Courses and Open Days!

Another week has passed already and we are as busy as usual with new courses and visits to schools.  Let’s catch up.

Steps to Social Science and Care

Are you a mature student thinking of coming back to college in 2013 – or perhaps a school leaver looking for the next step? If you’re interested in the world around you and ‘what makes people tick’, Steps to Social Science and Care might be just the course for you.

This part time course runs for 12 weeks from March – June 2013. The course is spread over four days and you can do as much or as little of the course as you want – from one SQA credit up to four credits.

The course will introduce you to key social issues in the UK and to important care concepts such as needs and wants, and ‘equalities’. You’ll have the opportunity to do some ‘hands on’ research into a contemporary issue, and we will also give you guidance and training to prepare for volunteering opportunities.

Successful completion of this course can lead on to further full or part time study from August 2013 in either the Social Sciences (studying subjects such as Psychology, Sociology, History and Politics) or Care, including practical work experience in the Care sector.

If you are in receipt of benefits or on a low income you may well qualify for a fee waiver and for help with travel and childcare.

Places are limited so apply now – you don’t know where it might take you!

For more information and to apply online visit the Steps to Social Science and Care page.

Computing Open Day

Pupils from years S4 – S6  are invited to attend our Computing Courses Open Day here at Stow College. We look forward to welcoming prospective students and parents to our Creative Industries Faculty on the 13th of February between 10am and 4pm..

Find out what it’s really like to be a student at Stow College.

The Open Day will include:

• A chance to speak to current staff and students.
• Information about the computing courses we have to offer.
• Information about applying for a place at Stow and all aspects of student life.

Any pupil who would like to apply for an August place will be assisted in completing the forms and the applicants will be interviewed and, if suitable, offered a place on the day!

ILS News of the Week!

It is Poverty and Homelessness Week 26 January – 3 February, and to compliment this, ILS has a mini-exhibition of poverty, social issues and homelessness related materials on display from Tuesday 29 January until Wednesday 6 February.  Why not drop in to see the display and find out more?  You can also find out more about Poverty and Homelessness Week – http://www.actionweek.org.uk/

Victim Support Glasgow

Learner Services have arranged for Victim Support to come in and do a presentation on the services they offer.

They are looking to engage and work directly with local communities to promote their services to ensure victims of crime have access to support services should they need them.

They are meeting with Learner Services, on Monday 18^th February 2013 at 10.00 am, to give us information on the services they provide to victims and witnesses and how our students/staff might access this service in times of need.

To see some of the services offered by Victim Support, visit the Victim Support Scotland site.

School Career Events

Learner Services staff have attended several career events at various schools over the past few weeks.  Ryan Gillen attended 2 schools last week during the day and this week Ryan and Muhammad have visited 3 schools for evening career events.

At the events Stow staff, along with the other colleges and universities as well as the Police, Fire Brigade, Army, Navy etc. and recruitment companies for apprenticeships or construction work etc all set up stalls  to offer information to the school children (or at some big events members of the public).

The students range from S2 who are thinking of their future and what classes they should be picking in school to S4, 5 and 6 pupils who are possibly thinking of leaving school.  The students generally attend with their parents and along with giving information we give out the college mini prospectus’s, Stow pens and Stow chocolate.

Well that’s us finished for another week, hope to see you back here soon.

Merging and Progressing For the Future!

It has been an exciting week here at Stow, so let’s get straight on with our news.

Merger Announced

A statement was released on Tuesday concerning the merger between John Wheatley, North Glasgow and Stow College (you can read the statement here).

We are merging because it is believed that by developing a regional basis for colleges it will make the sector more efficient and responsive to the needs of students and local economies. This approach was proposed in two Scottish Government consultations last year.

The sector has been divided into 13 college regions, from the previous structure of 43 independent colleges. In June 2012 the 7 Glasgow college principals signed the Glasgow Regional Outcome Agreement with the Scottish Funding Council.  These 7 colleges were City of Glasgow College, which is a product of a merger by Nautical, Central College of Commerce and Glasgow Metropolitan Colleges, and Cardonald, Langside and Anniesland Colleges (these three colleges are currently merging) and John Wheatley, North Glasgow and Stow College which will have merged by the end 2013.

The ‘new’ college will become one of three large colleges based in the Glasgow Region.  It will be business as usual for students and staff of all three colleges.  The current curriculum will continue to run and all three colleges will accept applications for the courses they will be offering in 2013/14.

It is an exciting time for the education sector and we are energized by the prospect of becoming a bigger, stronger college with more opportunities to offer all of our students.  If you would like to know more there are several ways you can keep yourself up-to-day

The E-Merge website

The E-merge Facebook page

The E-Merge Twitter ID – @EMergeGlasgow OR

Read our E-Merge Newsletter, keep an eye out on Facebook or Twitter for new versions.  See the latest edition here.

Graduation 2012 Update

You will all remember our Graduation Ceremony in November of last year, which was held in the Royal Concert Hall.  Well Fraser Purdie has been putting together some videos of the event and these are now available for viewing on our YouTube site.

The following is a video of highlights of the evening.

Other videos available for viewing are

Academy of sound jazz band

Academy of sound band

Dancers

Young Aviators

Will You Be Progressing At Stow Next Session?

If you would like to continue your studies at Stow College you will need to apply again as an Internal Applicant.  You must also apply if you are progressing from the 1^st year of your course into the 2^nd year.

As a current student YOU WILL BE PRIORITISED for consideration before we open up places for external applicants.  However you must apply before the deadline of the 8^th of February.

You must apply online through the Stow College Moodle website – moodle2.stow.ac.uk – login, click on the green Learner Services logo and then the Internal Applications  and follow the instructions.

SAAS Event

If you are applying for an HNC or HND course or are planning to progress to a degree you should be aware that your Funding will be provided by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). They will be holding an Event at Stow College on the 17th OF April to provide you with all the information you need about Fees, Loans and Grants.

This is an invaluable opportunity for you to hear directly from them and to ask any questions you may have to ensure your funding is all in place when you start your new course.

Please put this in your diary and we will update closer to the date.

For more information on course progression and other Learner Services news, look at the Learner Services E-Bulletin.

That’s everything for this week, but join us again next Friday for more news and updates.

Agreements Signed and Events Attended

Welcome to another Stow College Blog update, we have lots of news and pictures for you this week, so let’s make a start.

Further Education & Volunteering Event at Forth Valley College

Estera and Muhammad from Learner Services went to Forth Valley College (Falkirk), on Monday the 14^th of January, for a Further Education & Volunteering Event.  This event was being organised by Skills Development Scotland for schools and anyone considering further education or volunteering.

A range of Further Education colleges (include Stow) within traveling distance from the Falkirk area and a variety of Voluntary Organizations went to talk about courses and opportunities available.  The Events started at 9.30 am and finished at 3.00 pm for schools, but later on was open for public until 5.00 pm.

During this event we used a projector and we played the college promotional video which attracts a lots of attention from the visitors.  It was a busy day for us, we even met some former Stow students who used to be our students back in 80’s.

The Death of a High Street Record Shop

The following video was made by our very our Fraser Purdie along with the music business staff and students.  They give their thoughts on the demise of HMV and the high street record shop situation.

The students involved did very well and  provided us with some great material!  Thanks also to Ken, Douglas and Graeme for participating.

Easter Holiday Childcare Cover

Students are being contacted in regard to them being offered the opportunity to receive childcare funding during the Easter holidays.  The students can either get cover during week 1, week 2 or both weeks.  However students must complete an ‘Easter Cover’ form which the college has supplied them with and this form must be approved by yourselves (i.e. signed/stamped).

The Easter holiday weeks are as follows:

• Week 1 – 1^st-5^th April
• Week 2 – 8^th – 12^th April

If you think you should have received a Easter Cover form, but haven’t them please contact Learner Services.

Stow College and AMEY Agree to Continue Working Together

Scotland’s Minister for Youth Employment, Angela Constance MSP, has witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between StowCollege and Public Services Provider Amey. The official signing took place on Thursday the 17^th of January at StowCollege.

The memorandum was signed by both parties entering into an agreement to continue working together in supporting young engineering students through the New College Learning Programme. By signing this agreement the partnership will continue to help ensure learners receive a level of teaching and frontline work-readiness required by employers.

The Programme, launched by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in 2012, is aimed at 16-19 year olds and offers students a balance of real, frontline work experience alongside classroom time, which provides them with the essential skills to continue into employment.

The layout of the Programme requires students to take part in 192 hours of class based learning as well as 192 hours or work experience. This gives learners the opportunity to work alongside current Amey employees and to experience, first hand, what the real working environment will be like after college. It also offers Amey the chance to meet and monitor the development of students who may one day become full employees of the company.

Commenting on the establishment of the partnership with Amey, Stow College Principal, Dr. Robert McGrory, said:

“I am delighted that StowCollege and Amey have been able to work so successfully in partnership on this Programme and look forward to sustaining the working relationship for many years to come.

“Amey have been keen to be involved in many aspects of the development of this Programme and have treated our students as if they were real employees. They have given our learners a real taste of what employment will be like, including the finer details. For example, they’ve paid for full disclosure checks; put them through Health and Safety inductions as well as providing uniforms. Amey have also said they will provide employer references for all the students who complete the Programme, thereby giving them a substantial ‘leg up’ when it comes to looking for employment after college.

“Signing this agreement is recognition of both StowCollege’s and Amey’s commitment to providing the best possible service to students in paving the way from education to work. We are grateful that the Minister for Youth Employment, Angela Constance MSP, has chosen to be  part of today’s ceremony and are hopeful that she recognises the benefit this initiative could offer to learners all over Scotland.”

For the full story, please visit the News and Events page on our website.  Some photographs of the event are shown below, however Fraser Purdie has also produced a slideshow and this can be viewed on our YouTube site.

What Presence!

On Tuesday the 5^th of February Ken McCluskey, co-curator of the Harry Papadopoulos exhibition “What Presence!”  will discuss the work of Harry Papadopoulos and the insight they give us to a great era of music.  Ken will give a personal interpretation of the exhibition and bring to life the images exhibited.

The Curator’s Talk will take place between 2 and 3 pm in Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road.  This event is free.

That is everything for this week, but we will be back next Friday with more news and updates.

Models Required in the Year of You!!

Welcome back to our blog and a Happy New Year to all our readers.  Our update this year will be relatively brief, so let’s get started.

FATEA Album Of The Year

The album “Penilee Songs” by Emma Jane which was engineered and produced by Fraser Purdie and recorded at the Stow College studio has been awarded album of the year 2012 by online music magazine, FATEA. It’s the second project Fraser has worked with Emma Jane on and is delighted at the recognition, she is a fantastic singer songwriter and great to work with.

Out of hundreds of albums reviewed each year it came first ahead of “Contraband” by Kirsty McGee and “The Last Bird To Sing” by Ewan McLennan. An excerpt from the review:  ”Penilee Songs” is an album that makes you feel a sense of belonging, being there for that someone special, for family and friends through good times and bad. This is an album that Emma Jane can rightly be proud of because it’s so moving. (Neil King, Fatea Magazine,  Feb 2012)

2013, The Year Of You

Looking for some help in achieving your career goals in 2013? Then take a look at http://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/new-year-resolutions

Acting like a satnav for your career journey, it steers you in the right direction using five simple ‘how to’ steps: understand your strengths, explore your career options, using your networks to job hunt, create the perfect CV, and brush up your interview techniques.

My World of Work Editor Kate Hooper said: “January is the ideal time to start creating a career plan for the year ahead. It will help you understand what your priorities are, what you would like to achieve and will keep you focused on making those goals a reality.

“Begin by thinking about what you would ultimately like to achieve in your career – whether it’s a total change of direction or to progress in your current job – and that will help focus you on what you need to do in order to achieve those ambitions.

“The step-by-step guide we’ve created on My World of Work helps you to then make those New Year plans and make your resolutions actually happen.”

Make 2013 the year of you and visit My World of Work to realise your career ambitions.

Fundraising Fashion Show – Models Required

Are you male or female?  Are you tall or petite?  Are you slender or curvy?  Is your hair black, brunette, red or blonde?  If you answer yes to any of these questions, then you could be just who Rachael Gibbons, one of our Event Management students, is looking for.

Rachael’s group is holding a fundraising fashion show in the Metropolitan in Merchant City on the 7^th of March in aid of Cancer Research and they are looking for 6 individuals, preferably Stow students, to take part in the event and be models for the day.

The event organisers would love to speak to anyone interested in being involved, so if you think strutting your stuff on the catwalk is right up your street, then email Rachael and the other group members on stowcollegefashion@live.co.uk

That’s us for this week, short and sweet as expected, but please come back next Friday for more Stow News.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 10,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 17 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Final Post of the Year!!!

Welcome to our final blog post of 2012.  We have a few stories for you this week, so let’s get started.

HND Social Science Year 2 Trip to Salford

A small but determined group of HND Social Science Year 2 students set out from Glasgow on a freezing December morning, accompanied by course organiser Pam Currie, to visit the Working Class Movement Library and Archive (WCML) in Salford, Greater Manchester. Having used the library while an MA Women’s Studies student at Ruskin College, Oxford, Pam knew that the library was ‘do-able’ as a day trip from Glasgow, but this meant an early start to catch the 7.10am train!

All of the students were undertaking history-based projects for Graded Unit 2, with a broad topic area of ‘Life in the Soviet Bloc’, and on arrival at the library we were warmly welcomed by staff, who had already set out a table-load of resources relevant to the students’ projects.

Staff and volunteer librarians were on hand throughout the day to advise students and fetch yet more boxes (we ended up filthy from newsprint and dust – an occupational hazard of archive work).

The students found the day to be a huge help, reporting that:

“Today was so worth the trip down to Salford. The information was original prime sources, newspaper archives, booklets and pamphlets… The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the room was large, bright, cosy and warm. I would recommend this trip to others – it is stress free and enjoyable.”

“The sources at the WCML were useful and they had material that isn’t available anywhere else. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and were on hand to supply us with the relevant material we needed, and arranged for photocopies to be sent out to us.”

“I was amazed with the amount of sources [the WCML[ had that related to my subject area. It was great to have the chance of looking and handling original copies of sources.”

The library is situated close to Salford University (whose Christmas Cracker lunch went down a treat after a long morning!) and to Salford Crescent train station. Originally the personal collection of Communist Party members Ruth and Eddie Frow, it has grown over the years and houses a huge collection of trade union materials as well as papers and ephemera from the socialist, Communist, women’s and peace movements. We certainly hope to visit again in the future!

Show Racism the Red Card.

The Creative Industries Faculty have put in a submission to the SQA for their Show Racism the Red Card competition. The piece has been devised by Mhairi Watt and 5 of the HND Acting & Performance students: Jay Sinclair, Scott Dickson, Adam John Patterson, Stephen Scott and Colin Wilson.

The entry is a movement piece that focuses on sectarianism and being different. At the start of the piece five males are in a bar, there is a relaxed friendly atmosphere. This immediately changes when one of them takes off their top to reveal a t-shirt with the word “religion”. The rest of the males react strongly against this and reject him. This then turns into shouts, insults and finally violence. The scene progresses onto a football pitch where the conflict continues. This however is not to last and is ultimately resolved. The final section is a repeat of the opening but all are united and celebrate together.

The students wanted to show the negative effects of discrimination. We also wanted to show that change is possible and we can all come together and unite. Football is enjoyed all over the world. Let us celebrate this, and the positive effects of people coming together.

This was filmed by our very own Fraser Purdie.

New Courses for 2013

We have exciting news of two new courses starting at Stow in 2013.

The first one is the Information Technology for the Workplace: NQ (SCQF Level 5) course and it starts in January 2013.  This new course will give students a firm grounding in IT applications and how they are used in business and industry, as well as preparing them with essential employability skills required by employers.  Students will also spend half of their course time on work placement in a business context which is relevant to the course content.

For more information and to apply for this January start course please visit the Information Technology for the Workplace

As well as this the Faculty of Creative Industries are pleased to that announce that in collaboration with the University of Highlands & Islands we are developing a new BA (Hons) Drama degree.  Subject to approval this degree will be ready for delivery in August 2013.  The Drama degree will be of interest to those currently undertaking the HND Acting & Performance or an equivalent qualification.

If you are interested in this programme can you please register your interest by email to dbennet@stow.ac.uk

ILS News of the Week!

All staff in ILS would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Please note that the Centres are closed from Friday 21 December at 12.45pm until Monday 7 January at 9am.  Happy holidays!

We would also like to remind you that you have a facility available for booking PCs in the Learning Centre.  After the Christmas break, you will now doubt be working hard on graded units, assignments and reports, so make sure a PC is available for you whenever you need it.  Use MyPC booking facility using your network log in details to choose a time and PC up to one week in advance.  Bookings are held for 10 minutes so don’t worry if you get held up for a few minutes.

There’s a link on ILS’s page on Moodle to MyPC and also on the Learning Gateway.   You can book from home, any PC in the college or your smartphone.  If you need help accessing MyPC, drop-in to the Centre to pick up a leaflet or ask at the desk.  Make best use of your time – book in advance!

Merry Christmas To All!!

Click to see our digital xmas card…
pc users – http://www.stow.ac.uk/library/vox/MerryXmas2012.wmv
mobile users -
http://www.stow.ac.uk/library/vox/Merry-Xmas-2012-from-Stow-College.mp4

That’s us for now, see you all in 2013!!!

Raising Hundreds, but Missing Millions!!

Another week over and another week closer to the Christmas break, but we have slowed down any here and its still all go at Stow, so let’ get caught up on this week’s happenings.

Missing Millions

The following was submitted by Natalie Morrison.  Natalie is currently a student in our Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.

“As a class the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy were given a challenge and we decided to approach the growing issue of youth unemployment with an awareness campaign, featuring the talented students of Stow West.

Part one of the awareness campaign was the production of The Missing Million video. The video provides a thought provoking message that is clear to all who view it, one in five 16-25 year olds are unemployed and the longer they stay unemployed the more likely they are to disappear from society. “Together we can make a change” in part two of our awareness campaign we aim to take The Missing Million video to local schools, speaking to the people it will affect the most and have the hope of inspiring local business owners to open up their doors and make the difference that can change the future of a generation!

Look out for the video on YouTube – http://youtu.be/APRI20l2D2w – Help us find The Missing Million! “

The video was shot on Tuesday the 11th of Dec and edited by Stow’s very own talented Mr Fraser Purdie, a big thank you to all involved and for the support given to the PJEA students from all the staff at Stow.

Market Maker 2012 Update

As you know some of our students on the PJEA course, formed a team called Salus Solutions and entered the Market Maker 2012 competition.  They had a strong business idea and they came 3^rd overall in the final, which was held in the Institute of Directors.

This year’s competition saw more than 600 students and 164 teams involved.  94 of these teams registered and 20 were selected for the finals.  Team Retinue Ltd from New College Nottingham was announced as the Winners of the Market Maker Experience  2012.  Team Bonkerz from Stanmore College and team Salus Solutions from Stow College took second and third place.

A short video of highlights of the final has been produced by Gateshead college, you can view this by visiting their YouTube site, see if you can spot Stow staff and students.

ILS News of the Week!

Resource of the Month time again! There are 37 online resources available and this month, we are focusing on Gale Databases General Onefile.  There will be posters on the Learning Centre noticeboard and slides on the plasma screen to highlight this resource.

General Onefile is an online collection of over 12, 000 journals and over 110 million articles from across the world dating from 1980 to present.  The database provides news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics including music,  economics, sciences, health care, computing, social sciences and engineering.

You can search using a simple keyword search, or search via publication titles.  You can email, download or print articles, and even translate to 12 other languages!  Another very handy feature is the citation tool which allows you to download the bibliographic details of each article – saving you time and no need to think too hard about referencing!  Ask in the Learning Centre about Athens access to this resource.

Mary’s Meals – Week 8 Final Update

This final Mary’s Meals Backpack appeal update was submitted by Pamela McKinlay.

It gives us great pleasure to announce we have now come to the end of our successful appeal.  I can’t believe this will be my last update for you, I hope you have enjoyed reading my updates as I have enjoyed writing them.  I hope I have included everyone in our weekly news as this project has involved so many people both internal and external. Stow College staff and students have been amazing, very supportive and generous.  On this note, I have sent you a cake picture to show our appreciation.  This is for all who supported us and made this such a successful, interesting and worthwhile project.  We are pleased to announce our grand totals:

Donations raised: £1007.21

Completed Backpacks: 181

The value of each backpack costs £20, therefore our total value in backpacks collected: £3620.00 with the help from your donations.

Our Tombola event last Thursday went really well, we managed to raise another £80 towards our donations.

On Wednesday 12th December we had a visit from Mary’s Meals to collect our backpacks and wanted items.  This was a very happy day and most enjoyable to watch all our backpacks getting packed up and sent away.  All the backpacks will go to Malawi and be given out to schools all around.  They will be sent out in January and take up to 8 weeks to get there.  Without all your support and kindness this would not have been possible. Below I would like to introduce you to Mandida and share her inspiring story with you on how Mary’s Meals has given her hope for a brighter future.

12-year-old Mandida James goes to school at Chimvu Primary school, near Blantrye in Malawi. Mandida is an orphan and tells us that she has no memory of her parents whatsoever, since they passed away when she was still very young. She now lives with her grandmother in a small, grass-thatched hut, with her older brother and sister.

Life is a struggle for Mandida and her family. She says: “It is hard to find food every day and it has been known for us to go for three days or more without eating anything at all. Whenever this happens, we end up becoming sick and there is no peace at home.”

Since Mary’s Meals began feeding at Chimvu, however, Mandida looks forward to the food she receives at school. Mandida says: “When we have food, we eat it with relish! When I eat the phala [porridge] I can learn more and, if there is no food when I get back home, I don’t have to worry because I can eat at school.”

We have now helped another 181 children just like Mandida to receive an education and at least one meal a day.  I am very proud of this fact and so should everyone else be at Stow College.

Below are some pictures from our final farewell to all of our backpacks.

The backpack journey begins.   Here is a link to the last part of the journey.  It will explain the journey from Scotland to Malawi – http://vimeo.com/17672379

On Behalf of the Enterprise programme, we wish you a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!  Thanks everyone.

Well that’s us for now, but pop back next week for the final blog of 2012.