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Enterprise Team Keeping Career Support 'Open for Business'
In true enterprising fashion, the team have adapted to the Campus closure and introduced activities to enhance the existing enterprise agenda. -
Update: Bishop Grosseteste University plans to deliver face-to-face teaching from September 2020/21
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) is committed to ensuring that it is a place of safety and stability for every member of our community, including those continuing or starting their studies with us in September. We have been developing a clear set of plans for the delivery of the 2020/21 academic year within the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Based on current guidance from the UK Government, BGU anticipates on-campus teaching and learning will resume in September but with social-distancing and enhanced hygiene measures in place. This will allow BGU to deliver its programmes through a mixture of both face-to-face seminars and online learning activities, such as online lectures, guided study tasks, and tutorials. The weekly face-to-face sessions will integrate with the online learning activities, ensuring that students are keeping pace and engaging effectively with their studies. Necessary restrictions may prevent large face-to-face lectures initially during the autumn but our normal small group classes will be going ahead combined with online learning to provide a rich and supportive academic experience. Regardless of the style of learning, all our students and applicants can expect the high quality of teaching for which we are renowned. We are working closely with our Students’ Union and Student Support colleagues to deliver the social side of life at university and many of the extra-curricular opportunities that students would expect will remain available, albeit in slightly new forms. The safety of our students, staff, and wider community will remain our priority and every decision will be made with that in mind and informed by government guidance. Much of the work is still ongoing and we are in the process of finalising the precise details. We will continue to stay in contact with students, staff, and applicants throughout the summer to keep you updated and look forward to seeing everyone on campus as soon as safely possible. -
Social impact of the Coronavirus to be explored in major new research
Key researchers at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) are collaborating with colleagues at York St John University to explore the impact of Covid-19 on personal and societal resilience and on the part played by churches in promoting and sustaining wellbeing. Led by the Revd Canon Professor Leslie J Francis, the BGU research team includes the Revd Professor Jeff Astley, the Revd Dr Tania ap Sion along with Mrs Emma Eccles and they are joined by the Revd Professor Andrew Village from York St John University. Over the last few weeks the research team has developed a major survey in discussion with the Church Times and with Bishop David Walker who serves as Chair of the Co-ordination Group on Coronavirus and the Church of England. In an article to launch this survey in the Church Times Bishop David Walker wrote: “This survey is an attempt to go beyond anecdote… It will capture evidence of both excitement and fear for the future, of where stress levels have changed, and whether personal faith has weakened or grown.” The survey can be completed on mobile phones, though it is more quickly completed on devices with larger screens such as tablets or computers. You can access the survey through the following link: https://tinyurl.com/ycsq9fy2 This is a survey of how people see the church so all responses are welcome. If you know anyone you feel might want to take part in the survey and support this research, please share this link. We should have some initial results within a few weeks and will make these available as widely as we can. You can keep up to date on the progress of the study on our News page. If you’re interested in becoming a member of our research focused community, our Enquiries Team are ready to help. Contact them today or visit our website to find out how to take your next steps. -
Clap for carers: How two BGU students are helping the most vulnerable during Covid-19
As the United Kingdom continues to grapple with ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic care providers across the country have been adapting their procedures to ensure that vulnerable people receive the support they need. EarlyBird Lifestyle Support is one of these hard-working groups and they’ve been sharing how the pandemic has impacted their work. Created and run by Bishop Grosseteste University students Damian Taylor (MA Health & Social Care) and Neil Martin (MA Education with TESOL) Earlybird prides itself on being a friendly well-being service supporting people throughout the city of Lincoln and surrounding areas with tasks such as cooking, cleaning, collecting prescriptions and medication, food shopping, trips out, escorting individuals to appointments and more. Damian discusses the changes the pandemic, and associated lockdown, has brought and how the team at Earlybird have adapted to it: “We work with many of groups left most vulnerable to COVID-19, primarily our older clients but also younger individuals suffering from mental health or other disability related problems. We wore a lot of protection anyway, but we’ve had to increase our use of PPE. It’s been so difficult to find supplies for reasonable prices though. We are also finding that many of our clients find the staff wearing the full PPE quite intimidating and try our best not to scare them off. Ultimately our team works to promote independence for vulnerable people, allowing them to lead their choice of lifestyle. That choice can be so easily lost at times like this and I’m proud to think we’re helping people to keep some level of freedom. I’d like to thank all our staff for their hard work during this time. Their enthusiasm and professionalism haven’t dropped once. They’re truly the backbone to the business, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without them.” Support from EarlyBird is available to anyone in Lincolnshire and the surrounding area, to find out how they can help you visit their website, or get in contact via email at info@ebls.co.uk or on 01522424161. Damian and Neil are the one of the many success stories to emerge from the BG Futures Business and Enterprise Centre at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU). If you have got a vision for your own business but aren’t sure where to begin then the BG Futures team are the perfect place to start. With facilities and expert support available in their incubation centre, they’ll be able to get you on the road to success. Visit our website or contact them today to see how you can start your own adventure. -
Be Your Own Boss: BG Futures Join the Prince's Trust to Support Young Entrepreneurs
BG Futures, the Careers, Employability and Enterprise department at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have teamed up with the Prince’s Trust to offer young entrepreneurs a route into self-employment. Sarah Moseley, Enterprise Development Manager at BG Futures and John Holliday, Prince’s Trust Executive first met in February to explore ways they could partner to support those students who were interested in setting up their own business as Sarah explains: “The Enterprise agenda at BGU already provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge, skills, work-readiness and personal development. Widening the student experience is crucial for us and the Prince’s Trusts strategy to transform young people’s lives aligns perfectly with that of BGU” The Prince’s Trust has responded to the current constraints coronavirus has imposed on face to face delivery, by offering a monthly 2-day webinar which details all the different aspects of setting up and running your own business. The subjects covered include marketing, selling, branding, finding and keeping customers, business finance, taxation, legal structure and competitor analysis. This is followed by 1-2-1 support with John on how to write a business plan and securing either grant or loan funding to cover your start-up costs. Once you launch, two years of ongoing support is provided by one of the Prince’s Trust’s experienced business mentors. Future dates earmarked for the webinars include June 22/23, July 20/21 and August 24/25. Sergiu and George, on the BA (Hons) Business (Team Entrepreneurship) and Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, Training and Skills (PGDE) courses respectively, are two of the BGU students to have taken part in the webinars so far. They shared their excitement for what their participation could offer them: “I found the course very helpful as it gave me access to the Princes Trusts vast range of resources such as business plan templates, their network and a personal 1 to 1 mentor to overlook my development and make sure I’m on the right tracks with possible funding and grants opportunities” Sergiu “I am interested in starting a business in the future and found the sessions really useful and motivational” George Speaking following their feedback Sarah said: “With many plans on hold and University students having to adapt to new ways of learning and development I am delighted that Sergiu and George felt able to take some time to focus on their future” To find out more about the work of the Enterprise Team at BG Futures contact sarah.moseley@bishopg.ac.uk Tel: 01522 563817 For further details of The Prince’s Trust programme contact John Holliday on 07766 778341. -
BGU Sign Memorandum of Understanding with Bangkok University International
As part of Bishop Grosseteste University’s (BGU) ongoing work in Thailand, Wayne Dyble, International Manager, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of BGU with Bangkok University International (BUI). The Memorandum reflects the maturing relationship between the two institutions which will see BGU PGCE students visit the Bangkok campus with the prospect of BUI undergraduates visiting BGU’s Lincoln campus to study Business English classes. Following the signing ceremony Aimee Quickfall, Head of Programmes for Primary Education and Early Years at BGU, led a Business English taster workshop with around forty BUI students. During the workshop students were encouraged to explore the subtleties of Business English and how language assumes a contextual specificity. Wayne Dyble along with BGU colleagues Professor Chris Atkin and Dr Phil Wood also supported the session. Whilst Thailand the BGU team developed institutional links and worked with a range of Thai stakeholders on a research bid focussed on curriculum reform and teacher standards. For further information on the visit or BGU’s activities in Thailand and other International activities, please contact Wayne Dyble or visit our International web pages. -
Self-Determination Theory: How it can help you thrive in uncertain times
As we continue to adapt to the ongoing and unprecedented situation that the world finds itself in it is easy for our mental health and determination to suffer. So what can we do to not only protect our mental health, but boost it in order to keep ourselves positive and motivated? Dr Abigail Parrish, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development at Bishop Grosseteste University, has been exploring how Self-Determination Theory could be the answer. -
BGU Vice-Chancellor: Social-Distancing is tough but we all need to work together to protect the vulnerable
Over the last week we have been repeatedly encouraged by the Government and our emergency services to practise social distancing in an effort to reduce the transmission of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Unfortunately, over the weekend we saw many examples of people ignoring this advice in favour of visiting the country’s seaside towns and country villages. To a point this is understandable, humans are by nature social creatures, and the idea of being locked down and not seeing friends and loved ones for the foreseeable future may seem upsetting. However, the potential dangers of ignoring this advice far outweigh the social implications. Even if you are not showing symptoms, or are unlikely to suffer due to the virus, you may still pose a risk to those who are more vulnerable. This is one of the main reasons that we decided to move learning and teaching at BGU online for the foreseeable future. It was not an easy decision but I am confident it was the best one to make for the health and wellbeing of our students and staff. I implore every member of our community to follow the Government and Public Health England’s advice on social distancing. I am hopeful that we may soon start to see the end of current circumstances but this is only possible if we all make hard choices and work together. Remember that following the advice does not mean you have to completely isolate yourself, we are lucky to live in a technological age with an amazing array of digital communication options available to us. As an institution we are also working hard to craft innovative systems, such as our new Library Live Chat, to ensure that members of community are able to stay in regular contact with us and can continue to access support and guidance at any time. As I said when we made the difficult decision to transition to online learning, I look forward to welcoming everyone back onto campus as soon as possible, until then please stay safe and continue to protect the health of yourselves and those around you. You can find more information on the work being done BGU to support or community on our Remote Learning web page. Yours sincerely, Rev’d Canon Professor Peter Neil THE REVEREND CANON PROFESSOR PETER NEIL Vice-Chancellor Bishop Grosseteste University Full Government guidance on social distancing can be found by clicking here. -
Our top tips for getting a good sleep
There’s nothing more tiring than being stuck at home, but that doesn’t always mean that you can get good quality sleep. To help you during this difficult time, we spoke to our resident sleep expert; Dr Caroline Horton, to get some advice on how to maximise your chances of getting some well-earned rest.Sleeping well can impact positively on both our emotional and our physical functioning, so we suggest the following tips to help with getting to sleep and staying asleep. Please also contact Caroline.horton@bishopg.ac.uk if you are interested in taking part in an online project that aims to improve your sleep. Consistency of routine – establishing a regular work, exercise, and eating routine will impact on sleep. Going to sleep and waking up at very similar times each day can really help to train the body and brain to switch off, and switch on again in the morning.Dealing with anxiety – Most of us have periods where we struggle to switch off, because our minds are racing with current concerns. Unfortunately, with the current and unpredictable situation concerning COVID-19, mental health charities are in high demand, dealing with additional cases of anxiety. This can be troubling enough to deal with, but it can also disrupt sleep, which in turn can increase the frequency and scale of negative thoughts the following day. Switching off is therefore crucially important. Take the time to unwind and relax, as best you can, well before your usual bedtime. That way your body and mind should be more prepared for sleep. BGU has support in place to help with this. Staff can access our employee assistance programme through Perkbox and students can access round-the-clock support via Big White Wall.Boundaries – Similarly, our minds can race when we are busy or on overdrive. This can be when we are excited or active. Ideally, we have a consistent routine that separates out working from leisure, and each of those from sleep. Working/learning from home makes the creation of such boundaries even more challenging. Here at DrEAMSLab, we recommend allowing an extra 30-60 minutes to prepare for sleep. Watching Netflix doesn’t count as preparing for sleep, as that can in fact keep the mind active! Take time to settle and relax. If reading is calming for you, engage with that, but from the page rather than from a blue-light emitting device. If possible, don’t work in the room that you sleep in; keep those environments separate. Don’t use your bed for work. Create work/leisure/sleep boundaries in your routine as well as your physical spaces.General sleep hygiene – There are endless tips and tricks that aim to promote sleeping healthily. Consider signing up to the Sleep Well research study to access current information from DrEAMSLab (now online!) by contacting Caroline.horton@bishopg.ac.uk, and/or consult the following helpful sites:NHS choicesThe Sleep Council Resources from the recent World Sleep Day (13th March 2020) -
Top Tips for PGCE Students
With summer fast approaching undergraduate students will be planning out their next steps after finishing their degrees. Given our over 150 year's of experience in training teachers, many of our students will be considering staying on to begin a career in teaching through a PGCE course. With a wide range of age and subject specialism they're a great choice for anyone looking at a future in education. Although a PGCE may seem like a daunting task former student Jessica Barker has been put together her top tips to help new students succeed in their efforts to become teachers.* I started writing this post way back in September and have added to it throughout my time on the PGCE course. These are some basic but helpful tips that I want to offer any upcoming PGCE students, and most of them apply more generally to trainee teachers coming from other routes into the career too. Read on and hopefully you'll take some of this on board and find it relevant! 1. Take out a loan. Yes, you'll end up with a little more to pay back once you're earning, but that was inevitable after your degree anyway! The student loan can work wonders and top up your bursary to a very comfy sum. For those of you not fortunate enough to receive a bursary in the first place because our government don't deem your specialist subject worthy of one (don't even get me started), the loan will really help. 2. Quit your part-time job. It's going to be so hard to balance a part-time job and the training for a full time career, which quite honestly requires all of your time and effort. Long gone are the days when you'd get home from work and could switch off from it all, you'll now be working long into the evenings and at least one day of the weekend. Don't let a part time job hinder your training year, take the loan out and quit your job. 3. Use your age as an advantage. This is for those of us entering into the profession straight from undergraduate, particularly if you have a baby face. You're entering into a school late, the kids don't know you but they're observant and are going to recognise that you look pretty young. The minute that somebody seems to clock on that you're only in your early twenties is when you should start to use your age as an advantage. Kids instantly have a lot of respect for you when they feel like they can relate to you, so don't be afraid to show them that you're interested in some of the same things as them. There's a real temptation to hide your youth but I've found that chatting to the year eight boys about Fortnite and discussing prom with the year eleven girls really has helped me to win them over. Don't give too much away about yourself, do more listening than talking, but admit that because you're only five to ten years older than they are, you share similar interests - they'll start to see you as more human. Also, even though you know that actually the difference between a sixteen and a twenty-two year old isn't that mammoth, they won't. So they'll still see you as a proper fully fledged adult, even though you might not feel like one yet! 4. Take snacks, water and coffee. Teaching is physically (and emotionally) draining, you can never relax because you have to remain constantly alert, so you're using a lot more energy than your body is probably used to! It's a good idea to take something to nibble on at break time, just to give you that boost through until lunch. Water is a good idea too because working in a school makes you prone to headaches - the bright yellow lights and the noisy kids are a winning combination for heavy eyes and a pounding head, and staying hydrated will ensure that this isn't made any worse than it needs to be. Coffee is good at helping you feel a little more alive, particularly on dreary and dull days when you're having to teach some of your most challenging classes! It's also just good for socialising in the staff room, you have a reason to nip there and make yourself a drink, and you can sit and chat to everyone while you do. 5. Be professional. You're a trainee, people are watching your every move, and that isn't just when you're being formally observed in the classroom. You might think the staff room is a safe place to vent about your nightmare year eight's, but what you maybe don't know is that Satanic Sammy's mother is also a science teacher at the school and is sitting directly opposite you as you don him with that nickname! So avoid over-sharing, even when the other member's of staff are chatting away about personal things, don't get involved. You don't want to give people any excuse to judge you. This doesn't just apply to the things you say, but also be careful around what you do. Even if other staff members are okay rocking up to school five minutes before the bell for registration is going to ring, you can't behave like that. It's annoying but you've got to make sure you're doing everything the "right" way, and be assured, somebody will tell you if you're not! 6. Get involved with extra-curricular activities. As a trainee you're not obliged to help out with book club or choir, but staff will really appreciate you offering a helping hand, and it's a fantastic way to get to know the students. It's nice to show that you're taking a wider interest in the school too (and this will help you tick off Standard Eight of the Teachers Standards) so find out what there is to be getting involved with. Extra-curricular activities are fun to be a part of - they're filled with the kids that are passionate about that activity (be it drama, reading, sport, and so on) so you don't have to worry about bad behaviour, instead it's a nice opportunity to see the students at their best. I ran book club at my last school, and most of you know that I'm not an avid reader, but I absolutely loved seeing the students take an interest and develop a passion for literature. 7. Have one day off a week. You've overloaded with work, but it's important to have some time to yourself too. I honestly can't remember what I did before my PGCE because while on it, 90% of my time was filled with marking, planning and teaching. I tried to have one day a week where I did something completely unrelated to teaching, and it was usually Saturday. I'd go out for a meal or to the shops, I might go for a walk if the weather was nice (sometimes ending up at the pub), I watched some TV or I wrote my blog, just anything that I fancied really. It's so important to switch from your professional self to your personal self, and it makes you feel a lot better about life. 8. Buy personalised stamps. As a PGCE student, you'll be sharing your classes with host teachers - this can be tough, especially on second placement. The kids are usually able to adjust to having two teachers in the classroom, often it's the other teacher who can't. I found on my second placement that some teachers were very reluctant to let go of their classes and still wanted to have a presence within the classroom while I was teaching, which could make it very difficult to establish myself. I bought a personalised stamp that read 'Miss Barker says fantastic work', and i used it whenever a student's classwork or homework was especially impressive. This is first and foremost to give the students some recognition, but it was also for my own sake too! When they got the stamp they knew that it was me who had marked this work, which helped me to build a rapport with them. It sounds really trivial but this has helped so much, because students then reached out and thanked me for marking their book, and wanted to discuss my comments. They appreciated it and recognised that it was me who was putting in that effort. 9. Live at home if you can. This comes down to personal preference because everybody's living situations are different, but for me, I don't think I'd have managed this year if I didn't live at home. Shared accommodation is something I never want to go back to and definitely couldn't have put up with while doing my PGCE. I think I could have managed living alone this year, not in a group, but life is so much easier at home. I'm really lucky to have super supportive parents who I'm very close to, which definitely helped because I always had someone to talk to if I'd had a bit of a rubbish day. I also got all of my meals cooked for me, my pack-up was always ready for me on a morning, my bed was made if I didn't have time to do it, and my clothes were all washed and neatly ironed! You don't realise how much you value these things until you don't have them, and having lived away for three years, I can see just how lucky I am. If you know you'll get looked after at home, move back there. I get that it feels a little strange, to hundreds of children you are a teacher, and yet back home you feel like a teenager - but that's okay! You can be responsible and professional at work, and still have your mum take care of you at home, for this year at least. Also, life is much more affordable when you live at home, and your money will stretch so much further. It's worth considering. 10. Ask for help. So many people from my cohort quit during first placement, about a third of us just dropped out, and I was shocked. As stressful as it was and as hard as it seemed, I couldn't believe people could just give up... then I moved to my second placement and I finally understood. Sometimes you feel under-valued, unappreciated, demoralised and even bullied... and you need to speak out. Expectations vary from school to school and while one placement might be easygoing and quite casual, another might be very strict and on top of things - if you're struggling with the pace of it all, or if you think you aren't good enough, you need to talk to one of your university mentors/tutors. I was having real problems at my placement school so reached out to my school based mentor and made them aware. I then received lots of additional support from the people at university and knew that as hard as the course had become, I could get through it. I ended up being removed from my second placement school and moved back to my first one, this was exactly what I needed and had wanted for a very long time. Things just didn't work out at the second placement and it was affecting my self esteem and happiness outside of work, and because I reached out to the uni and continued to report to them whenever there was an issue, they were able to get me out of a bad situation and into a better one. Don't be afraid to tell people that you're not doing great, it's better to mention it early on than wait until you feel the only option is to quit. The people at university will want to help you, it's their job, and they will act on your behalf and make things easier if you'll only ask. It's a long year full of ups and downs - sometimes with more downs than ups - but it's worth sticking out and completing. Enter into your PGCE year with a positive mindset and face the challenges as they come to the very best of your ability. Enjoy the experience and remember it won't last forever, the end is in sight right from the very beginning and you can do it. I really hope you found this post useful and will take some of these recommendations on board. I recently graduated from my PGCE, qualifying as an Outstanding teacher and having received two merits in both of my assignments, and will be beginning my NQT year this September, and I can't wait. Thank you for reading. Jessica successfully graduated last summer before beginning her NQT year, you can keep up to date with her progress on her blog "Life as a University Graduate". You can find more information on the wide range of innovative PGCE courses offered by BGU on our website. Alternatively you can contact our Enquiries Team or join us on one our Open Days to find out how to begin your journey into teaching.
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