Dynnargh dh'agan lyther nowodhow - welcome to our newsletter!
In this month's issue: National Careers Week | New #TeamTLI merchandise | Life after TLI | Natural Schooling updates | Save the date | WALE conference | Meet #TeamTLI | Short courses | Undergraduate student conference | Information sessions | Arena updates | Upcoming events
If you would like to contribute to future editions of our newsletter, please email newsletter@learninginstitute.co.uk.
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National Careers Week 2022
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 This week, 7th - 12th March, is National Careers Week - a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK.
Whether you know where you want your studies to take you or if you are still undecided, our careers adviser Josie has some advice on what you can do now.
Start adding to your list of transferable skills. Note down specific examples of these skills from your current (and previous) work experience, and the skills you gain throughout your studies.
Keep track of the key content of your modules. You already know a lot, and throughout your studies you will have the opportunity to learn so much, both from your tutors and your fellow learners.
Be curious. Talk to people about the jobs they do. Build networks - with your fellow students, with work colleagues, and using online platforms such as LinkedIn.
Start looking at job vacancies and job descriptions. Could you do that? Does it interest you? Contact the recruiter to find out more about the role. Be flexible and open to opportunity. Consider volunteering and work experience opportunities.
Take any opportunity for additional training. Learning is a lifelong process!
As part of the week, Josie is holding an online Q&A session between 6pm and 7pm this evening, Thursday 10th March. If you have any questions about where a foundation or top-up degree could take you, applying for jobs, updating your CV or career development in general, drop in to find out more. |
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New #TeamTLI merchandise!
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Would you like a TLI hoodie?
Following some requests from students, we have liaised with Akuma Sports, and are now trying to gauge student interest in #TeamTLI hoodies.
We estimate the cost to students being around £28-£30 per hoodie (please note, no profit would be made from these hoodies). The student hoodies would have The Learning Institute logo on the front, your centre or degree title on one sleeve, and your class (e.g. 'Class of 2022') on the other sleeve.
Please let us know your interest, either direct or via your centre or course rep.
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Life after TLI - Tasha's story
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We recently caught up with #TeamTLI graduate Tasha, and she told us about her experiences of life as a Learning Institute student and what happened next.
"My personal journey began with me being marched down to an introduction for the Foundation Degree by my line manager and the class teacher I worked with, with me saying “I don’t want to do it!” and “I can’t write an essay!”. And that is where it all began!
My work place was very supportive and encouraged me to do the course, even though I was very reluctant to begin with. I had been working there as a Nursery Nurse, however I had also been working as an unqualified teacher in the nursery for many years. So, it really was about time I achieved that ‘real qualification’ and become the teacher I wanted to be.
Before I knew it, I was enrolled and starting a university degree at the grand old age of 43!"
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Erasmus+ Natural Schooling Updates
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Last month saw the second transnational event for the Erasmus+ Natural Schooling project, with partners from Sweden, Italy and the UK joining colleages from Centro Público Integrado O Cruce in A Coruna, Spain.
It may have only been the second in-person meeting of the project, but there are already some exciting developments in the works, including curriculum innovations across primary, secondary and vocational education.
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Students in our partner school in Sweden are experiencing all science lessons outdoors this academic year, and have been building their own outdoor classroom. Included in this project are outdoor cross-curricular activities in physical education, science, English, and Swedish.
In Spain, students have been growing vegetable gardens, exploring rivers and streams, and building weather stations to collect data related to rainfall and wind speed. They have also been linking their outdoor learning with technology, capturing and editing videos of local wildlife, and using a 360 degree camera app to record places of interest in nature and then plotting this on Google Maps.
In the UK, Rogue Theatre have been commissioned to define potential activities related to the construction of an immersive wild theatre production, along with appropriate guidance for how these could be conducted by practitioners in a setting. In addition to this, Devon Wildlife Trust has been commissioned to produce audits that can be used by a setting or an individual to scrutinise their own natural schooling practices and identify their next steps, and a graduated list of potential activities with appropriate guidance for how these could be conducted.
These materials will be curated to form a development package that can be accessed online for individuals and schools to use in order to identify and run an appropriate curriculum innovation that will develop their current understanding and practices in Natural Schooling.
To find out more about the project, please email r.d@learninginstitute.co.uk.
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Save the date - graduation
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The University of Worcester graduation ceremony dates have now been confirmed for this year. The ceremonies for our foundation and top-up degree students will be held in the first week of November, running from Tuesday 1 – Friday 4 November 2022.
Further details about the ceremonies will be shared in due course, and more information about graduation can be found here.
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As sponsors of the Wessex Association of Leaders in Education (WALE) this year, we're looking forward to attending the WALE conference at Queens Hotel, Bournemouth on 17th and 18th March.
As well as exhibiting to conference delegates, we are also running a workshop: 'Use it or lose it: using your apprenticeship levy'.
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The latest in our series of articles introducing key members of #TeamTLI staff.
Deborah Lambert - Foundation and top-up degree tutor
 Deborah is a tutor on The Learning Institute's foundation and top-up degrees, and also delivers ITT in outdoor learning to trainee teachers across Key Stages 1-4. She is currently chair of the Natural Schooling Research Interest Group.
Deborah was a primary school teacher for over 30 years, and has a wealth of experience as a class teacher of EYFS–KS2 in over 30 primary schools. She also worked across KS1-4 in special schools.
Alongside her tutoring work with The Learning Institute, she is a Wild Tribe and PE trainer for the Arena Sports Partnership. As part of this role, she has written and delivered PE schemes of work and maths programmes of study for the Arena Wild Tribe Outdoor Learning Practitioners award, modelling the delivery of the curriculum outdoors. She has also created the Wild Tribe Explorers programme to support health, wellbeing and behaviour in schools, and written Wild Tribe leadership programmes for children, including the Wild Tribe Literacy Leader, Wild Tribe Maths Leader, Wild Tribe Rangers and Wild Tribe First Aid for children. Deborah is also a Level 3 OFQUAL certificated First Aid in the Outdoors trainer, and provides a series of First Aid workshops and accredited RQF courses.
Drawing on her experience of managing the Playing for Success Education Centre at Porthpean Outdoor Education Centre, Deborah co-authored Chapter 15 (Physical Development, Health and Well-Being: the role of Physical Education) in Children Learning Outside the Classroom: from birth to eleven’ by Sue Waite. She is also co-author of the National Curriculum Outdoors series of books published by Bloomsbury Education in 2020. The five books in the series cover Key Stage 1, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, and provide a series of progressions to help teachers to grow their confidence in teaching outside.
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Deborah Lambert filmed at High Ashurst in October 2020.
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Have you or someone you know ever thought of studying a short course?
The Learning Institute, in partnership with the University of Worcester, is offering 16 new short courses* for those who work or want to work with children and young people in education and children’s services. Each short course is worth 30 credits.
| Level |
Short Course Title |
| 4 |
Creating enabling environments |
| 4 |
Mental health and wellbeing of children and young people |
| 4 |
Supporting children and young people's development and learning |
| 4 |
Supporting communication, speech and language in the early years |
| 4 |
Working with parents to support children and young people's learning |
| 5 |
Autism and complex needs |
| 5 |
Coaching and mentoring |
| 5 |
Early years curriculum, assessment and planning |
| 5 |
Inclusive approaches to supporting learners with SEND |
| 5 |
Motivation to learn and learning behaviours |
| 5 |
Planning for learning |
| 5 |
Therapeutic approaches to supporting children experiencing adversity |
| 6 |
Children and young people, the environment and sustainable futures |
| 6 |
Multiagency working |
| 6 |
Psychology of teaching and learning |
| 6 |
Supporting the mental health of children and young people with SEND |
Our courses have been designed with employers to ensure that they provide the knowledge and skills needed in the sector.
More news coming soon! To find out more, please email shortcourses@learninginstitute.co.uk.
*Subject to approval
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Undergraduate Student Conference
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We were looking forward to sharing some photos from our recent undergraduate student conference in this edition of our newsletter... but unfortunately Storm Eunice had other ideas! The red weather warnings from the Met Office meant that, less than 24 hours before the conference began, we had to make the decision to postpone the workshops planned for Friday evening, and move the Saturday taught sessions online.
We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone for their understanding and flexibility, and bearing with us whilst we dealt with issues such as power cuts and hotel wifi!
The workshops will be rescheduled for online delivery later this term.
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Recruitment for our foundation degree courses is now well underway for September, and it has been lovely to meet potential new students at our recent face-to-face information sessions.
This month, we'll be in Camborne, Winterbourne, Roche, and our new centre in Westbury, and we also have two online information sessions planned - please see the events listing below for dates and times.
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The Wild Tribe Outdoor Learning Conference is taking place this month at Sterts near Liskeard.
The one day inspirational conference aims to provide teachers and teaching assistants with a tool kit of ideas to implement or further develop the outdoor curriculum in a primary school. The day will include access to a range of innovative practical and theory based workshops, with the aim initiating a whole school approach to outdoor learning.
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Key note speaker Dr Sara A Collins, the Campaign Co-ordinator for The Nature Premium, is headlining the conference, and delegates will be able to choose from a range of workshops including Sustainable Leadership, Sustainable Curriculum Ideas, Straw Skep Weaving, Pyrography and Earthrise Together.
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The Learning Institute: Foundation Degree information sessions
Thursday 10th March (4.00pm - 6.00pm): Roskear Primary School
Thursday 10th March (4.00pm - 6.00pm): Winterbourne Academy
Tuesday 15th March (6.00pm - 7.00pm): Online
Wednesday 16th March (4.00pm - 6.00pm): Roche Beacon Place
Tuesday 22nd March (4.00pm - 6.00pm): Westbury Infant School
Thursday 31st March (6.00pm - 7.00pm): Online
Tuesday 5th April (4.00pm - 6.00pm): Ilfracombe Academy
Other events
Sunday 6th - Saturday 12th March: No More Week
Monday 7th - Saturday 12th March: National Careers Week
Tuesday 8th March: International Women's Day
Friday 11th - Saturday 19th March: British Science Week
Wednesday 16th March: Young Carers Action Day
Friday 18th March: Comic Relief Red Nose Day and World Sleep Day
Sunday 20th March: International Day of Happiness
Monday 21st - Sunday 27th March: Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Monday 21st March: World Down Syndrome Day
Saturday 26th March: Purple Day
Monday 28th March - Sunday 3rd April: World Autism Acceptance Week
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