Lancashire College News

• News from 2008
• News from 2007

News from 2008

Lancashire College Celebrates Adult Learners Week

Adult-ed is splash hit for Gretna duo

Pukar Disability Centre welcomes international education visitors

Free NVQs at Lancashire College

News from 2007

Lancashire College gets thumbs up from Integra

Lancashire College helps BAE to strengthen Spanish relations

A Reiki life for husband and wife

Royal approval for placing Greek on the Lancashire map

Lancashire College celebrates Adult Learners Week

Lancashire County Council News Release - 09 May 2008

LANCASHIRE County Council Adult Learning will be hosting a series of free taster courses and events at Lancashire College, Chorley, and other venues across South Ribble as part of Adult Learners Week, which takes place from 17 -23 May.

Courses to suit everyone’s tastes will be on offer including British Sign Language, Drug Awareness, Creative Writing, Holiday Italian, Reiki, and many more.

The national campaign aims to inspire and motivate people to go back to college, pursue courses in adult learning or just participate in fun and interesting courses in the community.

If you are looking to learn something new, start a new hobby, or return to learning and improve your skills and qualifications, Lancashire Adult Learning is offering a wide range of free taster sessions throughout the week in the community to suit everybody.

The taster sessions will be held at Lancashire College and surrounding venues including:

• Cedar Farm Galleries
• Euxton Parish Community Centre
• Leyland Library
• Midge Hall Methodist Church Hall
• Tarleton Library
• Tatton Community Centre
• Burscough Priory Science College
• Haskayne Village Hall, Ormskirk
• Little Digmoor Primary School
• Quarry Bank Community Association, Skelmersdale

Information and advice on returning to education and the many different courses that are provided in the area and across the county will also be available.

Also taking place during Adult Learners Week is National Learning at Work Day. On Thursday, 22 May, Lancashire College is inviting employers and employees to visit the college and find out about the variety of training and qualifications provided by Lancashire Adult Learning.

Employees can also take part in a free two hour NVQ taster session which is taking place between 12:30pm and 2:30pm on the day. The session is designed to show learners how a NVQ works and what is involved in completing one so that they can make a more informed choice about which course is best for them.

Andy Yeomans, assistant head of Lancashire Adult Learning at Lancashire County Council, said:

"Why not come along and try something different, just for interest’s sake - or to begin what might become a lifetime’s hobby? There will be the opportunity to try learning new skills that could lead to better job prospects. And while you’re at it, we’ll be able to give you all the information on our full range of courses.”

Lancashire Adult Learning is the county council's adult education service which runs day and evening courses for adults of all ages and abilities at local venues across the county.

For further information about Learning at Work Day, please contact Dawn Vickers at the college on 01257 276719.

For more information on Adult Learners Week and enrolment for courses visit online at: www.lancashire.gov.uk/adultlearning or contact 0845 600 1331.

Adult-ed is splash hit for Gretna duo

True love has truly blossomed for a couple who met in unusual circumstances while on an adventure break.

Johanne Burke met Paul Foster over six years ago when taking part in an outdoor education pursuits programme organised by Galloway’s Society for the Blind and the county council’s Lancashire Adult Learning.

But the couple have had to overcome their own personal challenges. Paul lost his sight after a motorbike accident at the age of 21 and Johanne suffers with a rare condition called Alstrom syndrome which affects eye sight, the heart, kidneys and liver.

While on the outdoor pursuits programme at Lancashire College in Chorley, Johanne and Paul took part in canoeing. Johanne, a nonswimmer, fell out of the canoe and Paul hurled her back into the boat.

In return Johanne thanked Paul by throwing a bucket of water over him in a fun splash. From then on they’ve been the best of friends.

After gaining confidence Johanne entered mainstream education at the Adult College in Lancaster, to learn basic skills and computing. In addition, she has achieved level-two canoeing, enjoys music and making her own cards.

Paul, with his guide dog Glint, has taken part in many mountain walks, including scaling Scafell. In 2007, Paul took part in a leadership course and he says he now has the confidence to book the travel arrangements to take Johanne to Torquay to see the specialist in her field of illness.

Now they successfully and independently manage their own home with equipment adapted for the visually impaired.

Lyn Garside, activities co-ordinator for Galloway’s, said: “We’re all really delighted for Johanne and Paul and it’s thanks to our outdoor pursuits programme that they got together. Both have developed so much confidence from the activities.”

She added, “Our partnership with the college stretches back 15 years and hundreds of visually impaired people have taken part in the varied activities and residential courses on offer at the college.”

The happy couple tied the knot in February at a wedding ceremony in Gretna Green, joined by friends and family, and of course, Glint.

Pukar Disability Centre welcomes international education visitors

THE Pukar Disability Resource Centre in Avenham, Preston, has recently played host to a group of education experts from universities and colleges across Europe.

The visit marked the first meeting of a European-funded project called “Dia-logos: Language Learning as a Key to Participation and Integration”.

The project has been set up to discuss and share experiences on how different countries, including the UK, facilitate the integration of new migrants to their respective countries through adult language learning and citizenship courses.

The delegates came from as far away as Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland.

The visit was organised by Lancashire College – the administrative hub for the South Zone of Lancashire County Council’s Adult Learning Service - who run a number of courses in the community such as the Pukar Centre, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), IT and computer skills.

Both Lancashire College staff and the international visitors met with adult learners from the centre to discuss their experiences of language learning and what barriers they felt they had encountered to successful integration into their adopted country.

Lancashire College Principal, Steve Hailstone, said:

“The visit to the Pukar Centre was a great opportunity for our international visitors to see how the county council and Lancashire College works closely with community organisations such as the Pukar Centre in successfully delivering ESOL courses and enable people to lead a more independent life and over come any feelings of exclusion they might have experienced.”

Lancashire College is responsible for the management and delivery of all adult and community education provided by Lancashire County Council in the four boroughs of Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Preston.

Lancashire College runs ESOL classes in Chorley, Preston and Skelmersdale at a variety of community based venues. The classes are held at different dates and times, making them accessible to all members of the community. The classes aim to teach learners about all aspects of citizenship, not just language, to help them to get the most out of life in Britain.

Anybody who is interested in a courses should contact Lancashire College on 01257 276719 or email insight@ed.lancscc.gov.uk

Back to top

Free NVQs with Lancashire College

Lancashire College in Chorley has secured funding to provide free National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) to adults across Lancashire as part of Lancashire County Council’s Lancashire Adult Learning service.

The qualifications are free to employees over the age of 19, working in retail, customer service, business administration or IT focused roles, who do not already have a level 2 qualification (a previous level 2 NVQ or 5 GCSEs at A*-C).

With funding provided by the government Train to Gain initiative, the college is working closely with local businesses to give employees the chance to gain a nationally recognised qualification which is specific to their own job role. While the employee obviously benefits by receiving a free qualification, the business can also expect to see benefits such as greater productivity and increased job satisfaction.

Louise Smith, aged 35, works as an administrator at Southlands High School, Chorley, and recently completed an ITQ. A colleague in the school told her about ITQ, which is an NVQ for employees who use IT in the workplace. Louise missed out on gaining qualifications previously and was able to enrol on the NVQ for free through Train to Gain.

Louise found the qualification to be really flexible, allowing her to work at her own pace at times that suited her schedule. Her assessor, Kay Ellis, came to visit her at work, and when work was busy she could call in to the college instead. She also provided regular support by email and phone. Kay helped Louise to pick units that best matched her job, included spreadsheets, word processing, presentations and artwork and imaging. She even learned some new skills that helped her to save time.

Louise said “Because my NVQ is in IT, I could upload evidence to Kay via the Internet, which I didn’t know how to do before. Kay is a tutor as well as an assessor and she identified where I had gaps in my knowledge and provided training where I needed it. I learnt lots of new skills, including how to use a digital camera to include photos in presentations. I also learnt how to do things a different way when using a computer, I’d only used one way before but now I know many ways to perform tasks.

She added “I really enjoyed doing my NVQ and have found it straightforward. I would recommend anyone to do it. It’s great to have the opportunity to get a qualification for free.”

For more information about NVQs, please contact Dawn Vickers or Debs Bradshaw at Lancashire College on 01257 276719.

Back to top

Lancashire College gets thumbs up from Integra

Lancashire College always make every effort to provide a friendly and quality service so when some fabulous feedback came from one of their long standing customers, Integra, staff were elated.

A commercial enterprise based at the University of Sunderland, Integra have used Lancashire College as a training provider since 2004.

A leading provider of health, safety and environmental training and consultancy services, Integra offer a variety of their courses at Lancashire College providing students with a friendly and stress-free atmosphere for learning and socialising.

Mike Harris, Managing Director at Integra, was full of praise after gaining feedback of the college from his three new trainers, Dave Nicholls, Stew Murphy and Alan Springhall.

The trainers commented what ‘fabulous facilities’ the college had, with trainer Dave Nicholls, praising the ‘helpfulness’ of the staff. He said that because the room and equipment were already set up for him, it took away the initial stress of the morning.

All three trainers had high praise for the meals and congratulations were also given to reception as well as everyone else involved in room set-up.

Mike added: “Clearly you are maintaining the very high standard that we experienced from your organisation since we first started using you.”

Back to top

Lancashire College helps BAE to strengthen Spanish relations

Lancashire College have provided staff at BAE Systems with the skills to reach out to their Spanish counterparts, Typhoon, EADS-CASA, by learning the native language.

Part of a pilot scheme, eleven employees at the Samlesbury base have just successfully completed studying a basic Spanish business course.

Phil Bradshaw, Quality Controller on Typhoon, said: “I have regular contact with EADS-CASA and have always wanted to be able to communicate with them in their own language, rather than our partners always using English. This course has provided me with the basics I need to hold a decent conversation in Spanish, which I feel can only help build a stronger working relationship.”

An award ceremony recently took place at the Samlesbury base with certificates being presented by Neville Adams, Airframe Delivery Director for Typhoon.

Many of the learners expressed an interest in taking their new linguistic skills to the next level. In addition, other partner company language courses are being considered to compliment the Samlesbury learning culture.

Back to top

A Reiki life for husband and wife

Husband and wife, David, 62 and Sheila Hughes, 58 have just completed the Reiki Master course after two life changing years, the first couple to progress from level one to teaching level at Lancashire College.

Now the couple are passionate about sharing their experience with others and are planning on forming a ‘healing circle’, with support from The Princes Royal Trust, to help older people.

Ever since David was a child he has been a little spiritual. He said: “I’ve always known ‘something’ was there and I eventually felt like I had the ability to heal from my hands.”

Carers to David’s 86 year old father, they both jumped at the chance when the opportunity came up through The Princes Royal Trust to enrol on the Reiki course at Lancashire College.

Before the Masters course, David and Sheila had to work from level one to three. David said: “The first one was the hardest but its worth preserving as it was unbelievable.”

Through practice and theory David and Sheila learnt how to awaken their innate potential for self healing gaining knowledge of the chakras and healing energies. Developing their skills and awareness with each level, the Masters course qualified them to teach Reiki to others.

David added: “The Masters course was like wow! Everything opened up, the feeling I got changed my perspective on life, and it has really helped me to cope with being a carer.”

Sheila said of her experiences: “It is so hard to put into words, it’s unexplainable. We got to where we couldn’t wait for the next level. It can be quite stressful being a carer and this course has helped my inner strength. It gives me an hour to myself everyday. It’s not all about other people. Our lives are Reiki now.”

Back to top

Royal approval for placing Greek on the Lancashire map

Lancashire College Greek language tutor, Karen Rich, has recently won the David Crystal Award – a special Threlford commendation for her ‘tireless and innovative work’ teaching Greek to adult learners.

Presented by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, the Royal Patron of the Chartered Institute of Linguists at the annual prize-giving ceremony and dinner in London, Prince Michael of Kent congratulated Karen saying: “We don’t often hear ‘Lancashire’ and ‘Greek’ in the same sentence.”

Karen has passionately taught Greek for twenty years to adults, bringing Greek into areas where it wasn’t previously accessible, promoting both the language and the culture.

Under her own steam Karen has successfully placed Greek on the Lancashire map delivering classes and private tutorials for over 60 learners in Blackpool alone. She also delivers classes in Preston, Lancaster, Accrington and Rawenstall.

To create authentic teaching resources and enable her learners to get a realistic ‘feel’ for the culture, Karen visits different parts of Greece and the Greek Islands each year to take pictures and shoot videos, including audio recordings with local people. This year, she brought materials back from the Greek Easter Festival.

Karen said: “I aim to make learning Greek fun and accessible to people who are interested. In addition to the classroom based learning, I also organise visits to local Greek restaurants where learners can practice their vocabulary and enjoy an authentic Greek experience.”

As if that wasn’t enough, her unstinting approach to work and abundance of energy has led her to writing the beginners to advanced Greek syllabus at Lancashire College, co-writing the BBC publication ‘Talk Greek’ and the language content for the BBC Greek Language Website.

Karen also successfully organises and delivers Lancashire College’s weekend and summer school residential Greek courses. For more information on all Greek courses please call 01257 276719.

Back to top