A Fond Farewell!!

The final day of Stow College as we know it is now upon us.  Tomorrow we start a whole new chapter, a new beginning.  Hopefully the merging of the three colleges will have the same input to Glasgow’s history as Stow College has had in the past.  We look forward to the future and the new challenges this will bring, challenges that will inspire future generations of students

However, for today we will concentrate on Stow, so here is our final post.

Market Maker Competition Update

The competition launched on Wednesday 26th September 2013 at a lunch event held in the Stow West campus.  Over forty students attended the event from Stow College and North Glasgow College.

The internal competition was held on Wednesday 23rd October 2013 where the seven teams competed in a Dragon’s Den style event at North Glasgow College to a panel of external business contacts.  Competing teams were – Picnmix, Fashion Raincoat, Freedom Trend, Sole Sisters, Me Cups, Infobank Industries and Scotia Weddings.  Each team pitched their business idea to the panel and used the skills they have gained and developed throughout the competition.

This was a fantastic event and the feedback from both the panel and the students taking part has been so positive.  After lengthy deliberation, it was decided that the winning team will be Infobank Industries from the PJEA Course at Stow College with their mobile app concept which replaces the need for business cards.

Infobank Industries (Keiran Mitchell, Chris Gallagher, Ross McCann and Yousef Rahman) will now go on and create their online presence for the business and identify potential sources of funding.  Market Maker will assign them a mentor to assist them with their preparation for the finals which are held at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London.  They will also have additional support from one of the panel members, Craig McAuley from The Boiler Change Company who has volunteered to give them valuable advice and support.

ILS News Of The Week

This may be the last blog under the Stow banner, but it’s business as usual for ILS!  We’ve got resources for your course in print and electronic format, so why not drop-in and see what’s new for your subject area?

We have been working hard to transfer the information on our Learning Gateway to Moodle over the past few months and now have a new ILS resources information page on each faculty home page on Moodle.  You will see the link “ILS Resources” on the homepage of your Faculty Moodle page (NB in Science, Health and Care Faculty see the student area  of the Faculty page). The ILS link will take you to an ILS page full of resources information for courses specific to the Faculty.  Why not have a look and see what you can discover?

Finally we would like to remind you that the Learning Centre and SuperFlex are closed 1 November for vesting day events.  See you on Monday 4^th as normal.

Graduation 2013

Thursday 24th of October 2013 saw Stow College host its last graduation ceremony at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

The evening kicked off at 7.00 pm with students and their families enjoying entertainment from Harry and the Hendersons and Stow’s dancers (amongst others) as well as listening to inspiring speeches and of course receiving their well earned certificates.

One student has summed it all up for us very eloquently.

My name is Michael Leonard, I studied the Higher National Certificate in Computer Aided Draughting and Design of 2012-13. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Stow College, and I really appreciated the help that I received throughout the course from my lecturers.

The graduation at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on the 24^th October 2013 was excellent. This was a really nice ending to both the course and of the Stow College era. There were live acts from musical bands and dancers which was very pleasant to listen to. I am honoured to say that I graduated from Stow College and I will always cherish this memory.

Congratulations to Michael and to all our other 2013 Graduates, we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Farewell Celebration

Stow City Campus held an all day Halloween Party on Friday the 25^th as a farewell celebration for staff and students to mark the legacy of Stow College. The morning kicked off with a free Halloween breakfast for everyone and there were no classes in the afternoon so the party could continue with a free lunch and entertainment.

The fancy dress competition was won by Morven Thomson for her fantastic Cruella De Ville outfit and to team Mike’s Mistresses who won the Stow quiz.

Memories of Stow

The first piece of text this week is from Stephanie Letham one of our Business Admin students

I have been a student here at Stow College since the 27^th August 2012.  This time next year I will graduate from Glasgow Kelvin College with a HND in Business and Administration.  However I will always take away memories from my time here at Stow College.

If someone was to ask me what makes Stow College so special, what would strike out the most is the opportunities I have received through Stow; being involved in the One Day Challenge event in 2012, attending the Power of Youth event, working for the Student Association over the summer of 2013, gaining work experience in the Human Resource Department and travelling to London with students from the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy to represent team Stow at the final of the Pants to Poverty competition in June 2013.  These are only some of the amazing opportunities I have received here. However I personally believe that the high standards of teaching and learning I receive will not be affected due this merger.

I will be proud to say I started my education with Stow College and graduated from Glasgow Kelvin College

This memory is from Graham Fairweather a former Access student (taken from Facebook page)

I went to Stow in 1991 for a one year Access course to get me an entry into higher education after wasting years on the dole. 20 years later, armed with an honours degree in Electrical Engineering from Strathclyde Univeristy I now live in Australia and have completely changed my life. Long time ago now but I cannot thank STOW enough for what they have done for me.

Well that’s us, Stow’s final blog update is finished.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our weekly posts and of course to all of you that took the time to read it.  We hope to start blogging again soon under the Glasgow Kelvin banner so keep an eye out for us.

Until then Zai Jian, Farvel, Aloha, Shalom, Namaste, Arrivederci, Slán Leat, Sayonara, Adiós, Khuda Hafiz, Do Widzenia, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Ma’as Salaam, Abar Dekha Hobe, Eyvallah ……….. Talk to you later!!!

There is no real ending.  It’s just the place where you stop the story – Frank Herbert

Stow Slenkasters and More Memories!!!

Welcome to the penultimate update of the Stow College blog.  We have a few things for you this week, so I’ll not hold you up any longer.

Stow Student Slenkasters

On the 10^th of October David Hughes, Head of Creative Industries here at Stow College, accompanied four of our students:- David Agnew, Kieran Mitchell, Ross McCann and Jolene Lucas to Shoreditch in London for the first part of the ‘Take Your Shot’ competition.

Slenky teamed up with Sony Mobile to offer 25 young people, aged 18 – 24 years, the chance to discover what it takes to achieve their ultimate ambition by connecting with a host of influential figures within six amazing industries. Out of the 25 places available, four went to our fantastics students.

The students met up with Sony and Slenky representatives and now move onto the next stage.  They have all received their laptops and under the guidance of their mentors Billy Kilpatrick and Chris Kelly, who will give technical assistance, they’ll go on an unbelievable journey, learning what it takes to become an actor, film director or even a professional sportsperson from a host of industry experts.

To see the Stow Slenkasters and the 21 other young people involved in the competition, visit the Slenky website

Electric Honey News

It was great to see Stow lecturers Douglas MacIntyre and Mick Slaven on Jules Holland playing as Lloyd Cole and the Leopards last Friday.  If you missed the performance first time round  here is the link to catch up

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03f0hz7/Later…_with_Jools_Holland_Series_43_Episode_5/

Music business management students set up stall in The first Independent Label Market at the Barras Art and Design  Gallery on Saturday the 12^th of October.  A great day was had by all and an invaluable experience for the students.

Fiona Ghobrial from Independent Label Market has let us know that they have put photos from the day up on their Facebook page if you would like to check them out and tag yourselves and share etc.  Also our lovely partners at Vinyl Factory have just put up their filmed A-Z of the Label Market film on their site.

Don’t Miss Electric Honey artists Alex Hynes and Harry and the Hendersons performing live this Friday 25^th of October in room 1/24 from 12.30pm to 2.30 pm.  All welcome

Bake Sale Reminder

As you know the Duke of Edinburgh Group are holding a Halloween Bake Sale on the 28^th to the 31^st of October in order to raise money for the Glasgow Association for Mental Health Young Carers Project.

The projects gives young people between 11-18 the chance to:

• Have time out to have fun and be young people first
• A wide range of physical, social, recreational learning and creative activities
• Participation in planning group activities. Involvement in local and national consultations about young people

It would be very much appreciated if you could make any bake sale donations to help out this very worthwhile charity.

If you are planning to make a donation please email Marcelle McIlroy  or alternatively hand in your donations to 1/17 on the mornings of the events.  We hope to have your support and see you there on the day!

ILS News of the Week!

The Dawson collection of eBooks just keeps growing!  We now have 68 titles available.  The 2 new titles are:

• PIC BASIC Projects
• Interfacing PIC Microcontrollers

You need an Athens log in to access these eBooks, so get in touch if you need an account setup.

Next, ILS would like to tell you about the new 50 titles now available in ebrary eBook platform.  These new titles cover engineering, drama, health and social care, chemistry, biology, accounting and business.  There’s now over 3, 000 titles available, so why not have a look and see what’s available for your subject area?  Again, use your Athens log in to gain access.

Finally, please note that both ILS Centres – the SuperFlex and Learning Centre – will be closed all day on Friday 1 November due to vesting day events.

Memories of Stow

This was submitted by James Stevenson Dinsmor a Stow student in 1960.

The ‘James’ is what i was christened with – I much prefer Jim.

After David Dale 1959 I managed to get an apprenticeship as an Electrician with the SCWS at Sheildhall in Govan – I was enrolled in the Day Release Programme in 1960 and attended Stow College from then until my apprenticeship was completed in 1965.  During 1960 – 63 I also attended Shawlands Academy Nightschool as I was a bit of a slow learner.

When I had completed my apprenticeship at the age of 21, one of the presents I got from my father was a Stow College Scarf with the colours (broad Grey stripe black stripe and thin gold stripe – all on a black background) and the badge (red ‘S’ in a gold shield and black background) about 23 cm (9”) from the right side end.

I still have the scarf and wear it often (only one person in the last 20 years has identified the scarf correctly).

I have good memories of ‘Stow’ – enduring friendships with other students of Electrical ( and even one from Mechanical (in a time when ne’re the twain shall meet).  The electrician was Alan Hunter and the Mechanical was John Martin with whom I still correspond.

I emigrated to Australia with my new wife in September 1973, and have lived in Adelaide ever since.  I worked in the Glass industry for 24 years as a shift electrician before I had a works accident which ended my electrical career – I learned the computer and became the Document Control Officer with the same company – Australian Glass Manufacturing Adelaide – they are now owned by Owens, an American company dedicated to glass technology.

Stow College gave me a very sound education in electrical engineering and transmission – and the desire to continually add to that knowledge.  Just before my accident, I had been working on computer controlled production and radio/computer controlled automatic guided vehicles (AGV’s) which required rather more skills than just an electrician.

I am really interested in knowing if my memory serves me aright when I think about the Springburn College – it seemed fairly modern for the 60’s – 3 or 4 stories – incorporating motor engineering and body building – with what seemed at the time, large generator/diesel engines in the basement or possibly the ground floor.  If there are any photos of the building (inside or out) or the area around there – I would love to see them.

If anyone can help Jim with pictures of the college  in the 1960s or more recent ones, then please email them to tborland@stow.ac.uk and I’ll pass them on.

Next we have Frazer Kirkland a former HND Sound Production student.

I did Year 2 of HND Sound Production at Stow. I learned so much during that one year most has come in useful during doing my degree at UWS.

Never forgot Digital Audio Theory class were Robert used a speaker with a mixture poured into it for demonstration purposes, messy but memorable.

On that note we will finish for the day, thank you to both Jim and Frazer for their contributions this week.  If you would like to submit a Memories of Stow you have one more chance as next Thursday the 31^st will be the last Stow blog update.  If you would like to contribute please email it to tborland@stow.ac.uk

See you all next week!!

The End Is Nigh!!

Stow College Farewell Celebration

Friday the 25^th of October will see Stow City Campus host an all day Halloween Party.

Join us in a day of celebration to mark the legacy of Stow College. The morning will kick off with a free Halloween breakfast for students and staff (classes permitting). There will be no classes in the afternoon and the party will continue with a free lunch and entertainment.  The day will be as follows…

• Relaxed morning with free breakfast
• Music and entertainment from lunchtime onwards
• Hot lunch provided (look out for the Ghoulash)
• BYOB from 1 pm onwards
• Fancy dress competition (prize for the best costume – Kindle Fire)
• Pumpkin competition (prize for the best pumpkin – Champagne)

Come along to Food on Five and join in the fun (other attractions in various venues around the building)

Memories and Music!

Glad you could join us again after our week’s break.  We have lots to catch up on, so let’s get started.

Electric Honey News

Lots happening in this week’s Electric Honey news.

Here is a nice review of The Young Aviators album “Self Help” in this months Skinny”.  The band have been invited on tour as support to Travis on their Scottish Tour which we are all very pleased about – http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/records/306033-young_aviators_self_help

We are also pleased to announce the launch gig of Harry and the Hendersons debut single “Give Me proof”.  The release is this Friday the 11^th of October at Stereo.  Anyone who would like on the guest List let me know kmccluskey@stow.ac.uk

You will see the gig poster to the right of this article and CLICK HERE to read a nice review of the single from Fridays Daily Record .

Plus Soundcheck also have a short article on Harry and The Hendersons and Electric Honey.

Finally, the Music Business students have a stall at The Vinyl Factory Independent Record label fair at The Barras Art and Design Studios this Saturday (the 12^th of October).  All welcome should be a good one.   Please see attached poster.

Memories Of Stow

Leading up to vesting day for the college merger (1^st of November 2013) we are hoping some of our staff and students will send us their memories of their time at Stow.  We have our first one this week.

From Laura McFall – Former STEM A Student

I was at Stow last year doing Access STEM and my lecturers were awesome.  They went out of their way to make sure you were doing well.

Tom Kelly makes maths fun with his crazy ways, he makes it so easy.  Sharon Wardrop went out of her way over summer to help myself and another student with our maths for Strathclyde summer school, I’d say that’s above and beyond her responsibilities as a lecturer.

My memories of Stow are all happy  🙂  I actually miss the wee man from the canteen with the white hair!  He’s so awesome  🙂

Thank you Laura!  If anyone would like to send us their memories then please email them to us on tborland@stow.ac.uk

ILS News Of The Week!!

Firstly this week, we would like to highlight that it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, and to complement this, we have a mini-exhibition of resources on display in the Learning Centre for the month of October.  Drop-in to see our display of cancer, women’s health and breast cancer related materials.  You can also find further information at:  www.breastcancercampaign.org/

Next, it is Resource of the Month time again.  In October we are highlighting  a great resource – Ovid Primal Pictures: Anatomy & Physiology Online.  This resource includes medically  accurate three dimensional images of human anatomy and provides  students with a new way to view and to virtually  interact with the human body.  It can be accessed via Athens – so why not get in touch if you need an account setup and have a look?

We would also like to highlight the updated guide to using Dawson eBooks which is available to pick up in the Learning Centre, or on the Learning Gateway.

Finally, the Learning Centre will be open during the October week for you to drop-in and use PCs, study or borrow resources.  We are open 10 am – 3pm Monday 14 – Friday 18 October.

Spooky Bake Sale

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Group at Stow College as part of their voluntary section of the award are kindly looking for baked good donations for our Spooky Bake Sale, which will be held on the 28^th, 29^th and 30^th of October.

We are looking to provide individually wrapped products with our own Halloween designs so please do not worry about wrapping any donations. All home baked goods are welcome – especially those with a spooky theme!

If you can find the time to contribute goods to the sale, or simply to enjoy the treats we have on offer then you will be glad to know that all money raised by the sale will be going to the Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH) Young Carers Project.

If you would like to know more about this project please visit the GAMH website

Skills Scotland Event

Skills Scotland will be holding a skills and careers event in the SECC, Glasgow on the 6^th and 7^th of November, from 9.30 am until 3.00 pm.

Entry is free and this is a valuable event for anyone between the ages of 14 and 19 or parents of young people this age.

Events are also being held in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, see poster for details.

Learner Services News – Discretionary Funds

Many students experience financial hardship as a result of attending college.  You can apply to the college for assistance with living costs, rent, childcare, debt re-payments and much more.  Many successful applicants thought they would never be eligible until they spoke to our advisors.

Last year over 120 students received help from the stow hardship funds.

Funds are currently available apply now!

“These funds allow many of our applicants to successfully manage their finances while studying at college. Without the discretionary funds many would find it impossible” – Chris Greenshields – Team Leader, Learner Services.

If you would like more information please see the Learner Services E-Bulletin, October Edition.

That’s all our news for this week, we will be back here next Friday so join us again then

Glasgow Rocks and Sings!!

We hope you are all enjoying the first day of the September weekend.  Our blog update this week is fairly short, so we’ll just get started and not keep you long.

 

Go Rocks !!!

Once again the BBL season tips off with a blistering game between Glasgow Rocks and Surrey United, this Sunday, 6th October 2013, 5 pm at the fabulous Emirates arena!  This game is sponsored by Glasgow Life and we have been given a superb allocation of tickets to give away to students and staff.

We hope you’re bursting to get along there and will snatch up the tickets – first come, first served.  We will be limiting the allocation of tickets to a maximum of four per person.

Co-ordinating this will be Hazel Blackstock at John Wheatley College, hblackstock@jwheatley.ac.uk and your requests must be with us by 4 pm on Wednesday 2nd October please so that we can organise the ticket distribution.

To book your tickets, it is essential you provide the following information:

• Your full name
• Your College (and campus)
• Your Course (or if you are a member of Staff)
• Number of tickets you require (maximum 4)

We will try and have tickets available at your College’s main reception by mid afternoon on Thursday where you can uplift them.  Please bear in mind this is a big game so try and get there early to be assured of a space in the car park!

 

ILS News Of The Week!

First this week, ILS would like to highlight 6 new titles in the Issues series:

• Discussing Child Abuse
• Eating Disorders
• Understanding Finance
• National Health Issues
• Adolescent Health
• The Housing Crisis

These booklets are part of the series which looks at the issues in society today and are a great place to start for any discursive essay, research into social issues, or for a class debate.  The booklets can be borrowed or you can search the complete archive using Issues Online – use your Athens account to gain access.  Get in touch if you need an account setup.

Next, we would like to tell you about some of the new textbooks we now have available for loan:

• Business Studies
• National 5 Maths
• National 4 Maths
• Rough Trade
• Warp Labels unlimited
• The story of island records
• Political Issues in the UK
• Essentials of Economics
• US politics today
• Culture industries
• Research methods
• UK government & politics

Why not pop in and borrow these titles or ask about new books for your subject area?

Finally enjoy the long weekend and see you on 1^st October at 9 am.

 

New Conductor! New Season! Recruiting Now!

The Glasgow Cathedral Choral Society is starting its 75^th Anniversary year and its looking to recruit new members.

If you think you would be interested in joining then please email: enquiries@gccs.org.uk or leave a message on their Facebook page.

 

That’s us for now, so enjoy the rest of your short break and we’ll see you back here next time for more news.

Competitions and Album Releases!

Welcome back to Stow College’s weekly blog.  We have some great news about competitions and album releases this week, so let’s get on with it.

New Electric Honey Release – Harry and The Hendersons

Here it is, the  FINAL  release on the Legendary Student run Record label, Electric Honey as part of Stow College.

Harry and The Hendersons “Give me Proof” c/w “New Yorks Lost Island of Lepers” on Limited Edition 7 inch Vinyl (500) and Digital Download.  Release date 7th October 2013.

Harry and the Hendersons follow a long tradition of great music released over the past 20 years on Electric Honey with this their debut release.  The lead track “Give Me Proof” showcases the band’s laid back swing beat and good ear for a hook while embracing us with their rich four piece harmonies. “New York’s Lost Island of Lepers” takes us on a trip with a beautiful vocal and fiddle led journey laced with an old school Americana feel. This young Glasgow band have been crafting their unique blend of country-tinged pop over the last year and are currently working on their debut album with this year’s HND Music Business students at Stow.

Do not fret music lovers we will continue to release high quality recorded music from up and coming local talent on the Electric Honey label as part of the proposed merger with John Wheatley College and North Glasgow College.  Looks like our groovy new monicker will be “Glasgow Kelvin College”.

Visit facebook.com/electrichoneymusic or Contact: kenmccluskey62@hotmail.com for more information on the Single launch Gig, to be held in  Stereo Glasgow on the 11^th of October, doors open at 7.00 pm, over 14’s show.

For those who want a wee taster, visit this link –  https://soundcloud.com/electric-honey-music/sets/harry-the-hendersons

ILS News Of The Week!

Firstly this week, ILS would like to highlight a new online collection now available within JISC Media Hub – IET.tv.  The IET.tv (Institute of Engineering and Technology) archive is one of the largest sources of multimedia content in the field of engineering and technology.  It contains video programmes from practising engineers, technologists and key industry speakers, including prestigious lectures and presentations from major IET and other organisations’ events, and interviews with experts from industry and academia.  In total, there are over 3,000 videos, each between 20 and 45 minutes long, covering important subjects and filmed between 2002 and 2012.  You need a personal Athens account to access this resource – please get in touch if you need an account setup.  There are now over 50 varied collections of video clips, images and audio clips in JISC Media Hub, so why not have a look?

Next, we would like to tell you about our newest addition to the Dawson eBook collection – Dr Math presents more geometry.  We now have 66 titles available.  You can access the title via Athens (choosing Dawson Books from the resources list) or via the Learning Gateway, ILS page on Moodle or search for it on the Library catalogue.

We would also like to inform you about National Work Life Week 23-27 September 2013.  We will have a mini exhibition that week displaying work, health, family, and exercise related materials we have

available for loan.  Why not drop-in and have a look?  Or find out more at: http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/employers/national-work-life-week/

Finally, a quick note to remind you that the College is closed Friday 27 and Monday 30 September due to public holidays.  Enjoy the break!

Market Maker Competition 2013

The Market Maker Experience Competition 2013 is launching this week and we are looking for teams of 5 students to take part in a unique competition where student-entrepreneurs compete in a virtual global business environment.  They will undertake every stage of development, sales, production, promotion, branding and compete against other teams to win a place in the finals in London in November 2013!

Do you have an innovative creative to idea who would like to take it the next level?  Would you like to take part in a competition to develop this idea and demonstrate your creativity and entrepreneurial skills?  If so then please contact one of the following Market Maker group members for more details

• Faculty of Creative Industries – Bryan Grantham
• Faculty of Science Health & Care – Ismaa Iqbal
• Faculty of Business & Continuing Education – Dawn Campbell

This is an exciting opportunity for all students no matter which course you are currently undertaking.

Are there any knitters out there!

The college will be taking part in a world record breaking hand hygiene attempt in  Glasgow schools later this year in conjunction with Glasgow City of Science.  As part of this Glasgow City of Science are looking for knitters to create small fluffy knitted microbes.

If you are able to help, the patterns are attached below and could you please pass your names (and any completed microbes) to Carlyn McNab in room 5/5.

Knitting patterns are available for the following: tuberculosis, cholera, salmonella, common cold, swine flu, penicillium

Bacteria Patterns

Microbes Patterns

Take Your Shot

Slenky has teamed up with Sony Mobile to offer 25 young people, aged 18 – 24 years, the chance to discover what it takes to achieve their ultimate ambition by connecting with a host of influential figures within six amazing industries.

For this extraordinary campaign, we’re offering Super Shots in film, music, business, technology, sports and gaming. All you have to do is tell us what you want to do and why we should pick you to become one of our Slenkasters.

Once the Slenkasters have been chosen, they’ll go on an unbelievable journey, learning what it takes to become an actor, film director or even a professional sportsperson from a host of industry experts.

Follow their adventures online to get insider knowledge and practical advice direct from our Super Shot hook-ups. There’s also the chance to win loads of amazing prizes with our exclusive competitions.

To become a Slenkaster and enter the Take Your Shot competition simply register and upload your entry video before the 4th October 2013. Entrants must be 18 – 24 years old and should be available from 30th September to 28th November 2013.  For more information visit the Slenky website.

That’s everything for today and we hope to see you back here next Friday.

Here To Help and A Charity Event!

That’s you been at college for two weeks and we hope you have all settled in and are enjoying your courses so far.  To those of you that just joined us in the last few days, WELCOME!!!  Hope you have a great time with us.

Now for our weekly update.

Learner Services – Here To Help!

The Learner Services team is here to support you throughout your time in College and beyond. We are your first point of contact for help with problems you may face while you are studying. If we can’t help you we will try to find someone who can.

This bulletin along with our induction presentation should provide you with a quick guide to the services we can offer you. This isn’t exhaustive so if something is affecting your ability to concentrate on your studies please come in and ask us if we can help.

We can help you with…

• Funding Childcare Support
• Travel Expenses Council Tax and Benefits
• Financial Hardship
• Accommodation
• Jobs and Careers Advice
• Residential Advice
• Progression
• And much more……………

Learner services opening times:

Monday to Friday  –  8:45 am to 5:00 pm

MOODLE

More details on of all of this information and much more is available through our MOODLE site at: moodle2.stow.ac.uk

You will need to access this throughout the year.

Please log in using your ‘Username’ as your student number and ‘Password’ as you use to log into college computers.

If you have any problems logging in please contact the ICT Department at Stow College main campus.  After you are logged in, please click the green Learner Services logo.

To read the entire Learner Services Bulletin visit our issuu.com site

Sportsman’s Charity Dinner

Events Management student, Allison Sneddon,  is holding a Charity Dinner Event at Old Kilpatrick Bowling Club on Friday the 27^th of September.

The event, featuring former Celtic and St Mirren star Frank MacAvennie and Rangers legend Willie Henderson, will raise funds in aid of Erskine Hospital. Also just confirmed to appear is Partick Thistle and Scotland great, Alan Rough.

This promises to be a fantastic evening.  Ticket price is £30 which includes drink on arrival, 3-course meal, raffle auction and DJ.

For more information and to buy tickets contact Allison Sneddon on

Mobile: 07952301577

E-mail: mailto:allisonsneddon@live.co.uk

ILS News Of The Week!

We now have 65 eBook titles available on our Dawsonera platform.  There are 4 new titles:

• Folk devils and moral Panic:  the creation of the mods and rockers;
• The music industries;
• Unfree masters:  recording artists and the politics of work; and
• Essentials of economics

All can be accessed via Athens then selecting Dawson Books, or via the library catalogue, or the Learning Gateway, or ILS page on Moodle.  Get in touch if you need an Athens account setup.

Next, we have updated our online resources guide which details the resources available via Athens.  Drop-in and pick up a copy in the Learning Centre.

Finally, we would like to remind you of our How to guides – a couple of pages which provide an introduction to an aspect of study skills – including:

• Presentations skills
• GANTT charts
• Report writing
• Copyright
• Mind mapping
• Using Google effectively

All 23 guides can be downloaded from the ILS page on Moodle or the Learning Gateway, or you can pick up a copy in the Learning Centre.

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

A Fairy Story!!!

Another week by already and we slowly draw closer to our merger date with John Wheatley and North Glasgow Colleges, exciting times, but as we get nearer to that all important date nostalgia is starting to surface and this week one of our staff members has written a great piece for our blog.  I’ll not delay you any longer, let’s get started.

 

By Stephen Langston – Stow Colleges ONLY staff nominee for Glasgow Kelvin College, Board of Management.

Sixteen years ago I came for an interview at Stow College for a lecturing post within the Engineering department, an unusual place for a music graduate to be applying to, considering it was Glasgow’s Centre of Excellence in Engineering. Nevertheless, I got the job and started training hairy, leather clad, music technology students the finer points of music (one of the most memorable and fun groups of students I can remember).

Stow College (and I have no doubt the same applies at John Wheatley and North Glasgow) has always been an educational environment that has put its students and staff first. There are so many things I remember that just make me laugh, smile or cry during my time in Further Education. We all have memories and experiences of the vast amounts of opportunities we have been allowed to take forwards and try out, as well as the many hard times we as teams have had to stick together, pull through the problems and just get on with it.

How many times have we objected against the management (loads), how many times have we objected against the unions (loads), how many times have we objected with each other (loads). How many times have we pulled through all the objections – well, an awful lot more than any one group mentioned above. Why, because we care about what we do, and each other.

Education is about giving the students the best opportunity to advance themselves in life. We owe that to every single person who makes the effort to put his or her educational trust in us. But, we cannot do that unless we look after each other and our staff. Alan Sherry said he wanted a new College where the priority is the students. A supported and well trained lecturer will have this at the soul of their teaching and will fit in to Alan’s plan superbly, because, that’s our job.

What we now need to do is create and build the resources to continue each Colleges successes, and in my books that is by investing time in the staff. We need to feel secure, we need to feel wanted, we need to have a good working environment, we need to know our future, and yes, trivial things like a lack of coffee machines actually do make a difference to the student experience.

Why have I entitled this a Fairy Story? Well, we all like a happy ending and you have to go through a hell of a Fairy Story to get one. You need your heroes and heroines, hobgoblins, giants, witches, wizards and trolls, all to mix into the recipe to create the best experience of all.

Glasgow Kelvin College is certainly the end of Stow, John Wheatley and North Glasgow as we know them, but it’s not the end of our educational spirit, professionalism, intellect and intelligence that I have come to know and love. I for one will not sit down and let that be forgotten at any level within Glasgow Kelvin College, whether it be student, staff or board. Please support me in supporting you on the next stage of the journey- it is after all, just one word in a name that is changing. The rest is up to us, the collective new staff.

 

ILS News Of The Week!!

ILS has now 42 online resources collections available for research and learning.  The new resource is Springer Protocols which is a database of life sciences protocols. These ‘recipes’ allow scientists to recreate experiments in their own laboratories. Springer Protocols contains more than 29,000 protocols, most of which come from the classic book series “Methods in Molecular Biology.”  Use your Athens log in the access this resource – get in touch if you need an account setup.

On a related note, Resource of the month is our regular feature to highlight an online resource from our collections.  We aim to remind you of the resource or introduce you to the resource.  This month’s resource is Carl Giles Digital Archive – an archive of British newspaper cartoons, and a key resource for British political and social history, providing access to 15,000 cartoon images, with some 5,000 pages of related paperwork. The archive dates from 1790 to present. Images can be used in reports or essays providing the source is acknowledged. Access Carl Giles Digital Archive via Athens.

Another regular feature is set to return – mini-exhibitions of resources related to specific national and international awareness events.  It is International Literacy Day on 8 Septmeber, so why not drop in to the Learning Centre to see our display of literacy, writing and English language related resources?  Our mini-exhibition will run from Thursday the 5th until Tuesday the 10th of September. You can also find our more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/unesco/events/

Finally, a new ebook has been added to our Dawson eBooks range – Events Management. This book is the 3^rd edition of the popular title which can be viewed online as many times as you like, and accessed by a whole class at once if desired.  Access this resource via Athens.

 

feastRen Festival

feastRen Food and Drink Festival celebrates its fifth year with a move to Rouken Glen Park.

Festival organisers are building a beautiful bespoke food festival village down in front of the pavilion for the feastRen Festival Weekend that will run over the weekend Saturday the 21^st and Sunday the 22^nd of September.

This weekend will see events like the Great Giffnock Bake Off and will be hosted by a variety of celebrities.  There will also be lots of activities for the kids.

Tickets are only £5 and kids under the age of 5 are free.  For more information on this event visit the feastRen Festival Site.

 

That’s us for this week, but we would love if more staff and students (past and present) shared their memories of Stow over the years and of course their vision of the new college and we will share them here on the blog in the run up to the merger.  If you would like to submit something to our blog then email Tracey on tborland@stow.ac.uk

See you all back here next week!!

Better Future’s and New Collections!!

A huge welcome to all our students new and returning.  We hope you have enjoyed your first week of classes and that you are settling in to the swing of things.

We have a few short articles for you this week so let’s get started.

 

GHA Better Future Fund

Last year Learner Services assisted 26 students to successfully apply for the GHA Better Future Fund which resulted in awards of non-repayable grants of up to £1,500 being paid to eligible students.  The criteria for this is the applicant should be studying an Access or HN course (or above) and should be a tenant with GHA, Cube Housing or West Lothian Partnership

This year Kirsty from GHA visited the College on Wednesday the 28^th of August between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm to speak to applicants about how to apply, she was also able to advise on other grants available.  Kirsty was based in the foyer of the main campus.

 

ILS News Of The Week!!

Firstly this week, we have a new online collection available – The Wire. It’s one of the 41 online collections you have access to via Athens which has just been purchased.  The Wire is an independent, monthly music magazine covering a wide range of alternative, underground and non-mainstream music. It celebrates and interrogates the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical, marginalised and undervalued musicians on the planet, past and present, in the realms of avant rock, electronica, hiphop, new jazz, modern composition, traditional music and beyond. There is a 31 year digital archive of the monthly underground music magazine back to 1982. It’s fully searchable and PDF articles can be printed or saved.  Ask in the Learning Centre about accessing Athens.

Next up, do you want to access your student drive (your server space where you can store documents in College) off campus?  You can do this using Remote Desktop connection (RDC).  There is a leaflet available in the Learning Centre which details step by step how to do this. Drop in to find out more.

Finally, evening opening resumes in the Learning Centre on Tuesday 3 September.  We will be open until 7.15 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Hope to see you then!

 

Charity Appeal

Cosgrove Care’s charity shops are in desperate need of stock – furniture in particular but we are also looking for clothing, soft furnishings, paintings, glass, ceramics, electrical goods, etc.

If you can help us out by donating some of your once loved goods, please drop any donations to the shops between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, or call us on 649 4000 or 632 1441 to arrange for a pick up.

The shops are at 4 and 5 Skirving Street, Shawlands.

Please pass this on to everyone you know, as they might have some goods they can donate.

The proceeds of all goods donated to Cosgrove Care’s shops remains within our supported employment project.  This project aims to provide people with learning disabilities the opportunity to gain meaningful work experience, training opportunities, national qualifications (SVQs and ASDAN Youth Awards) and ultimately paid employment.  This helps to eradicate the social exclusion often experienced by people with learning disabilities whilst helping to build their confidence and self-esteem.

Every time you donate your unwanted goods to Cosgrove Care you are giving someone the opportunity of getting a job!

 

That’s us again for this week, but just a very quick reminder that it is NOT too late to apply for a place at Stow, we still have limited places available on some courses, to see what available visit the news page of our website.

See you all back here next Friday!

Could You Be An Entrepreneur … and Other News!!

Classes start next week and its all go here with enrolments, every day sees hundreds of new and returning students through our doors coming to confirm their attendance over the next year.  Due to this our blog the week is extremely short, but we do have a returning favourite.

ILS New of the Week!!

Firstly, welcome back to returning staff and students – we hope you will visit ILS centres again this year.  And welcome to Stow to the newbies – we hope to see you soon in the Learning Centre (library and IT facilities in room 3/14) and the SuperFlex (IT centre for classes and drop-in).

Secondly, we have just received 2 new eBooks via our Dawsonera platform – use your Athens log in details to access them:

• PHP 5 for dummies
• PHP & My SQL

Please get in touch if you need an Athens account set up.

Finally, ILS will be visiting new first year classes to introduce you to the services and facilities in ILS.  However, if you can’t wait, you can find out more on the ILS Moodle page, or pop in and have a look at our centres and chat to us.  We look forward to seeing you this session in our centres.

The Peter Jones Academy

On Thursday 27^th of September 2012 Stow College officially launched the first PJEA in Scotland. Over 100 businesses and organizations from across Scotland were represented at the event.

Set-up by Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones CBE, PJEA offers further education courses in enterprise and entrepreneurship where students set up and run their own businesses.  PJEA courses are designed to be different, combining hands-on experience with classroom learning.  They offer aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to realise their business dreams.

Although the Academy has been on the go South of the Border since 2009, with over 30 branded PJEA centres housed within some of England’s leading colleges, Stow is the first in Scotland.

The course is business-led and involves partnerships with a range of companies and entrepreneurs, providing leadership and hands-on business experience.  Students on the course actually set up and run their own businesses.

There are still a few places left on this course (which starts at the end of September) so if you think this is for you then visit – BTEC Level 3 – Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

 

That’s us for now, short and sweet as promised, but we will definitely have more to tell you next Friday, so join us then.