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

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.

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!

Summer Rocked and Some Advice!!

Welcome back!!  This week we have another brief update for you, with one article full of valuable information and the other … well let’s just say it was all for fun.

Valuable Learner Services Advice

Learner Services has provided us with a few snippets this week that may prove to be useful for you when you start your course next week.

Jobs and Careers

Many of you may need to supplement your student funds this year with part-time work. Like accommodation we have a jobs board and a site on Moodle which we keep updated with new jobs for students. Make sure you log in regularly to keep yourself updated.

We can also make appointments for you to discuss careers advice with an advisor from Skills Development Scotland who will be based in Stow for one day per week.  Please also check the MyWorldofWork & MyWorkSearch.

Accommodation

Looking for accommodation? Be sure to check out our accommodation guide and advertising board within Learner Services and on Moodle.

Be sure to speak to our advisors as early as possible for advice and assistance if you are under threat of being made homeless during the year. Please don’t wait until the last minute or your options will be limited.

Childare Support

Our policy is to ensure that you are fully supported with the costs of Childcare while you are studying. For packs, information and advice come in to Learner Services.

Council Tax

Many full time students are eligible to claim a council tax exemption or discount while studying. We will issue you with a certificate of status after you have applied on-line through our MOODLE page.

Please don’t apply until we contact you about this in the third week of term.

Glasgow Housing Association Grants

GHA and Cube HA have a number of bursaries available to award to their tenants who are studying a HNC/HND level qualification at college.  They are publicising this on their own Facebook page – www.facebook.com/glasgowhousing and their Twitter account is @glasgowhousing and these both have posts about the bursaries.

This is an excellent opportunity for their tenants who are studying to get some financial help without the worry of student debt and they have 80 bursaries still to award by the 30 September 2013.   Students interested in applying should email bursaries@gha.org.uk.

This Summer Rocked!!

Now for our fun piece.

Our very own Fraser Purdie and a few of our staff members worked together to create a video masterpiece.

This short film outlines what our staff do during the summer when you are all off enjoying the lovely weather ……. Hope you enjoy it!!

That’s us for now, but please join us again next week for more news.

Keep in Touch and Learn To Dance!!

Not long now until classes resume at Stow College, just another few weeks.  Enrolment for all our new and returning students starts next week, so everybody here is busy, busy and because of that our update this week will be fairly short.

 

Glasgow Youth Dance Company Auditions

Glasgow Youth Dance Company (GYDC) is a fantastic opportunity for talented young dancers (aged 14 to 18) from Glasgow to develop their technical, choreographic and performance skills.

GYDC had an exciting first term, culminating in a performance at Merchant City Festival 2013. This year, GYDC will be working towards selection for the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival in July 2014.

Auditions for the Glasgow Youth Dance Company are being held on Thursday 22 August 2013, 6pm – 8pm at Speirs Locks Studios.

Registration is essential, so if you would like to audition please email info@dancehouse.org or call them on 0141 552 2442 to sign up.

GYDC will rehearse weekly on Thursdays from 6 until 8pm, at Speirs Locks Studios, Glasgow. Rehearsals start on 12 September 2013 and will continue through to summer 2014, with a break over Christmas and New Year.

 

Social Media

Here at Stow we use several different ways of keeping in touch with you, both for fun and to keep you informed of important events such as MOT Health Days or Snow Days.

First off we have our website – www.stow.ac.uk – where you can apply for courses, get contact details, information on funding or childcare.  There is also a News and Events area with a calendar and information on upcoming events and a Forum so you can talk to fellow students.

Next we have our Facebook and Twitter pages where we post daily.  Some fun stuff, some college news and any important news flashes eg the college is closed due to snow or there’s a spontaneous sing-along taking place.

Of course we also have this blog which will give you a weekly update of all the goings-on at Stow.  This covers everything from shows being put on by the Stowaways and charity events fellow students are holding to what some members of staff are up to. Students are also welcome to contribute and if you ever want to write an article just email Tracey on tborland@stow.ac.uk

If that wasn’t enough, we also have online Magazines from Learner Services and the college as a whole, on a monthly basis and don’t forget our YouTube channel which hosts a variety of Stow films.

These are all good ways of keeping in touch so make sure you follow us.

 

Short as promised, but we will be back next week so see you then.

You Can Still Apply and Meet the Principal Designate.

Welcome back to Stow College’s Blog, we only have a short update for you this week so let’s get started.

We Still Have Some Places

We still have places available on the following course.

Click on the course name for more information on course content, entry requirements and progression.  You can also apply online from these links

Faculty of Business and Continuing Education

Access to Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (SWAP)

Accounting: HNC/D

Business: HND

Gaelic Language Learners

Faculty of Creative Industries

Computing: Digital Media Computing : NQ

Computing: Games and Software Development: NQ

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: BTEC Level 3

The Engineering Academy

For those who have just narrowly missed out on a university place, an HNC within Stow’s Faculty of Engineering Technology may still provide a route a university degree.  Stow is a key partner in Strathclyde University’s Engineering Academy, this means that HNC graduates in certain engineering subjects can transfer to appropriate degree courses within Strathclyde’s Engineering Faculty.

As well as continuing their studies at university, students will benefit from industry-funded scholarships and paid summer placements during the course of their undergraduate programme.

Applicants should have two Highers, one being Maths and the other being a Science or Technical subject

Peter Jones Enterprise Academy

If you see yourself as the next Peter Jones, Alan Sugar or Hilary Davey and wondering how to get started, now is the time to apply to Scotland’s only Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.

Backed by the Dragon’s Den entrepreneur, PJEA at Stow offers learners the opportunity to achieve a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.  However the curriculum and format of delivery provides learners with a much greater opportunity for developing the types of non-technical skills and attitudes that are essential in today’s business world.

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.

To get on to the Diploma course, applicants should have a minimum of two Higher passes at level C or above.  Alternatively, a range of SQA NC or NQ units (or equivalent).  However, just as important will be the imagination, drive and ambition that they can bring to the programme.

Principal of the New Merged College

Alan Sherry is the Principal Designate of the three merging colleges in the North East of Glasgow from 8 July 2013.

Alan will take up his post as Principal of the new college on the fi­rst day of November 2013 when John Wheatley, Stow and North Glasgow College of­ficially merge.

He is already focused on his vision for the new organisation and looks forward to working with staff from all three partner s to create a college which is both new and unique. He is a strong advocate for the aims of the merger proposal which promotes excellence, progression and enterprise.

‘I would like our new college to provide students with a high quality learning experience by means of our excellent provision which creates opportunities for progression through several different routes – helping students to reach their full potential.  My ambition is for our staff to work in partnership to give students the best possible chance in life. I want everyone to feel valued and respected and to be con­fident that collectively we will provide the best learning experience available.’

Alan is very positive and clear that the new college will bring success to many.

‘Our focus is to have an organisation that staff are proud to work in, learners are keen to

attend, stakeholders respect and our communities value. It’s about all of us doing this together.’

As a collective the new college has a much broader curriculum than ever before, with a range of courses from introductory through to degree level. This will give us the opportunity to provide learners with multiple entry and exit points to lifelong learning supporting them throughout their careers

Alan knows how important it is to have strong teams producing the best possible outcomes for the college, and of course for staff, students, stakeholders and the community. He looks forward to meeting all staff early in the new term to introduce himself and to hear what staff have to say regarding the merger and their ambitions for the new college.

Well that’s us for now, but remember enrolments will begin on Thursday the 8th of August and continue for over two weeks. You will receive a personal invitation pack with a date and time for your course.

At enrolment you will meet you classmates and tutors. You will also receive a timetable, student card and paperwork to allow you to embark on the course on the first day of term.

Please make every effort to attend your event!