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Software Development Courses Take Off The Software Professional Course, devised by ANIC and Momentum, the trade association for the Northern Ireland Software Industry, has taken off in three FE Colleges. The course, which is now running in Belfast Institute, North Down and Ards Institute and the North West Institute, which will enable graduates from any discipline to train as software developers. Participants on the course will learn the fundamentals of computer systems and how to perform as a software developer within a professional team. By the end of the course, they will have the skills necessary to begin a career in the software industry. The course is part of a wider collaborative initiative between the software industry and the FE sector to develop the IT Professional Academy, aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the industry by providing continuous professional development for its employees.
East Antrim Institute is holding a number of Gourmet Evenings to showcase the work of advanced Level 3 Catering students. The NVQ Level 3 Food Preparation & Cooking course produces excellent quality cuisine to whet all appetites and is supervised by top cook, catering tutor and BBC chef Paula McIntyre. Paula has years of experience in the catering industry and is a lecturer at both Causeway Institute and East Antrim Institute. She is also a regular on BBC Radio Ulster with her show 'McIntyre Magic' and is a columnist for The Sunday Life newspaper. The first Gourmet Evening will take place on Wednesday 18th October . Anyone wishing to reserve a table should telephone Helen Fleck on (028) 9085 5000 ext 277, email: helen.fleck@eaifhe.ac.uk.
The annual East Tyrone College Presentation of Awards took place on Tuesday 26th September in the Burnavon Arts Centre, Cookstown. Professor Richard Barnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster was the guest speaker and around three hundred students and their guests attended the event where they were presented with certificates in recognition of their successful completion of various part-time courses in the college.
The Aimhigher Roadshow recently visited the East Tyrone College to promote the benefits of higher education to ninety second year students attending the college. The Aimhigher Roadshow is a communications campaign that aims to provide clear information and better marketing of the routes to Higher Education for young people, with a particular emphasis on reaching those from families and communities with no tradition of entering HE. Overall, the day was a success with students finding the Roadshow very informative and enjoyable. Fermanagh College has been awarded an INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF THE YEAR 2006 Award at The Times Educational Supplement ‘Make the Link Awards' 2006. The judges highly commended the college 's commitment over time to international links, its strong work in languages and particularly the development of strategic links between Fermanagh and partner colleges in Europe. The judges were also hugely impressed by the college's promotion of European and global citizenship within the college and in the wider local community. Joan Major, Fermanagh College Languages and Cultural Awareness Development Coordinator, has been invited to attend the 2006 DfES International Award ceremony on 11 October 2006 in London, where the award prize of £2000 will be presented by Jonathan Dimbleby, with keynote speech by Bill Rammell MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education.
On Tuesday 17 th October 2006, Fermanagh College is launching a cookery book made up of recipes from dishes prepared in catering classes at the College. Two years ago Naseem Booth, lecturer at Fermanagh College and her ‘Cooking from around the World' classes came up with the idea of creating a cookery book in aid of charity based on their favourite recipes from the courses. This has taken considerable effort, particularly to raise the funds for the publishing of the book in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Caudwell Children's Charity, chosen by the group as beneficiaries from the sale of the book. It is hoped that up to £40,000 will be raised for these worthwhile causes.
Fermanagh College is playing host to teachers from Bulgaria and Italy this week. The teachers are spending a few days at the College as part of a new British Council sponsored “RESPECT PROJECT ” . This project will try to increase awareness of the issues which need to be addressed by pupils, teachers, parents and the school community. An understanding of how the importance of respect can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the 21st century will be the focal point of the project. This will help produce conclusions with regard to current practice and recommendations as to how to improve respectful behaviour within the school /college in particular. Fermanagh College will also be running a coffee morning in aid of Macmilllan Cancer Care on Wednesday 18 th October, organised by the Early Years curriculum staff.
This week a new craft development initiative began as Limavady College welcomed Andrea Hayes, textile artist, as part of the Making It programme, which is supported by Craft Northern Ireland . Making It is a two-year scheme, funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's National Lottery ‘Special Initiative for Crafts', offering professional business mentoring, equipment, finance and marketing opportunities to support emerging designer-makers, keen to establish their business in Northern Ireland. Limavady College is one of eight host organisations and was matched with Andrea for the project, which means she will be working in the College for the next two years, developing her portfolio of unique textile pieces. Andrea, from Cookstown, is a graduate of the National College of Art & Design in Dublin , where she gained her degree in textiles, specialising in embroidery. Her current collection of work includes pieces created on metal canvasses - inspired by landscapes on Northern Ireland. These are created with fabric, embroidery and lacquer. Andrea was one of 11 artists shortlisted to participate in Making It. Lisburn Institute has secured £60,000 of Peace II extension funding to deliver an Employability Skills programme to young economically disadvantaged people in the Lisburn area. The programme which is entitled ‘Giz a Job', aims to educate and improve the participants' skills in the following areas: Self Promotion, Time Management, Thinking on your feet, Motivation, Workplace Etiquette, Assertiveness, Customer Service, Communication, Presentation and Conflict Management, leading to a level 1 Certificate in Employment Skills. The first 12 week programme which is supported by Coca Cola, commences at the end of October and is already oversubscribed; more sessions are scheduled to take place throughout the two year programme.
Newry Institute has been chosen by Dolphin Computers as the referral site within Northern Ireland to showcase their latest literacy support software, Easy Producer and Tutor. All literacy support tutors within Newry Institute will be trained to be fully conversant with both pieces of software to ensure any student requiring support can receive the training needed. Likewise any other Institute considering using our support tools can contact Siobhan Blaney at the Institute for further information and advice.
North Down and Ards Institute is the first F&HE Institute in Northern Ireland to achieve the matrix standard - the national quality standard for information, advice and guidance on learning and work. This followed a two-day assessment in June which involved interviews with a range of staff, clients and partner organisations. The matrix standard is the benchmark against which organisations providing information, advice and guidance are assessed and careers staff are delighted to receive this recognition. The matrix standard is different from other standards in that it focuses on the quality of the service provided to clients. It is not a paper-based exercise, but rather one which assesses on the impact of the Service on its users. It essentially focuses on the way in which organisations plan, deliver, manage and evaluate the information, advice and guidance they provide. Jane Hanna a part-time student of the North East Institute has been awarded a joint 1 st in the CCEA 2006 GCSE ICT examinations. An awards ceremony will take place in December where Jane will be recognised for her achievement and presented with her certificate. Congratulations also go to the staff who tutored her and in gaining this excellent result.
To commemorate World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2006, North West Institute has launched its Mental Health Policy. The Institute's policy aims to promote positive mental health and strives to identify and reduce/prevent potential risk to mental health of Institute employees. The policy was produced in collaboration with STEER mental health and Health Promotion Unit – Westcare Business Services. Over the coming year all Institute staff will be invited to attend mental health awareness training which will be delivered by STEER mental health.
Energy Minister Maria Eagle, MP, and Noel Dempsey, TD, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, visited North West Institute this week to fulfil a number of engagements. Firstly, the Ministers visited the Springtown Centre to view the Solar Water Heating Laboratory, newly established under the Institute's Renewable Energy Installers Academy . The laboratory is the first of its kind in the UK and showcases the latest renewable technologies available for Solar Water Heating. Then it was off to the Maydown Centre where they found out all about a new gas installation system - North West Institute is now one of the first non-domestic customers to be connected to natural gas. NWIFHE students are now training to become certified gas installers, an opportunity created by the expansion of the gas network. Finally, the Ministers visited the Institute's Strand Road Centre to learn about a new cross-border telecommunications link. This project will provide a dedicated broadband telecommunications link between the ROI and NI academic networks, and aims to enable better collaboration in teaching, learning, research and business development in the North West of Ireland.
Upper Bann Institute Health and Social Care staff and students held a fashion show just before we broke up for the summer to raise much needed funds for ChildLine and the NSPCC. The fashion show which took place at the Belmont Hotel was a huge success and saw a total of £2000 raised for each of the worthy causes. Health and Social Care lecturer Amanda Evans put many hours hard graft into making the fashion show a triumph.
In the increasingly frantic world in which we live, we are constantly looking for more cost effective and time-saving ways of doing things. We can now do our grocery shopping online, heat up our dinner within one minute thanks to the microwave….and now we can get our education on the High Street! Upper Bann Institute have recognised the need to offer education in a flexible manner and it is for this reason ‘The Learning Shop' based on High Street St, Portadown (where else?) is so successful. The Learning Shop caters for adults of all abilities and ages and their long opening hours ensure that everyone has the opportunity to learn at a time that will fit their lifestyle.
Global economic changes are now driving a more systematic process of immigration and the presence of foreign nationals has allowed certain sectors of the economy to boom. Unfortunately these foreign nationals are often at a disadvantage in the labour market, some with skills that are not applicable to the local economy or some with poor English skills, which leaves them disadvantaged in attempting to integrate fully into into our society. Up per Bann Institute is determined to aid the integration of foreign nationals into our local community. UBI have highlighted in recent published figures how they are embracing this new multi-cultural society. The Institute has just released detailed data on their 05/06 student intake which shows a record number of 726 foreign nationals studying at the Institute over the academic year. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has also released figures of late which underline the significant number of foreign nationals re-locating to the area. In 2005, 1,468 foreign nationals applied for NI Health Cards in the Craigavon & Banbridge area. In the same area between 2004-2006, there were 1,320 foreign national worker registrations and 236 work permits issued. Providing opportunity in education for all is one of UBI's key strategic aims for the year and in working to achieve this they continue to forge strategic links with local migrant workers forums and community groups. Of the foreign nationals studying within the last academic year at UBI, the top five countries represented were; Poland (170 students); Lithuania (119 students); Portugal (46 students) and Azores (28 students). Students also came from as far flung places as Rhodesia in Southern Africa, Uruguay in South America and Borneo in South East Asia – places that some of us may not even have heard of before! Of the 726 students studying at the Institute, 528 were undertaking ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) qualifications. The number taking these classes has risen from 284 in 04/05 – almost doubling! To celebrate its commitment and outstanding achievement towards Cultural Diversity, Upper Bann Institute will be holding a Cultural Diversity Celebratory week in the New Year. Details of events will be released nearer the time.
Armagh Community Development Reference Group has received £80,000 EU Peace II funding through the Community Foundation for NI to run a mentoring and training programme to support the community and voluntary sector in Armagh City and District. This programme follows the delivery of two successful programmes; the Community Groups Mentoring Programme and the Sustainable Communities Initiative managed by the reference group. The new programme combines the most effective elements of each, and is being promoted as a model of best practice by the funders. The project is being managed by a sub group of the reference group consisting: Armagh College of Further and Higher Education, Armagh City and District Council, Northern Ireland Tenants Action Project & Armagh Dungannon Volunteer Bureau.
Armagh College Life Award nominee, Rhonda Weir, spoke to Downtown Radio about her life-changing learning experience at Armagh College . Rhonda was bullied at school as a child and as a result did not spend much time there. It was only when she had her son James that she started to realise how important education and qualifications were in achieving a better life. With the help of Armagh College , Rhonda participated in the second chance project. This was a Peace II funded project, in conjunction with EGSA, aimed at improving adults' essential skills and ICT skills.
Mr Tony Jakimciw, Principal and Ms Carol Turnbull, Vice-Principal of Dumfries and Galloway College visited Armagh College recently. The purpose of the visit was to showcase the College's best practice work in the area of Good Relations/Cultural Diversity, Rural and Economic Development and Community Engagement. The Armagh visit reinforced the ongoing developments that the college has with the Scottish Colleges in order to develop opportunities for all its learners. Belfast Graduate Survey Results Released The Belfast Institute's Centre for Applied Research and Development (CARD) has published results from an extensive survey conducted among students who completed their course of study in the summer of 2005, and who were entitled to graduate at the Institute's three Higher Education graduation ceremonies held in November 2005. Of the 1,371 students who graduated from across seven academic departments, 26% availed of the chance to participate in the survey. Of particular interest is the fact that a relatively small 4% of the participants are currently unemployed, which is slightly lower than the national average for Northern Ireland . Of those remaining, 72% are working full-time (although not necessarily in their chosen area of work), with 20% deciding to continue in full-time study, and 4% deciding to take a year out. Some of the figures in relation to salaries of participants working full-time make for interesting reading. We are lead to believe that Northern Ireland has seen a massive increase in the Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism sector, yet the survey indicates that 44% of Institute students graduating in this vocational area earn less than £10,000 per annum, with a staggering 82% earning less than £15,000. With the decline in the engineering/manufacturing base in the province, it is interesting to note that the survey indicates that a sizable majority, 60%, of the technology graduates earned in excess of £16,000 per annum with 35% earning more than £21,000. The survey clearly shows a reversal of what was once the flow of highly qualified graduates to countries other that Northern Ireland . Figures show that of respondents who are working full-time, 61% are currently working in the Belfast area with 33% working in other places throughout the province, and only 6% working outside of Northern Ireland .
A party of twenty Austrian schoolteachers recently visited the Belfast Institute to find out about its most recent e-learning developments. The party, who spent the day with Dr. Arthur Cassidy from the Department of General Education, were officially welcomed to the Institute by Deputy Director Maura Lavery at a reception held in the boardroom at Millfield. Leading the Austrian group was Mr Wilfried Nagl, a person of influence within the European Union, and panel selector for e-learning in Upper Austria . During the reception Mr Nagl said: “The group are here today because we are extremely interested in how you implement ‘blended learning' or ‘e-learning' across the Belfast Institute. “We have learnt from Dr. Cassidy that the Institute does a lot of work with ‘Blackboard' and we are curious how you integrate ICT in everyday teaching. In particular we would like to focus on further co-operation in relation to European projects in the future.”
LSDA NI will be holding a conference entitled Promoting Active Learning: a development day for ES Numeracy & Maths practitioners on Friday 17 November 2006 from 9.45am - 4 pm at the Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast. The main speaker will be Dr Malcolm Swan from the University of Nottingham.
Family Learning Week is a national campaign that will run from 7 – 15 October 2006 to raise awareness of the importance and scope of family learning. The Department for Employment and Learning has launched a new helpline number to help people with literacy and numeracy difficulties. By dialing 0800 660800, individuals can speak to an adviser seven days a week about the free literacy and numeracy courses which best suits their needs and to discuss any fears or concerns they may have. People can also text “Press” to 60900 to receive details of available essential skills courses.
This year's event entitled Service provision: the future of the voluntary and community sector? Will take place on 23 rd November 2006 and will examine the voluntary and community sector's role in service provision. The conference will start a discussion that will be continued in the months to follow as the Review of Public Administration creates opportunities for the sector in future service delivery. Contact on T: 028 9087 7777 or click here
NIACE will be holding a conference on 15 November 2006 in Sheffield which will look at the role of adult learning in helping to equip rural communities, employers and individuals to meet the challenges of change in effective, sustainable and creative ways. In addition, the event will showcase findings from NIACE's on-going development project, 'Learning, Employment and Rural Need', and all delegates will receive a copy of the project's forthcoming policy-focused publication, Landscapes of Change. Network Publishing Northern Ireland Conference The Network Publishing Northern Ireland Conference will take place on 29 November 2006 at the Comfort Hotel, Antrim from 10.00am to 3.30pm. This free event will enable you to find out more about flexible learning as a training solution for Northern Ireland . There will also be a chance to meet with college practitioners who are currently delivering Network Publishing programmes, as well as representatives from CCEA and NCFE. The event will provide information on funding and delivery of flexible learning programmes, along with presentations from ANIC about employers' views and flexible learning from an FE sector perspective. There will also be an opportunity to view a wide range of flexible learning materials and to participate in discussion regarding the current need to up-skill the workforce within Northern Ireland. To book contact Claire Knaggs on 01904 550110 or e-mail claire.knaggs@tribalgroup.co.uk
British Council is looking for applicants to take part in the CEDEFOP Study Visits programme in the first half of 2007. There are 31 visits to choose from focusing on various vocational education and training topics including “Developing entrepreneurship among young people”, “Competence development of older workers” and “Needs of low-skilled and disadvantaged groups”. Study Visits are open to anyone working in the field of vocational training and for further information on CEDEFOP and the application process, contact Andrea Duenschede on Tel: 020 7389 4340.
The Cinemagic Festival 2006 will take place this year from 17th November to 3rd December. To view the programme click here. If you have anything you would like included in the FE Zine,
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