May/June 2004
Special Features

It's Never Too Late to Learn

Adult Learners' Week is an opportunity to celebrate, promote and advance all forms of adult learning, celebrating the achievements of adult learners in all their diversity in order to encourage others to participate.

Co-ordinated by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), this year's annual festival - which ran from 15 May until 21 May - gave the University an opportunity to shout about its successes and tell people about some of the initiatives it had to offer adult learners.

The University used the week to launch its brand-new guide - the Mature Students' Guide - designed to give University applicants the whole story on student life for over 21s in Bradford.

The glossy 16-page guide contains information would-be students will need on topics such as finances and University services as well as insights into the experiences of mature students at Bradford, past and present.

Mature Students' Officer Gavin Coates said: "For many adults who have been outside the education system for a number of years, there are often worries: Can I really do a degree? Will I get in? Can I afford it? This guide will help to answer these queries and reassure them that University life has much to offer them. Mature students won't be alone at Bradford and they contribute fully to life at the University.

"Mature students often ask the question, "Will I fit in?" The answer here at Bradford is quite simply 'yes'! Age is not a barrier here, and as students will be able to see in the guide, others before have not found it a problem!"

Mature students make up a significant proportion of the University population - around a third - so there is a mature students group within the Students' Union, where they can meet with others in a similar position, air their views and find out what help and services are available to them.

Comments from current mature students at the University include:

Sarah Livingstone, of Social Policy and Administration, said: "I came back into education through an access course, almost ten years after doing my GCSEs. I have a five-year-old son who goes to school and attends a before-and-after school club there a couple of times a week, which allows me to tailor my childcare to fit with my studies."

Graham Golding, of Peace Studies, said: "I'm thankful that University is nothing like school. Also despite being at University, a family life is possible. I have a wife and two daughters, 17 and five, and our life has not suffered with me being at University."

Doreen Foster, Local and Regional Studies, said: "When I first started I felt like the main character in the film Educating Rita. I thought everyone would be posh and I'd be totally out of my depth but I'm really enjoying the course now and I would advise people with doubts to believe in themselves and give it a go."

Other events run by the University during Adult Learners' Week included taking part in Activate!, a Community Action Event held at the Bradford & Bingley stadium.

Adult learners were also targeted with the launch of a series of summer courses to entice them onto campus.

The programme will give people a chance to try something completely new, to have a go at something they've always considered doing but have never had the opportunity to try, or to look further into a particular interest.

Dean of the University's School of Lifelong Education and Development (SLED) Professor Geoff Layer said: "This year's Summer Programme promises to offer something to everyone, whatever their interest or experience, and will give people a taste for what University may be like. It is a perfect introduction to those wishing to re-engage with study, especially for those who have been out of the classroom for quite a while."

The Summer Programme will run from Monday, 5 July until Saturday, 31 July, 2004, and will offer huge discounts to people of a state pensionable age and those in receipt of state benefits. No formal entry requirements are needed and for the first time this year, all courses will count towards University credits, which means that students can use their studies to work towards a qualification in the future, should they wish.

Courses include stepping back into the past with 'Medieval Yorkshire Towns', which takes a fascinating look at the architecture, town planning, society and government of the towns and the people who lived in them. 'Getting into Local History', meanwhile, is a practical hands-on course, specially designed to give an introduction to finding out about local history. Alternatively, consider 'Law and Order in Victorian Yorkshire' which includes a visit to the Georgian Court House and the Police and Prison Museum in Ripon. For a more modern approach to crime, 'Introduction to Criminology' introduces the key features of the criminal justice process.

For those people interested in community issues, 'Mentoring Young People' would be useful to anyone considering voluntary or paid work as a mentor. For parents, or others, interested in finding out how the English school system works, 'Understanding School' will cover the complexities of the English education system, specifically the National Curriculum.

You can rarely do anything in today's technological environment without the need to use a computer and 'IT Skills 1', which includes elements of the European Computer Driving Licence, will help to build up students' computer confidence. Similarly, students can gain the knowledge and confidence to effectively use the World Wide Web in 'Effective Searching on the World Wide Web', which includes how to use the Internet safely and within the law as well as looking at copyright laws and protection against viruses. All the computer courses are suitable for absolute beginners.

Finally, for those interested in finding out more about themselves and others a number of courses may be of interest - including 'Introduction to Psychology', 'Mind, Body and Spirit' and 'Skills for Personal Success'.

Prices for the courses cost either £39 or £78 or, for people of a state pensionable age, those on state benefits and others who qualify for a discount, £8 or £16.

For further information, including dates, times and cost of the programmes, and to obtain an enrolment pack, telephone 01274 (23)3210, email learning@bradford.ac.uk, or log on to www.bradford.ac.uk/sled

There was also an opportunity for adult learners to drop by and learn more about what the University of Bradford had to offer with a special stall set up at the Kirkgate Shopping Centre.

Marketing Officers Kevin Spencer and Helen Kennard (pictured left!) were on hand to answer queries and encourage people to try something new at the University.

Meanwhile, volunteers and community workers were invited to empathise with the dilemmas of a new 'recruit' in an unusual play shown by the School of Lifelong Education and Development. This funny short piece of interactive theatre was shown as part of a University 'Community Day' and was aimed at creating debate and discussion on the 'hows' and 'ways' of developing community projects.

'The Committee for the Regeneration of Arkwright Pond' featured new development worker Verity Keane ('Very' for short). The interactive workshop was delivered by Sheffield-based company, Dead Earnest Theatre.

Organiser Anne Weston said: "Verity was starting a new job and fuelled with energy she set out with the intention of empowering local people, but ended up driving the project herself. She wanted to see results but the audience was asked to question how much Verity should support and how much should she drive?

"The play was designed to be light and entertaining and allowed people a practical experience of how to overcome the hurdles development work can often provide."

The day also included a tour of the University campus and a chance to discuss what was on offer for adults at the University.

17 June 2004

next

top of page