Search results
-
Visiting professor shares teaching practices from across the continent
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) welcomed Professor Catalina Barragán from the University of Almería in Andalusia who was visiting the UK to find out more about the systems and processes which underpin the English primary school system. Teaching is a highly respected profession in Spain, with most primary teachers staying in the profession until they retire, and the English primary school system is held in an equal high regard. As part of her trip Professor Barragán visited two locals before spending time with BGU’s PGCE students to experience their training. This was a rewarding experience for both groups and Professor Barragán noted the focus given to teaching standards by all of the PGCE trainees whose seminars she had attended being particularly impressed by their professional manner and the genuine commitment to a career in teaching they communicated. Based on her experiences in Spain and her time exploring English primary education and teacher training, Professor Barragán’s was able to identify a number of key areas where English and Spanish practices differ, along with others where both nations followed similar approaches: “I found the emphasis given to the core subjects, reading, writing and maths, in the first years to be very different from schools in Andalusia. For example, in Almería and Andalusia as a whole there is much more focus on integrating the study of a modern foreign language from the earliest years, and this is often integrated in to the whole curriculum so that areas like maths or science can be taught in English. “In addition I was interested in the use of Teaching Assistants in classrooms as this is unknown in both my region and Spain as a whole. Schools employ trained teachers to support groups of children with special needs or linguistic diversity. In England there is also an impressive focus on outdoor learning which does not get such an emphasis in Spain.” “However I have found that in both countries there is a shared focus on the need to teach strategies to recognise and support the emotional well-being of children, including a recognition of the valuable role of parents, and the need to develop effective anti-bullying strategies.” While at BGU Professor Barragán worked closely with Dr Mark Larrad, Senior Lecturer in Primary, whose own research is focused on the different approaches in Andalusia and England to the training of teachers. Both are hopeful that her time at BGU will lead to further collaboration between the two institutions possibly including exchange visits for trainee teachers, joint research and shared practices. If you’d like more information on how to begin your adventure in the world of education, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today to find out more about our range of PGCE and Primary Education courses. -
Lincolnshire entrepreneurs rewarded in county Young Enterprise Final
The county’s future entrepreneurs were rewarded for their hard work as part of the Young Enterprise Lincolnshire County Final at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU). The final, which took place in the University’s Robert Hardy Building, saw six teams of Sixth Form students from four schools across Lincolnshire pitch and show off the businesses they set up at the start of the academic year. Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School’s Revival team were the big winners on the evening, scooping the Lincolnshire Best Company 2019 award as well as the Best Financial Management award. Other winners included Signa Printing of Caistor Grammar School, who were awarded Best Presentation, and Lincoln Minster School’s Retro Clothing who picked up the Best Marketing award. In addition, Tidy Tools from The Priory Academy LSST were announced the Best Company 2019 Runners-Up. Young Enterprise is a national charity that aims to give students key employability skills outside the classroom. Throughout the academic year, students come up with a business and then sell its products at events. They have to manage their businesses finances, marketing and social media. Becky Goodman, Enterprise Development Manager at BG Futures, explained why the project was held in high regard by BGU: “It was great to host the Young Enterprise Lincolnshire County Final here at BGU. As a university we are passionate about enterprise and developing enterprising skills, competencies and mind-sets. “Being enterprising is something that individuals can apply to all aspects of their life and work and it is great to see the YE teams exhibiting these great qualities so early on in their careers.” Jack Green, of Dunholme Chillies and Viper Printing, was one of the guest speakers at the final and praised the impact of the Young Enterprise initiative: “The Young Enterprise initiative is a great opportunity for teenagers to have the opportunity taste what life is like in business. There is a huge amount that isn't taught in mainstream education, but having the hands-on experience allows these students to learn more about different areas of business and how to engage with people in different areas. “I'm sure each student has learnt something new and I would encourage any student with an interest in business to take part in Young Enterprise.” If you’re interested in a future in business or in starting your own company, our business courses are the perfect path to take. You can find more information on them on our website or by contacting our Enquiries Team. Any businesses who would like to work with our learners to share their knowledge and expertise can contact BG Futures, BGU’s Careers, Employability and Enterprise team, by emailing bgfutures@bishopg.ac.uk List of Winners: Best Presentation – Signa Printing (Caistor Grammar School) Customer Service - Hey Happy(Caistor Grammar School) Best Financial Management – Revival (Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School) Best Marketing – Retro Clothing (Lincoln Minster School) Best Team Work – Integration (Lincoln Minster School) Best Company 2019 Runners-Up – Tidy Tools (The Priory Academy LSST) Lincolnshire Best Company 2019 – Revival (Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School) -
Expressive Arts Days empower future teaching talent
Trainee teachers at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) learned about the value of creative arts in primary schools through a series of Expressive Arts Days. Led by Sarah Howe, Ruth Pearson and Mark Larrad, Seniors Lecturers in Primary at BGU, the aim of these carousel sessions was to show the trainees how art activities could support their teaching, even if they didn’t believe art was one of their skills. The activities included sessions on approaches to painting from still life, the value of 'small world' play across the primary curriculum, as well as the opportunity to design art around the theme of blossom trees on the BGU campus. Despite not always having a prominent focus in curriculum plans, creative arts offer a wealth of opportunities to encourage and support pupils, as Mark Larrad explained: “It is often stated that the arts are crowded out of the National Curriculum. As educators we have a duty to ensure the next generation of teachers is empowered to be able plan and teach purposeful and motivational expressive arts activities, knowing they are making a real difference to outcomes for children and their schools. All teachers should be able to teach art, not just those who considered themselves to be artists, and the sessions provided support for all those who realise their main challenge is to inspire the disposition to create in all the class, not just those children who have a special talent. Ultimately, whilst we know that art will always have a less prominent focus in school than the core subjects, like English, Maths or Science, we aimed to ensure trainees were empowered to be able to ensure that what little time they for expressive arts in school will really count, so maximum benefit is achieved; and the enthusiastic feedback we had suggests the trainees found all of these sessions really useful. We´re looking forward to repeating the carousel next year.” If you’d like more information on how to begin your adventure in the world of education, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today to find out more about our range of PGCE and Primary Education courses. -
International Symposium to Continue Bishop Grosseteste's Exploration of Spatial Relationships
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) will be welcoming the Ordered Universe Project (OUP) to campus for a four day symposium on 13th-16th May. -
42nd Implicit Religion Conference to Explore Human Rights, Punk Rock and UFOs
The 42nd Implicit Religion Conference will be held at BGU from 17th – 19th of May. Scholars will gather from around the world to discuss questions and ideas of what we mean when we talk about terms such as ‘religion’, ‘secular’, ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’. The theme of the conference for this year is “Religion and the Encounter” and through that we will be examining the ways that structural inequality in areas of race, gender, sexuality and non-human lifeforms are encountered, controlled, shaped and marginalised. The Edward Bailey lecture keynote address will take place on Friday 17th from 7:30 -9pm in the Hardy building. It is free to members of the public and will be delivered this year by Professor Tim Jenkins from Cambridge University, who will be speaking on "Encounters with Aliens: research into images of life elsewhere." This will be focused on his research into reports of flying saucers, and will draw some tentative conclusions about the nature of religion and what ‘implicit’ means in the contemporary period. In addition to the Edward Bailey lecture the conference will have papers on Human Rights, Human suffering, pain and death, Education policies, football, punk rock and the implicit religion of The Smurfs. The Edward Bailey Lecture is free to members of public and is held in the Hardy building from 7:30 -9pm on Friday the 17th May. There are also a small number of audience spaces available to interested members of the public in each of the panel sessions – Please feel free to email Dr Francis Stewart at BGU francis.stewart@bishopg.ac.uk If you’re interested in a future exploring and discussing religion then our Theology courses and RE teaching pathways could be for you. Visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today for more information. -
BGU to Launch New Religious Research Centre
Bishop Grosseteste University is excited to announce the launch of a new research centre, the Alister Hardy Religious and Spiritual Experience Research Centre. The Alister Hardy Religious and Spiritual Experience Research Centre is a collaborative research project with the Centre for Mind and Culture, Boston University, USA. The project, sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, is designed to build on the pioneering research initiated by Sir Alister Hardy in Oxford 1969 into the science of religious and spiritual experience. The project will be led by Professor Jeff Astley, the Alister Hardy Professor of Religious and Spiritual Experience at BGU. Signing off the project alongside Professor Leslie J Francis, Chair of the Alister Hardy Trust, BGU Vice-Chancellor the Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil said: “BGU is proud of this opportunity to collaborate with Boston University in the USA to open up a new era in the science of religious and spiritual experience.” Professor Francis added: “Professor Astley’s appointment at BGU earlier this year as the Alister Hardy Professor of Religious and Spiritual Experience came at an opportune time to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Alister Hardy Archive of Religious and Spiritual Experience. This new project is designed to explore the question of how Sir Alister would design a new Archive now, given the advances in knowledge about religious and spiritual experience. Such an initiative in BGU is also consistent with the vision of Bishop Robert Grosseteste who in the thirteenth century was eminent as both theologian and scientist.” If you’re interested in a future exploring and discussing religion then our Theology courses and RE teaching pathways could be for you. Visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today for more information. -
BGU Launches First Distance Learning Degree Programme
Academics from Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) School of Social Sciences have collaborated closely with the Centre for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) to design the University’s first distance learning degree programme. -
School of Teacher Development Primary Team undertake research in Copenhagen
Dr Emma Clarke, Aimee Quickfall and Shaun Thompson of the School of Teacher Development Primary Team have visited the University College of Copenhagen (UCC) this week as part of their ongoing research on the well-being of teacher trainees. The visit was organised with the help of Sabine Lam, the international coordinator at UCC and Erasmus funding. Aimee told us about the collaboration, "Working with colleagues at UCC has been a fantastic experience. We have been made very welcome on the Carlsberg Campus and everyone we have spoken with has given us new insights and ideas." Emma, Shaun and Aimee collected data from students, lecturers and newly graduated teachers who are now embarking on their first teaching job. Participants have been interviewed on their perceptions of well-being on their training programmes, as well as being asked to identify challenges and resources that impact on well-being. They have also engaged in drawing timelines of how their well-being, challenges, resources and other personal factors have changed over time. Emma commented on the findings so far, "It is exciting and illuminating working with international peers, students and teachers. Specific key themes are now emerging which we aim to use to develop a larger research bid to enable us to continue with this exciting project." The team are looking at examples of good practice in European teacher training, including Finnish, Swedish, Dutch and Danish contexts as a comparison with data collected in the UK. The aim is to inform ITE programme planning and delivery, as well as sharing findings with partnership schools and other colleagues engaged in training teachers. Shaun, regional partnership lead for Primary ITE commented, “Despite many similarities in the issues facing teachers and schools throughout these European countries, the research has provided us with valuable insight into some pertinent challenges and resources relating to well-being, and more importantly, how to maintain the balance. Hopefully, we can now draw upon some of these and consider them within our own ITE programmes, as well as supporting our school partners, to ensure that well-being remains a key priority within education.” If you would like to find about more about the teaching training courses that BGU offer please visit our postgraduate training courses. -
Staff and Students Reflect on Research with IMPact
Two tutors and two 2nd year students from the BA Primary Education course at Bishop Grosseteste University have had an article published in IMPact the University of Lincoln’s journal for Higher Education research. Dr Ashley Compton and Emma Rogers, both lecturers in Primary at BGU, co-authored the paper alongside students Christopher Johnstone and Dan Waite. The paper reflects on their learning about research through researching with children as part of the ‘Beginning to Research’ module of the Primary Education course. During this module the students learn about designing and undertaking research, including the ethics involved, and then have two days when children come on to campus to take part in the research projects. Staff at the University of Lincoln read about the research days on the BGU website and contacted Ashley and Emma asking for a write up of the experience for their journal. Following the publication Dr Compton discussed the unusual opportunities for reflection it offered: “The process of writing an article about practice makes you reflect quite deeply on what you're trying to achieve with that practice and what theory underpins it - things we don't always articulate when focusing on our research” “Both Emma and I felt it was important to incorporate staff and student perspectives and were delighted that Christopher and Dan were able to work with us, both have been excited about being published authors now” The paper has now been published and is available to read in the first anniversary edition of IMPact. If you’d like more information on how to begin your adventure in the world of education, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today to find out more about our range of PGCE and Primary Education courses. -
Students Support National Goalball Finals
Three second-year students from the Sport, Coaching and Physical Education degree course at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) volunteered to assist in the running of the Goalball UK 'intermediate finals'. Nathan Dowe, Jessica Machin and Laura Smith, along with their course lecturer Luke Liddle, travelled to the English Institute of Sport, in Sheffield on Saturday 18th May to support the tournament. The morning was spent setting up two goalball pitches ready for the competitors to start play at 10am before providing continued support to the organisers throughout the day. Following the event course lecturer Luke was full of praise for the students’ effort and enthusiasm: “Nathan, Jessica and Laura were a credit to BGU and all involved thoroughly enjoyed helping the event organisers produce an exceptional day of fierce and fair competition.” Goalball is a game played by two teams of three players with a maximum of three substitutions on each team. It is open to both male and female visually impaired athletes, and sighted players can also play domestically. The object of the game is to score a goal by bowling the ball along the floor so that it crosses the goal line of the opposing team. The defending team has to prevent the ball going in to their goal by stopping it while remaining in their team area. They must then try to control the ball and attack by bowling the ball back again thereby trying to score in the other goal. Originally developed by Hanz Lorenzen (Austria) and Sepp Reindl (Germany) in 1946, as a rehabilitation programme for visually impaired World War II veterans, Goalball has swiftly grown in popularity and recognition and became an official part of the Paralympic movement in 1980. If you are interested in pursuing a future in sports education and coaching you can find more information about Sport courses at BGU on our website, by contacting our Enquiries Team or by joining us on one of our Open Days.
Explore BGU
Browse our wide range of degree courses and find the perfect one for you.
Open days are the best way to find out what BGU has to offer.
Download your copy of our prospectus to find out more about life at BGU.