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51.
Ofsted Praise for BGU's FE Teacher Training
Bishop Grosseteste University’s further education teacher training has been praised by Ofsted for having a “clear vision and an extremely strong commitment to their engagement with partners in the FE and skills sector”. The report, published on Thursday by Ofsted, follows a highly successful Ofsted inspection of early years, primary and secondary provision at BGU in Lincoln in December 2015. In this latest report of FE teacher training the inspectors found that “the university has ensured that their strategic vision and strong partnership development prepared capable, confident and skilled practitioners”. It added that BGU’s “leaders show the university’s positive response to the local and national need for skilled practitioners in FE, as part of their wider commitment to professional and career development”. Nationally the FE and skills sector has experienced considerable and continuing change, and inspectors commended BGU for reviewing, restructuring and extending its provision. The “dynamic and well considered actions” of leaders have created a strong partnership, reinforced by the “dedication and enthusiasm” of tutors and mentors, the report said. Inspectors found that the institution, which has been training teachers for over 150 years, continues to lead innovation which flourishes in the “safe learning environments” created by the partnership. Trainees “are not afraid to challenge themselves by trying out new and innovative ways to help their learners succeed”. The Ofsted inspection took place in May 2016. Dr Nick Gee, Head of the School of Teacher Development at BGU, said: “We are delighted by this report which once again highlights our clear vision, strong leadership and total commitment to partnership working. “To have secured ‘good’ OFSTED judgements in all age phases (early years, primary, secondary and FE) demonstrates the true depth and breadth of our expertise and places us amongst a very exclusive national pool of universities.” Matt Shough, Head of Higher Education at New College Stamford, said: “We are delighted that the report has recognised the work that the university and colleges have done in providing high-quality teacher training in the further education sector. “We are particularly pleased that the inspection recognised the care, support and challenge that the trainees receive from our tutors and mentors and consequently the high expectations set for them as emerging teachers.” Sally Reeve, Teaching and Learning Manager at Lincoln College Group, said: “We are immensely pleased to see that the hard work and dedication undertaken by the partnership and the commitment of the staff and trainees involved has been recognised by Ofsted. “We are also extremely grateful for all the support BGU has given in the preparation for the inspection and during it. This is a great team result with a positive impact on our trainees’ confidence.” To view the entire report visit the Ofsted website here. If you're wishing to pursue a career in the education, training and skills sector please see our Certificate in Education, Training and Skills or Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, Training and Skills. -
52.
BGU’s Teacher Training Praised by Ofsted
Bishop Grosseteste University’s teacher training partnership has been praised by Ofsted for making “an important contribution to the recruitment, selection and supply of teachers to local schools and the wider region”. The inspectors found that high-quality training, provided through effective partnership between the university and schools, “ensures that teachers trained by the university present as confident and effective practitioners, who are valued by their employing schools”. Trainee outcomes, the quality of training and the overall effectiveness of the partnership in securing consistently high-quality outcomes were all graded as good in primary, early years and secondary programmes. The two-stage Ofsted inspection took place in June and December 2015 and the report was published today (26th January 2016). The report praises BGU’s “vision for continuous improvement” and “involvement in current educational research”, keeping the historic institution at forefront of teacher education and recruitment. As a member of the prestigious Cathedrals Group of universities, BGU has a warm, caring ethos. The inspectors recognised this, commenting that across all phases “the partnership provides trainees with very high-quality levels of pastoral care and support”. Inspectors found that the institution, which has been training teachers for over 150 years, continues to lead developments through cutting-edge educational research: “University tutors’ involvement in current educational research provides a sharp edge to the training programme,” they said. Trainee teachers are also involved in research, and experience “good levels of coherence between the courses taught at the university and the school-based experiences”. These connections between theory and practice led inspectors to comment on “trainees’ useful research projects”, arguing that “the consistently good quality of this training is evidenced in extremely thorough audits, varied and interesting assignments”. “We are very pleased with the inspection judgements, which all mirror our own self-evaluation,” said Dr Nick Gee, Head of the School of Teacher Development at BGU. “We are particularly delighted by the recognition given to our excellent pastoral support, the full involvement of our partnership, the embedding of research within our training and the strength of leadership and management throughout all levels of provision.” Key findings in the report are: Leaders in all phases share a common vision for continuous improvement. Team-working within each phase leadership team and across the entire partnership leadership team is a strength. Together, all leaders demonstrate the capacity for further improvement. The partnership makes an important contribution to the recruitment, selection and supply of teachers to local schools and the wider region. The partnership provides trainees with very high-quality levels of pastoral care and support. Visit the Ofsted website. -
53.
Big Issue Founder to Speak at Lincoln Conference
Lord John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, will be the keynote speaker at a conference in Lincoln next month which will help school leaders to improve the emotional wellbeing of young people. Think2Speak LIVE at Bishop Grosseteste University on Thursday 13th October is the first conference of its kind to be organised by Think2Speak, a community interest company based at BG Futures at BGU. The company and the conference aim to show those who work with young people how they can support their emotional wellbeing and understand the impact and value of doing so. Think2Speak, set up by Lizzie Jordan and Naomi Watkins, provides workshops, advice and consultancy to support schools where young people are affected by issues surrounding matters such as self-harm, suicide, HIV, domestic abuse, puberty, LGBT and mental health. John Bird, who was brought up in an orphanage, served time in a young offenders’ institution and often slept rough in London as a young man, will share his story and describe how his childhood and those he met influenced his life. “Staff in many schools have difficult conversations with young people that could be handled much better,” said Lizzie. “When schools ask for help we go in to support the senior management team, the teachers and the pupils with a range of services, including training, workshops, counselling and advocacy. “Our inaugural one-day conference is all about discussing the difficulties schools are facing, the benefits to the whole school for investing in emotional wellbeing, and signposting staff to the support that’s available.” In the morning there will be a series of short, focused TED-style talks covering the personal impact, the academic perspective and the school experience of the value of investing in emotional wellbeing of students, young people and the wider community. In the afternoon delegates will go back to the classroom to participate in a series of bookable workshops on topics including domestic abuse, puberty, HIV, suicide and self-harm. The sessions will make use of combinations of teacher training and demonstrations of the student workshops available to both primary and secondary schools. Simon Blake, Chief Executive of the National Union of Students, will also give a presentation on the day. Think2Speak LIVE is free of charge for senior leaders working in education. This includes head teachers, assistant heads, principals, deputies, business managers, heads of department of schools, colleges and universities, and heads of local authority education departments, national curriculum and government-funded education organisations. Limited paid for tickets are available – details are available at https://www.think2speak.com/think2speak-live/ -
54.
Excellent student satisfaction
BGU is the second highest ranked public university in England for student satisfaction. Figures released today from the National Student Survey show that 92% of BGU students are satisfied with their university experience - that’s 7% higher than last year’s score and six percentage points higher than the sector average. Significantly seven courses reported overall satisfaction above 92%. Education Studies, Theology & Ethics achieved 100% satisfaction while three other courses – Early Childhood Studies, Primary Education with Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status and Applied Studies – all recorded satisfaction levels of 97%. Dr Ruth Sayers, Executive Dean Learning, Teaching and International, welcomed today’s findings: “This is an excellent result for BGU and demonstrates our commitment to working in partnership with our students to improve their teaching and learning experience. We take what our students tell us very seriously and are always keen to hear what they have to say. We’ve introduced a number of initiatives to help give them a greater input including a new student engagement facilitator role which has been created to enhance and further develop a culture of staff and students working in partnership across the university. We’re also delighted with the overall response rate, which was 81% of eligible final year students, and would like to thank the Bishop Grosseteste Students’ Union (BGSU) for their support in encouraging people to take part.” BGSU President Kieran Parrish said he is thrilled with the outcome: “This shows that the students recognise the high quality of service they are actually getting from the university and that the relationship is one which is strong and transparent. From an SU point of view it is excellent to see how engaged and happy the students are, however, we know that there is always room for improvement. We are relishing the chance to build upon this and push ourselves to provide better for the students in the future.” The NSS statistics follow on from a succession of positive results for BGU. In April, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) published its review which found that BGU met its expectations in all areas – academic standards, learning opportunities, information and enhancement. In July, the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey revealed that BGU is one of the top three universities in the UK for student employability with 97.2% per cent of students who leave BGU with an undergraduate degree finding work or continuing to study six months following graduation. Also during the year, Ofsted gave a very positive rating for all of teacher education – early years, primary, secondary and further education – and praised BGU for having a “clear vision and an extremely strong commitment to their engagement with partners in the FE and skills sector”. The Reverend Canon Professor Peter Neil, Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, said it’s been an extremely successful year. “We’ve achieved some outstanding results this year which show that we provide outstanding facilities and support,” he explained. “It is also worth highlighting that we’ve recorded increases in all of the eight NSS question categories and attained one of the biggest rises in the country for overall student satisfaction. We conduct our own in-house survey every year and receive very positive feedback but it is very encouraging to see our students saying this in public. However, there is no room for complacency and we will keep growing the range of subjects on offer and further invest in improving our up-hill campus so that we can continue giving the students an excellent experience.” -
55.
BGU Lecturers Go Dutch
BGU lecturers Pat Beckley, Yvonne Hill and Tony Luby recently embarked upon an exchange visit to the Netherlands visiting schools in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In their first visit to the country, they found excellent further education practice at ROC van Amsterdam zuid-oost in Amsterdam where students received personalised learning based on their workplace. Outstanding classroom practices and relationships based around Hattie's Visible Learning were displayed in Rotterdam's Emmaus primary school. Tony and Yvonne met with the 16 MA students who will be coming to Lincoln to study at BGU this October. Yvonne said the MA Education course at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences has given her "food for thought" - and with 14 of the students being primary teachers BGU should be able to give them a good experience for their third year stay in the UK. Tony Luby said that "the future looks orange" as he discussed during the visit various opportunities for building international relationships with schools in the Netherlands. The CEO and Principal of the Forge Trust expressed interest in taking forward this scheme which could benefit schools local to BGU. Find out more about teaching courses at BGU. -
56.
Celebrating the Charter of the Forest at BGU
The 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest will be commemorated in November, and Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln is joining in the celebrations. The 1217 Charter of the Forest re-established rights of access to the royal forest that were taken away by William the Conqueror. The charter complements Magna Carta and both documents can be viewed at Lincoln Castle, the only place in the world where two original copies of the documents can be found together. Lincoln Castle are hosting a celebration on 6 November 2017 where they will also launch a Charter for Trees, Woods and People for the 21st century. BGU will make a special contribution by having between 60 and 70 primary and secondary school students on campus. They will engage in age specific educational activities on the Charter of the Forest and the new Charter for Trees, Woods and People. BGU's special expertise in qualifying teachers and researchers at BGU on law and society will have its impact on these activities. The project is part of a major campaign, sponsored by the Woodland Trust, to work on Britain's environment for future generations. A ceremonial tree planting on the BGU campus will conclude the event. Interested in history? Find out more about studying History at BGU. -
57.
BGU lecturers pen new book for trainee primary teachers
A book written by teacher development lecturers at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln was officially launched today. 'Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching' by BGU’s Rachael Paige, Sue Lambert and Rebecca Geeson is a new book for trainee teachers and their mentors. The book includes discussion around different aspects of primary teaching and aims to also support the mentoring and coaching conversations that happen throughout initial training. The three editors lead the successful primary initial teacher education programmes at BGU. They have drawn upon contributions from colleagues teaching on the primary programmes in specialist areas to create the book. As part of the launch of this book, new trainee teachers on the PGCE course were provided with a copy of the book during an induction lecture. Find out about training to teach at BGU by clicking here. Building Skills for Effective Primary Teaching is available to buy on Amazon now. -
58.
Sport at BGU shortlisted for prestigious award
Sport at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln has been shortlisted for an award at this year’s Active Lincolnshire Sports Awards. The department is one of three finalists in the Sports Department of the Year category. Sport at BGU was praised in the shortlisting process for “a great partnership between students, BGU staff and professionals from Lincoln City FC”. The BGU logo sits proudly on the Lincoln City home shirt and BGU’s sponsorship of the club has brought about many benefits to students, the club and the city over the last year. Sports students received coaching from City manager Danny Cowley in December, worked with players as they trained at BGU and learnt about the importance of data and research in preparing high-performing teams. The FA Cup trophy made a memorable appearance on campus in March prior to the Imps’ historic quarter-final clash against Arsenal. The Imps’ FA Cup run attracted national and international TV coverage of the partnership which has helped to raise the profile of the Club, BGU and the city of Lincoln as a whole. The Sports department also received praise for working with its partners and the wider community to provide more opportunities for people to become involved in sport and physical activity. The Sports Department, working with its FE College partners, has developed a new BSc (Hons) Sport, Coaching and Physical Education degree that will enable more people across the county to study the benefits of sport and physical activity. BGU’s Student Ambassadors are putting their coaching and teaching skills to good use supporting local primary schools to deliver sport and physical activity for young people. The Cathedral Cup, an initiative developed jointly by students from both of the city’s Universities, was also highlighted as a particular success. Sports teams from BGU competed against teams from the University of Lincoln in October 2016, culminating in a showpiece football match, at Lincoln City’s Sincil Bank stadium, attended by thousands of sports fans from across Lincolnshire. The Cathedral Cup has become an annual charitable and community-focussed showcase for the city. Dr Graham Basten, Head of School of Social Sciences at BGU, said, “I am absolutely delighted that the Sports Department at BGU has been shortlisted for the Lincolnshire Sports Award. “That an independent panel has noted our sustained progress in developing community links, student engagement, our partnership with Lincoln City Football Club, and our new BSc Sport and Coaching is testimony to the great work of the academic and wider staff at BGU, our students and our partners. “It was great to see our logo on the Imps football shirt worn by young and old, a real sense of pride in the city. I therefore hope that more students will be inspired to ‘Study Sport at BGU’”. The Lincolnshire Sports Awards will take place at the Lincolnshire Showground on 2 November 2017. Find out more about Sport at BGU. -
59.
Retired RAF Service Woman Realises Her Dream at BGU
A Lincoln woman who spent over two decades in the Royal Air Force before retiring and returning to education will graduate with a degree from Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln this week. After moving to the UK from the Caribbean, Amanda Betts (47) joined the RAF and served as an Aerospace Systems Operator for 22 years before deciding to go to university. With an interest in primary school teaching she attended Lincoln College to study an Access to Higher Education course in teacher training in 2013. At the same time, she began volunteering as a Teaching Assistant at Chad Varah Primary School in Lincoln, before starting a three-year BA (Hons) degree in Education Studies and History at BGU in 2014. Amanda said: “It was always my intention to do some aspect of teaching, but it was only after getting into university that I thought that being a primary school teacher would be my next role,” While at university Amanda joined the Networking Club through the BGU Employability Award which helps students prepare for the workplace after graduation. After initially wanting to become a primary school teacher, she decided that she would be better suited in a slightly different role. “It’s not always easy knowing if a career or particular job will suit you but the Networking Club allowed me to speak to a range of teaching staff and experts all in one place. I soon realised that full-time teaching was not the path for me. “Instead I wanted to work in an environment with children using a wider range of activities and services which would help the child in life, not just academically.” Once back on track Amanda applied for a voluntary post to work with vulnerable children and adults at the St Giles Sure Start Children’s Centre during her third year. She said: “I met a variety of social workers and outreach workers who were dedicated to making sure each child received the best start possible. “I knew that by volunteering I could make a difference to children’s lives too, and this is when I discovered where my skills and interests would be best suited.” The road to graduation has not been an easy ride for Amanda, who not only found out she was dyslexic during her time at university but also got married part way through her degree! “I never did many academic examinations in the RAF apart from oral exams so getting used to reading and writing essays in a short space of time was hard for me. I just thought that I was having difficulties with the workload, especially being a mature student, but I never considered myself dyslexic. As well as all this I was adjusting to married life!” After graduation, Amanda will start volunteering at the St Giles Sure Start Children’s Centre and plans on using skills from her degree to facilitate activities for the children who visit the centre. Amanda Betts will graduate at Lincoln Cathedral with a BA (Hons) degree in Education Studies and History at 10.15am on Wednesday 19th July 2017. -
60.
New edition of popular resource celebrates family diversities
The Family Diversities Reading Resource at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) in Lincoln has been updated to mark its tenth anniversary. Originally produced at BGU by Janice Morris, Teaching Resources Librarian and Richard Woolley, then Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, the booklet showcased over 100 high quality children’s picture books. “Children live in a variety of homes – of different sizes, in houses or apartments, in trailers or on boats,” said Janice. “They also live with a diverse range of others, including one and two-parent households, with mum and dad, dad and dad, mum and mum, grandma or an uncle, with siblings or in public care. Some have a parent who works away from home, or who stays away from home. Some live between two homes.” The Family Diversities Reading Resource helps those involved in education or caring to identify high quality resources to use in classrooms, libraries and in the home. Janice and Richard (now Deputy Head of the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester) began refreshing this key educational resource last year, and have incorporated 50 more titles into the 2017 edition. The updated resource is published as a joint venture between BGU and the University of Worcester. Many of the books listed in the resource can be found in the Teaching Resources Collection at BGU and at The Hive, the public and university library, in Worcester. Family Diversities is free to download as a pdf document. It is freely available to all educational and not-for-profit groups.
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