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From unemployment to full time study at BGU
How the MOVE project helped one woman achieve her goals. The MOVE project is an ESF and Big Lottery funded project and Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) is one of 24 partners across Lincolnshire. The project aims to work with people who have been out of work for a long time or who are economically inactive. The project began in 2016 and the first participant was Mandy. Mandy came to the project after many years of unemployment and ill health; she had ideas about what she wanted for her future but no idea about how to get there or if she could. Mandy’s background had involved a difficult childhood and involvement in drug misuse. When she came on to the project she was very anxious and a little bit afraid of what would happen next. Thankfully, she was able to put her trust in the team at BG Futures and with their ongoing support and structured inputs, she was able to make progress. These inputs included in-depth careers advice and guidance to help explore and develop career aims, psychometric tests to identify work strengths and abilities, life coaching to deal with social anxiety and ongoing regular support. They were also able to find her a suitable volunteering placement with Addaction and Mandy has been volunteering with the Amy Winehouse Foundation for 18 months. This involves going into secondary school in Lincolnshire to help educate young people about drugs and their effects. Through her time on the MOVE project Mandy has added to her qualifications and studied an Access course at Lincoln College, ultimately applying to BGU and securing a place to study for a degree in Health and Social Care. A year and 10 months after starting her MOVE journey, in September 2018, Mandy enrolled at BGU. She is now well into her first year, enjoying the course and even the challenge of assignments. Not all MOVE participants end up in Higher Education. The point of the project is to help people to identify and achieve their goals towards employment and learning through a tailored one: one approach that helps with self-confidence, motivation and wellbeing alongside employability skills and goal setting. Seeking support from MOVE is voluntary and therefore will not impact any benefit claim and there is also the opportunity for financial help to cover expenses including child care, respite care and travel. If you want to find out more for yourself or for someone you know: contact the MOVE team on 01522 583900 or email moveproject@bishopg.ac.uk -
Local school children help BGU students to widen their professional skills
On Monday 5th and Monday 12th November Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) invited 80 children from local schools to take part in educational research with second year students on the BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS course. The sessions were designed to provide the students, who are studying to become primary teachers, with an opportunity to experience the skills required to become educational researchers. Working in groups, under the supervision of a tutor, the students designed and conducted research on topics focused on the school pupils including: Reading choices Philosophy for children Using apps to support enquiry Mathematics through story Mapping stories Reading for pleasure and digital reading Dr Ashley Compton, Senior Lecturer in the School of Teacher Development at BGU, explained the benefits students could expect from gaining skills in educational research: “In order to understand and evaluate the latest innovations in education it is important that teachers are able to engage with research. In their second year we get the students to work together in groups, under the supervision of a tutor, to design and conduct research with children. "This experience allows students to develop a better understanding of how research does (and doesn't!) work and prepares them for their individual research projects in their final year. "The children, covering Year 1 through Year 6, were fantastic, participating fully in each of the research topics and giving our students valuable insights into the research process.” The Primary Education courses at BGU regularly interacts with schools around the local community to provide our students with a varied and engaging educational experience. If you want to pursue a future in teaching visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team for more information on how to begin your career on our exciting Primary Education with QTS degree course. -
Applications Open for 2019 Sandford Awards
Applications for the 2019 Sandford Awards, which recognise high quality heritage education provision, are now open. The awards are administered by Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in partnership with the Heritage Education Trust and over 500 sites, including historic houses, museums, galleries and collections, places of worship, gardens and parks have received an award over the last 40 years. Recent winners include Lincolnshire’s own International Bomber Command Centre and Belton House. The award is non-competitive, offers an independently judged, quality assured assessment and is granted for a five year period. Applications are welcome from sites small and large and run by national institutions, local authorities, volunteers and private owners. What are the benefits for entrants? A kite mark for high quality learning provision The opportunity to use your award to attract increased school visits and new audiences A detailed consultancy report as part of the expert judging process which you can use to effect positive change in your organisation The opportunity to attend a presentation ceremony National recognition among the heritage sector of the personal contribution of you and your staff/volunteers which will help to motivate the whole site to develop its good practice further What our 2018 award winners have to say “It helped raise the profile of our site and also encouraged our Trustees.” “The judge’s report was very useful, led to further training and made a significant difference to the quality of delivery.” “It allowed great team morale and great to support drives for funding.” “The scope of the judgement across the six criteria was very useful, focusing on the entirety of our service.” “A really useful external eye on what we do made us feel good about our successes as well as suggesting improvements.” Find out more The Sandford website provides further information including details of the Sandford Award criteria and judging process. You can also find a series of short films featuring our expert judges and some of our award-winning sites with top tips and advice that relates to the Sandford Award criteria. What does it cost to apply? The application fee is £350 per site. If your organisation manages more than one site, you should submit a separate application for each. How do I apply? To register an interest in the 2019 Sandford Awards please contact sandford@bishopg.ac.uk and we will send you the application form and judging information. Alternatively, you can download the entry form from our website. Deadline for entries is 15 February 2019 The Sandford Cascade Project- supporting museums and heritage sites in the East Midlands The Heritage Lottery funded Sandford Cascade project supports sites in the East Midlands to develop their heritage learning offer and apply for the Sandford Award. Benefits for members include a programme of visits to learn from Sandford Award winning sites, £1,000 bursary to enhance your learning provision, opportunities to attend skill sharing workshops, valuable networking opportunities with other museums and heritage sites and access to online resources. To find out more and to register an interest visit the Cascade project site. -
Lecturer’s Collaborative Research Published in Healthcare Journal
Nicki Walsh, Senior lecturer (and Programme Lead for Health and Social Care) in the School of Social Science at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has been published alongside Rachael Mason, Practice Placement Development Worker at the University of Lincoln, for their collaborative evaluation of management placements for nursing students in UK general practice. General Practice is facing a shortage of nurses and it can be difficult to recruit and retain staff. Nursing students need exposure to Primary Care nursing roles if they are to consider them in their future career and to develop the skills needed for this environment. To help combat this shortage and boost opportunities a study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of students on their final placement in general practice. The collected data was then thematically analysed and three themes were derived from the data: myth busting, the teaching and learning environment, and attaining competency. This work continues with the local Primary Care services with a Health Education England funded project with Lincs West CCG and Lincolnshire STP which is piloting training posts for Nurses new to General Practice. This will be supported by BGU in terms of Educational provision, consultation and advice as well as evaluation. The evaluation can be found in the journal ‘Primary Healthcare’ volume 28, issue 7 (34-41. doi: 10.7748/phc.2018.e1443). For registered healthcare professionals looking to pursue a career in Primary Care, BGU’s new MSc Primary and Community Care (along with the forth coming PGCert in General Practice Nursing) is the ideal way to learn and perfect the Fundamental skills required to start in roles dedicated to Primary Health Care. For more information on our range of Health & Social Care courses – including our BA in Health & Social Care, and MA in Health & Social Care Leadership visit our website, contact our Enquiries Team or sign up for one of our Open Days. -
BG Futures Businesses pull on their Christmas jumpers for a great cause
Staff and businesses from BG Futures at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) were full of festive cheer as they joined thousands of people up and down the UK by pulling on a Christmas jumper for a great cause. The Christmas Jumper Day initiative (which raises funds for Save the Children UK to create a brighter future for children) helps bring essential food, healthcare, education, and protection to millions of children around the world who are missing out. Becky Goodman, Enterprise Development Manager, was delighted to see the BG Futures team and tenants come together in support of the charity: “Initiatives like this are incredibly important especially during the festive period so it’s been fantastic to see so many of our team and tenants support it. "A huge thank you must also go to BG Futures administrator Cassie Rainey for organising and promoting the initiative” The BG Futures team would like to extend their thanks to all that supported their event, and furthermore encourage others to donate £2 to wear their favourite Christmas jumper over the festive period. For more information on all these events and how you can get involved contact the BG Futures team at bgfutures@bishopg.ac.uk. -
‘Echoes of Contempt’ within Church history explored at book launch
Last week Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) hosted the public launch of ‘Echoes of Contempt’, the latest book from Methodist minister the Reverend Bruce Thompson. Covering centuries of religious history, ‘Echoes of Contempt’ explores Jew Hatred, especially in relationship to the Christian Church, from the time of the early Church to today. The launch, held in the BGU Chapel, opened with introductions and reflections from local Jewish and Christian leaders. These were followed by an interview with the Reverend Bruce Thompson led by BBC Radio Lincolnshire presenter Rod Whiting. Attending the event Mark Plater, Senior Lecturer in Theology at BGU, commented: "Bruce has provided valuable input on this topic to my Holocaust Education module for many years now, and it is great to see his ideas and passion now summarised in book form. “The text is a well written, but hard-hitting read, and I commend it wholeheartedly." There are lots of exciting events taking place at BGU throughout 2019. To keep up to date on what is coming up you can visit our website or to host your own special event contact our Conferencing team. -
SENDI and Counselling Students Experience International Perspectives
Third year Special Educational Needs, Disability & Inclusion (SENDI) and Counselling students at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) were joined by Education Erasmus students from Germany and Czech Republic for a special learning session. Led by Dr Maria Efstratopoulou (Senior Lecturer in SENDI) and Jenny Hamilton (Program Leader for Counselling) the students were given school case scenarios on a child or young person experiencing different issues and asked to deliver presentations in small groups to say how they would approach supporting both the student and the family from a Counselling and/or SENI perspective. Students were able to learn from each other and gain insight into how different professionals within a school context might approach supporting the student. Following a positive response from the students involved, who felt they gained different perspectives and enjoyed working together, similar activities will be arranged for other groups of students/professionals within the School of Social Sciences. In addition to encouraging European educational cooperation, Dr Efstratopoulou has been working alongside the Department of Psychology from San Paolo University, Brazil to translate the English version of the Motor Behaviour Checklist for Children (MBC) into Portuguese. The MBC (Efstratopoulou, Janssen, Simons, 2012) is a valid and reliable instrument for teachers to rate challenging behaviour in their primary students using observation protocols in school settings. The MBC checklist has already translated into numerous languages (including Greek, Polish, Chinese, Flemish, and Arabic) and has been used in many research studies. Following this new translation the first article applying the MBC to Brazilian students has been published in TRENS in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Journal. Courses at BGU are packed with unique learning opportunities and led by academics with international expertise. To find out how you can become a part of the BGU community, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team. -
Utilising Drama to Improve Medical Communication
Lyndsay Muir, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development and Drama at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has collaborated on a study into the practical application of drama skills in clinical practice to boost communication. Communication skills, in and outside the world of medicine, are vital skills for everyone, but none more so perhaps than for doctors and patients in the critical context of clinical practice. ‘The Drama of Communication’ is a collaborative piece of work between applied drama specialists’ highly experienced medical professionals and their educators. It explores how techniques borrowed from educative drama practice can be applied to help qualified doctors in their work. Working with GPs and experienced GP trainers practical exercises in facial expression and gesture, the ‘great duet’ in communication terms, are used to explore the whole orchestra of skills humans have available to them to improve the impact and effectiveness of their work as professionals. ‘The Drama of Communication’ is featured in The Clinical Teacher, 2017, 14:60-62. Key partners in the project were Joanna Murphy (Professional Support Unit, Health Education), Professor Johnny Lyon-Maris (GP Education Unit, Southampton General Hospital) and Dr Samantha Scallan, (Department of Interprofessional Studies, University of Winchester). For more information for how to start your learning adventure on one of our innovative Drama or PGCE courses visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team. -
Collaborative Work Aims to Support Vulnerable Children
Supporting vulnerable children is the subject of a new collaborative work edited by Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) Dr Pat Beckley. -
Budding Educators Begin Their Professional Journeys at BGU’s Teaching Careers Fair
Around 300 final year teaching trainees began forging their future careers this week by attending the BG Futures Teaching Careers Fair.
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