “Outstanding”?

• • Their words, I think.

• “… conditions made using their own grounds difficult.” Why not “Their own grounds at Edgar Street” and link the stadium directly?

• •  Done

• The same for Hereford College of Education

• •  Done

• The Restructuring section is difficult to follow. Was reducing the piano tuning courses the only controversy? The lead in to the paragraph suggests there was more going on. Perhaps the paragraphs that follow are meant to describe the controversies as well. It just does not read clearly.

• • The sources this is taken from do not really make this clear, either. It appears that people were unhappy with the college's decision to stop teaching the subject of piano tuning, and to reduce some A Level subjects. The college appears to have been responding to changes in the jobs market. Can't find much on the departmental restrucuring other than to say that it happened.

• “Financial concerns were raised with the opening of the new leisure complex and because of a reorganisation of student funding” This sentence is not clear to me

• • I've rewritten this as follows; "Financial concerns were raised in 2009 over the cost of the new leisure complex, and because of a change in the source of student funding from the Learning and Skills Council to Local Education Authorities." Hope this makes more sense.

• Thepoint4.jpg is tiny and out of focus. Is there a better one? In any case, it drops down into the following section (at least on my screen) and should be moved up.

• • Moved image up a paragraph. There are other pictures of this around on the web, but they appear to belong to news organisations or the collegeitself, and since I'm unfamiliar with copyright laws, etc, it would probably be best for me to leave that to others.

• Is it Ofsted or OFSTED?

• • Ofsted, I think.

Assistive Technology

• “… working with a United States based software engineer” Do we know who?

• • Information doesn't appear to be available.

• “The device was originally developed for educational purposes but can be adapted for other uses” For example?

• • Again, information doesn't appear to be available. Slightly tweaked sentence though.

• “… manufactured by a company based in Australia” Which company?

• • Quantum Technology. Information added.

• Are there photos available of any of these devices?

• • No free ones.

• Braille should be linked on first appearance, not here.

• •  Done

• “ClearText, which enables visually impaired users to browse the web more easily.” How does it work? Developed by whom?

• • Haven't located the information as yet.

Academics

• This section seems very thin given that it is the main business of the college. This seems like the weakest section at the moment. It should paint more of a picture of the life and work of the school. Why does it offer the courses it does? How does it accommodate the students’ blindness? What is the educational philosophy? Unique approach? And so on. There must be a lot more interesting detail to be shared here.

• • Haven't managed to locate much on this. Added Ofsted information to this section to expand it a bit.

• Are the courses mentioned in the first paragraph the same as the “areas of study” in the list? If not, what are they?

• • I think they are probably the same.

• The bullet list should be converted to prose, with more explanation of each area of study and how they are adapted to the education of the blind.

• • Converted to prose, though some of the requested information seems not to be available.

• Overlinking: vision.

• •  Done

• Briefly explain GCSE , A-Level, Higher education for the unfamiliar?

• • These are seconary education qualifications. Added this. Hope it's enough.

Campus

• What is a “traditional” hall of residence?

• • Removed word as unnecessary. It seems enough to just say Halls of residence.

• “… a new state of the art block, Orchard Hall, was built to replace it” State of the art according to who?

• • Changed to "a new modern block"

• “… modern facilities in accordance with Care Standards and Disability Discrimination Act requirements” For example?

• • Source doesn't explain and I couldn't find any others that elaborated on this.

• “… a licensed student social club” Does that mean they serve alcohol?

• • It does mean that, but I've Linked Liquor licence for those who want to know what it means. Somehow a "student social club that serves alcohol" didn't really sound right to me.

• “Its members have representatives on committees at all levels”. What committees?

• • Removed as I couldn't find anything about this.

• Overlinking: contemporary art.

•  Done

• RNC Orchard Hall.jpg is really tiny. Something larger maybe?

• • Only an architect's impression on their website.

• Any chance of a photo of ‘’4runner’’?

• • Only one online seems to belong to a media organisation.

Extracurricular activities

• Can you say more about blind football and cricket? How are they played?

• •  Done

• Are there photos of any of these activities?

• • None online.

• Overlinking: choir

• •  Done

• Should you mention the 2010 Blind Football Championship here, instead of in the history?

• • This will probably require its own section in time.

Principals

• This section seems unnecessary. Some of the content could be moved to the History section, some to Notable people. The knighting of Campbell and succession by his family could be a footnote in the Founding section.

•  Done

• The list should be merged with the main list of people and deleted here.

• •  Done

Notable people

• You mention the founding patrons above. No need to repeat them here.

• •  Done

See also

• I would hesitate to include this section in an FA candidate. See WP:ALSO.

• •  Done

External links

• I would also pare this down dramatically, probably to just the official website. See WP:EL.

• •  Done

I hope these comments help. I see no reason not to list it at FAC, and I will be happy to comment there, as well.

--Nasty Housecat (talk) 19:20, 24 July 2010 (UTC)