Glasgow Kelvin College

Glasgow Based Further Education College

Gary Shares College’s Best Practice for Online Engagement

By

Glasgow Kelvin College’s Gary Sharp has been on the airwaves this week, outlining the College’s approach to and services for people with a visual impairment.

Stuart Lawler, on his podcast from ‘Remote but not Restricted’, invited Gary to take part and provide an example of the College’s good practice in delivering services during the COVID19 lockdown.

As all universities and colleges move their teaching and learning online, making sure that materials provided to students with a visual impairment are accessible and fit for purpose can be a challenge.  Working with their charity partners, the Thomas Pocklington Trust, RNIB and Leonard Cheshire Disability, the Remote but not Restricted podcasts can provide hints, tips and resources to make course delivery the best it can be.

Gary emphasised that the College’s fortuitous ‘early adoption’ of Teams as a Microsoft Showcase College had certainly made it less challenging to transition to online rather than face-to-face delivery.  Staff were already experienced enough to ease students into the process.

He explained the benefits of Microsoft Teams, including immersive reader, to address a wide range of additional support needs for students, and the services which can be built in around that.

A lively and informative podcast, have a listen at:

https://audioboom.com/posts/7605344-episode-8-gary-sharp-from-glasgow-kelvin-college

Gary said of his broadcast experience,

“There were actually many other things I wanted to shoehorn in, but didn’t manage due to time. The college’s response and attitude to the current environment made it a very easy interview to shine a light on good practice.”

Principal Derek Smeall congratulated Gary and the team for the sterling work they’re doing, saying,

“Well done!  A fantastic insight into what you and your team do to support our learners and a great reflection of the work the College does.”

Picture of Gary Sharp

Marie Applauded for Community Contribution Award!

By

Our own Marie Woods, Senior Curriculum Manager – Community Engagement, has been applauded by our partners who have recognised her remarkable work in the community.

At the Festival of Youth Enterprise Awards held online earlier this week, Marie received the Outstanding Contribution Award to Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) for her significant contribution to their project and to ensuring accreditation or their learning activities.

Presenting her award, Fraser Morrison of YES (22mins 50) speaks admiringly about Marie’s ‘incredible impact on the work of Young Enterprise Scotland’ which has enabled over 300 young people to achieve a level 6 qualification.

Colleagues, Andrea MacAulay and Gary Harkins say of Marie,

“Marie has worked tirelessly on the programme for over a year, including part of last year’s summer break. Her dedication and drive has been instrumental in the programme’s collaborative development with Young Enterprise Scotland; its roll-out and very significant SCQF accreditation.

Young Enterprise Scotland and the young people participating in the programme across Scotland have been delighted with the programme and at all stages have provided such positive feedback. There really is no other similar qualification that can match the YES Company Programme, as it offers practical hands on experience of setting up a company, including all of the components that would be connected to doing so, such as product/service design, marketing, finance, HR etc.  She has done a tremendous job.”

Here at Glasgow Kelvin we are extremely proud of Marie’s achievement and delighted at her success.  She has had an impressive community-focused career over the years and has worked doggedly to ensure that experiential learning receives the recognition it deserves.  She continually keeps the learners’ needs at the heart of her work and is inspirational in her enthusiasm for learning as a tool for transformation and progress.

Colleagues and students alike are delighted at Marie’s achievement and wish her hearty congratulations!  Well Done!

Video of ceremony at:

https://foye20.heysummit.com/talks/festival-of-youth-enterprise-awards/?ah=AK9urW7N

Marie Woods

Our Green Fingered Volunteering Award Students

By

During lockdown, our students on the Volunteering Award part-time programme are certainly missing their studies, especially as there was such a flurry of activity in the weeks before face-to-face teaching ceased.

The programme focuses on developing learners’ Essential Skills with a focus on the environment and bio-diversity.

They take on a range of volunteering activities in partnership with local organisations.  Their work helps to bring people together to improve their local environment, tackle local issues and create spaces which are a source of pride and recreation for people of all ages.  The skills developed prepare our students for volunteering roles or employment.

Our learners, together with our fabulous staff from the Support for Learning department, got together with local organisations, Fair Deal, on the Help Yourself Grow programme and Hidden Gardens project,  where they learned teamwork, communication, planning, problem solving and research, all contributing to their self-reflection and employability skills.

The programme is a great example of the importance of partnership working to ensure that learners experience a dynamic and relevant learning environment which will help them as they prepare to move on to volunteering or employment.

Our remarkable students also took great pride in learning skills such as propagation, cultivation and plant care.  They’re pictured here getting very hands-on with the local plant-life.

Their hard work made a real difference and certainly helped them to make a connection with the environment.  They’ve made it clear how much they are missing the practical aspects of their course and, hopefully, they may soon be able to get along to see the fruits of their labours.

montage picture of students working with plants
montage picture of students working in garden
montage picture of students working with plants
montage picture of students working in garden

Partnerships Making the Difference

By

The importance of partnership with other agencies comes to the fore in stressful times.

Lecturer with the Transitions to Learning & Work programme, Joann Duffy, informs us of a wonderful example of collaboration from one of our partners to support vulnerable students in lockdown.

The Transitions programme is targeted at young people from a care-experienced background, many of whom have limited access to resources and support networks.  The College works closely with Action For Children Scotland to ensure the young person receives a holistic and individual level of support which addresses their needs, whether these are financial, emotional or basic information and guidance.  The STAY project with Action for Children is a regional partnership through GCRB with skilled advisors working with each of the Glasgow colleges to help students sustain and continue their studies.

One student had reported that she was struggling to complete her work due to lack of IT resources and was anxious she would be unable to complete her course work.  To add further frustration and stress, she had a presentation and online interview for a childcare apprenticeship coming up.

Children In Action Logo

Access to IT resources is a crucial issue for online learning plans – students may not have connectivity at home or, indeed, be able to afford sufficient data for their phone.

Action for Children stepped in and provided her with a shiny new chromebook to get her up and running.  She was absolutely overjoyed to get a laptop of her very own.  Without a laptop our student could have been facing an additional barrier that could result in her missing out on a future positive destination.

It’s great to see these little acts of #kindness which can make a huge difference to someone’s life and life chances and we’re very grateful that our most vulnerable students have access to the service.

Joann reports that a further student has now received a chromebook and is powering through the coursework!

We thank Joann for her commitment to our students, and our splendid partners at Action for Children Scotland.  We look forward to continuing our work with them in the ‘new normal’.

NHSVisors

By

3D Printed visors sent to NHS

Fabulous College staff are using technology to manufacture much-needed visors and face shields for NHS Scotland in the battle against COVID-19.

Lecturer Fraser Dougan, a member of Glasgow Kelvin College’s Computer Aided Design & Technology staff, has set up his own Face Shield/Visor production line to protect frontline NHS staff.  Using 3D print technology, Fraser has been able to produce more than 300 visors to date, the majority of these for Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, and is raising funds to afford the materials for more of these crucial pieces of kit.  He is rolling this out to supermarket frontline workers who are also at risk.

Concerned at the reported shortage of essential PPE, especially face shields which protect those workers at most risk, Fraser set up his own practical response at home to support the Red Cross appeal for equipment.

He has already exceeded his initial target of £2,000 which has helped him to purchase a further printer and he has vowed that any monies not used will be donated to The Red Cross National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal.

The printers – the College’s Ultimakers – have been running almost non-stop and Fraser is shipping visors out to be tested and delivered to where they are most needed in the NHS.

He says,

“I love to see the finished article laid out like this as it really shows how many individual NHS staff members are now given protection that was otherwise missing.  Thanks, everyone, for all the support and kind messages of encouragement.  Just wait ‘til the new printer is up and running and production really takes off!”

The College is delighted to support Fraser’s work and can’t praise him highly enough for giving his time, enthusiasm and expertise to this incredibly worthwhile initiative.

If you would like to support Fraser’s impressive work, you can make a donation at https://www.gofundme.com/f/producing-face-shields-visors-for-nhs-staff

Frames for the visors
Visor frame printing out
Visor