Gordon BryceAdult Learner of the Year 2014

Summer 2011 Issue 10

Celebrating achievement in learning

Summer 2014

Welcome to the summer edition of Adult Learning in Stirling with a special focus on our Adult Learners’ Celebration Evening that was hosted at the Golden Lion Hotel. The event was funded by Celebrate, Big Lottery Funding, to acknowledge achievement in learning.

More than 200 learners and their carers, friends and family along with staff, volunteers and officials attended the event which offered entertainment, an award ceremony and a Ceilidh to round up the evening.

The theme of the celebration was around the Commonwealth to broaden learners’ awareness and knowledge of the countries, their cultures and people and to help our learners feel more involved in the celebration of Scotland hosting the Commonwealth Games. Prior to the celebration evening learners engaged in activities researching the Commonwealth countries and creating posters displaying their findings. The posters were exhibited during the evening.

Adult Learner, Jacqueline Murray said; “The celebration made me feel more involved in the games because I could learn more about the different sports and which countries are involved in the Commonwealth.”

Congratulations to all learners. We hope you enjoy reading about some of the successes!

This year’s Adult Learner of the Year is truly inspirational learner, Gordon Bryce. Gordon has been involved in a range of learning opportunities since 2012. Over this time he has shown a commitment to learning and sheer determination to succeed. This has contributed to a range of successes in learning including qualifications and accreditation.

More recently Gordon embarked on the ASDAN Employability Qualification, demonstrating motivation and willingness to learn, undertaking all the tasks with enthusiasm, contributing excellently to discussions and supporting other learners.

Gordon completed the Customer Care unit of the Employability Qualification during a work placement. Supervisors spoke very highly of Gordon saying he was an excellent worker, hard working, reliable and very willing and obliging with customers. Towards the end of the course Gordon was offered a training place with a local company and on the completion of this he was offered a job.

The ASDAN Employability Programme has helped to build Gordon’s confidence, however, the biggest impact for Gordon may in fact be his ability to now recognise his own skills and qualities which undoubtedly has led to his success not only in employment but in wider life as well.

Staff and Adult Learners celebrating achievement

Literacy Group is awarded for their efforts to succeed in learning and in lifeThe Group Award this year went to the Tuesday Afternoon Literacy group; Sharon, James and Garrie. All learners in the group have actively improved their communication skills, team-working skills, ICT skills and self-confidence. Together they have enjoyed success with their creative writing and their ability to write pieces of work which have not only appeared on the Learner Blog but which have also been read publicly at events across the Forth Valley Area. Individual members of the group have also benefited from this in their personal lives, in their community involvement and within the workplace. Group members are also involved in volunteering roles with the Adult Learning Team.

Gwen Wells Volunteer of the Year 2014

This year’s Volunteer of the Year Award goes to Gwen Wells for her enthusiasm for learning and passion and commitment to supporting adult learners to succeed and do the best that they can. Gwen has brought to learning a range of creative ideas for individual work and group tasks and has shown great skill and adaptability in supporting adult learners with a

diverse range of learning needs. She has had an enormous impact on the learners she supports; encouraging, enabling, supporting, giving constructive feedback, all with a great sense of humour and humility. The learners all benefit massively from Gwen’s contribution to their learning experiences.

Thanks to the Big Lottery Celebrate fund to help make the celebration a great learning opportunity and a truly memorable evening for local adult learners across the Stirling area.

Adult Learners win tickets to Commonwealth GamesAs part of the Celebrate, Big Lottery, funding that the Adult Learning Team secured for the celebration evening, the team also won ten Commonwealth Games tickets to see the table tennis at Scotstoun Sports Campus. This allowed eight lucky learners and two members of staff to get even further involved with the Commonwealth Games.

The learners and staff travelled to Glasgow to watch the Bronze medal matches for the Men’s Team competition between Nigeria and India. This was then followed by the Gold Medal matches between England and Singapore.

Learners were able to use the plaza outside the venue to soak up the atmosphere where they befriended one of the Clydesiders.

One learner, Senga said “This was a great day. I never would have considered coming to the Games on my own as it would have been too complicated for me to get there.”

Alex receives John Reilly Trophy for excellent progression in ICT skills

The recipient of the John Reilly Trophy this year is Alex Aitken. Alex began his ICT journey learning about the basics. However, over time, there has been a noticeable transformation in Alex’s computing ability to the extent that it is now a confident person seen approaching the computer, logging in and opening up his documents from a memory stick. Alex is now able to complete tasks without the need for support. The Judging Panel thought this commitment, dedication and determination made him an excellent role model for other adult learners and a worthy winner of the John Reilly Trophy.

For further information, call 01786 237517 or email adultlearning@stirling.gov.uk

http:// www.stirling.gov.uk/adultlearning

facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adult-Learning-Team-Stirling-Council/147816432027472

Special Award for workplace learner Milan

Milan Cech has been awarded an ASPIRE Project Special Award for his determination in overcoming significant personal barriers as well as serious health issues in this pursuit of learning to change life for himself and his new family. Originally learning at beginner’s ESOL level, then through the ASPIRE project ESOL Writing for Work and Study programme, Milan progressed with the support of the project to an intermediate 1 level course at Forth Valley College which he has completed with great success. The courses have made a significant difference to his personal and working life. Milan’s commitment has helped him rise to the challenge of learning helping him make remarkable progress, showing us what can be achieved with effort, commitment and enthusiasm whilst overcoming barriers at the same time.

Ivaylo is Workplace Learner of the yearThis year’s ASPIRE Project Workplace Learner of the Year has been awarded to Ivaylo Todorov. The judging panel were impressed by his sheer determination, bravery and effort to succeed.

In 2011 Ivaylo came to the UK working for the first couple of years on mushroom farms, learning to speak English. He attended the ASPIRE workplace English classes at the Stirling mushroom farm whilst also receiving funding from the project to attend ESOL classes at Forth Valley College.

Last year, Ivaylo took the brave decision to leave employment to focus on gaining skills and experience so he could secure work relevant to his psychology degree. Ivaylo started to attend the ASPIRE Project’s ESOL Work Club to get further support with his English and his employability skills learning how to write CVs in English, covering letters, job applications, and get help with interview techniques.

The ESOL Work Club also helped to arrange volunteering opportunities in his chosen field of work to gain relevant UK work experience. As a result of the work experience and his participation in the ESOL Job Club Ivaylo now has not one but two jobs.

Marianne is awarded for making great progress in learningMarianne Jack has received a Special Award for demonstrating determination to learn and for making excellent progress. Marianne has shown a commitment to learning through excellent attendance even though her class started shortly after an early morning shift at work and, often, when her own health has been poor. Marianne approaches adult learning opportunities with enthusiasm and is open to new ideas and different ways of learning and as a result she feels that she gets a lot out of learning and recognises how much it contributes to her life. Marianne says that she is now much more able to understand articles which she reads at home, including those in TV guides, magazines, books and recipes. She is also able to understand instructions better. She is much more confident since she started to recognise her own strengths and skills and since she started gaining accreditation for these. Congratulations Marianne.

Chloe is recognised for overcoming learning barriersSuccessfully overcoming a range of challenges, Chloe Fitches has set about establishing her own learning goals, keeping track of her own progress, reviewing her learning and progression and establishing new goals. Chloe maintains her focus throughout learning seeking guidance and support as required. Her confidence has grown throughout the year and she has successfully demonstrated her ability to overcome barriers to support her access to learning.

Norman awarded for improved ICT skills for life and for finding workNorman Chrystal came to Adult Learning to get help with ICT after he lost his job. He participated in a range of ICT programmes finding that his skills and confidence developed quickly. Following on from learning, Norman found that he was able to use ICT to make contact with employers and secure work in the painting and decorating field. This included using the internet to search for work, updating his CV and emailing this to prospective employers. Norman also uses his new skills to keep in touch with family and friends through the use of social media and email.

This has been a significant year for Thomas Strain who has received a Special Award to highlight the effort he has made with learning. Thomas has demonstrated major advances in his motivation and planning for learning, which has had an impact on his creativity, communication skills and his confidence. Recently Thomas topped off his learning year by successfully completing an ASDAN accredited award and has already started work on a new unit.

Thomas receives Special Award for improved effort and motivation to learn

Kieran is recognised for achieving new learning goals

Kieran Masterson has been awarded a Special Award for developing greater confidence and motivation to further his learning and reaching new learning goals. He has demonstrated an increased confidence which has impacted on his learning and interaction with others in his classes.

He has not allowed his visual impairment to get in the way of his learning and recently he has extended his learning through participation in a programme focussing on creative script writing.

Ivaylo (far right) with Adult Learning Staff

Milan (far right) with fellow learners during the Celebration

Thomas (far right) with fellow learners

Joan is awarded for commitment and engagement in learning

Congratulations to Joan Geddes on receiving a Special Award. Joan recently returned to learning, overcoming a range of personal barriers, to take part in four different classes. The judging panel were impressed by Joan’s obvious commitment and engagement with learning. Joan herself has realised the power that

learning has to change her life and currently she has a clear focus on learning for employment. Joan is now taking control of her own learning and her positive enthusiastic approach to learning is an inspiration to others.

Meet our Special AwardWinners 2014