Friday, 4 May 2012
Ict and development Sense of Place Assignment
Ict and development
Sense of Place Assignment-
When thinking of what I wanted to do for my visual communication assignment I had to take into consideration a number of factors, it had to be about a sense of place and it had to be creative. I thought that because I feel more myself and safe when im in my imagination that this would be the perfect discriptions of a sense of place, therefore i decided to create a sketchbook and use photos of places that I use to play to show my imagination. I also decided to include different games that I use to play and who I use to play with.
Ideas-
To decide on what I would be creating I did alot of brainstorming, this helped me to come up with ideas that I probably wouldn't have if I had not though about it. The following ideas I came up wtih were family, friends, places I use to play, stories I use to make up, things that encouraged my imagination and what it has helped me with in the future. After thinking it through I realised that the best thing for me to create would be either a fairy tale garden for non-ICT or a slideshow of photos for ICT based.
To come up with my idea I was inspired by suggestions from my family and friends, I also looked at some artists and how they interpret their views of imagination. In my sketchbook I cut it up into sections and put three titles nans garden, farm and how I came up with my final idea.
Development of Ideas-
Non-ICT
-materials to make my fairy tale garden
-ideas on how to create the fairy tale garden
ICT
Pictures of places my imagination grew
Microsoft Powerpoint
Old pictures
Making my project-
To make my project I first had to find a shoebox, I covered my shoebox in wrapping paper and then covered the inside in blue and green paper to create the grass and sky. Then I created the trees using a card board tube and leaves out of tissue paper. Then I created the flowers using pattern punchers and stuck them down.
I then made a pond and and took stones from the garden and placed them around my pond to create a 3D effect.
Final Piece-
I knew that I wanted to focus on the idea of imagination as this is my sense of place, I like how this assignment was focused more on the idea of creativity and was not based around the idea of essay writting. I enjoyed that we were allowed to express ourselves through creativity and the use of art. Im glad that I choose a Non Ict method because I am good with arts and craft and not so good when it comes to ICT however I think it would have been nice to have shown my ideas through the use of ICT.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Assignment - Alice Davis 20/03/12
Alice Davis 20/03/12
Today’s guest speaker was Alice Davis who is the senior Member of South West Wales Reaching Wider Consortium. She gave us a lecture on widening Access in Wales and how it then works; a basic outline of widening access is where you would increase opportunities for individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds to benefit their higher education. Their aims are to increase the amount of people from ‘under – represented’ that attend higher education institutions, the sorts of people this would be aimed at would be people from black or ethnic minority communities, disabilities, low income families and communities First wards. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (2000) focus on income, health, education, employment, housing and access to service, the HEFCW found that because of all their improvements there was a 10% rise in the proportion of Welsh domiciled students studying a higher education course in all further education institutes. There were also a number of HEFCW Widening Access Funding ideas introduced these included the Fee Planning, WA Premium which is an annual teaching grant given to higher education institutes so that they recognise toe extra costs that may occur when recruiting students who may be from under-represented groups. Another idea is the WA Strategy Funding, Higher education Funding Council of Wales (HEFCW) (2012) state:
‘We also encourage higher education (HE) institutions to plan their widening access activities by producing three-year widening access strategies. These include plans for supporting disabled students. We operate a Widening Access Fund to support the strategies and HEIs report on progress to us annually.’
They also came up with the idea of reaching wider, this was established in 2002 by the HEFCW it was introduced so as to break down the barriers that arise when trying to receive an education and tries to widen the access to learning. Their aims were to support the economic up-skilling and to support the idea of social inclusion regardless of class or skills. All four of these would have assist the well-being of students wishing to continue into further education, it would allow them to improve their education further without the worry of money problems if they are from a deprived background, it would also help students with disabilities who may have had difficulty attending university without the HEFCWs backing.
The community’s First wards introduced the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (2000) to look after young people who may be disabled, studying through the medium of Welsh or from black or ethnic minority communities. The communities First Ward was introduced because the Welsh Assembly were concerned at the number of Welsh communities that were suffering from stagnation and lack of investment. After much research they came to understand that there was Child Poverty throughout Wales and they wanted to overcome this. Their aims then became to assist when enhancing achievements, focus on underrepresented communities, work to encourage progression to higher education and finally to improve severe social disadvantages throughout Wales. To improve the amount of children attending school and going onto higher education within schools they introduced a number of changes to improve their learning within schools. Year 9 pupils are now provided with mentoring if needed and can take part within Saturday clubs, techno camps and ACE days all these are introduced to increase educational standards for pupils and also to ensure that they start deciding on what they want to do in the future. The same thing was done for the reaming years, however each year was provided with different activities, such as year 11’s being spoken to about college or finding jobs and year 13’s being spoken to about the idea of university or jobs.
Reference
Higher Education Funding Council of Wales (2011) Funding and Initiatives Retrieved 18th April 2012 from http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/policy_areas/widening_access/funding_initiatives_wa.aspx
Today’s guest speaker was Alice Davis who is the senior Member of South West Wales Reaching Wider Consortium. She gave us a lecture on widening Access in Wales and how it then works; a basic outline of widening access is where you would increase opportunities for individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds to benefit their higher education. Their aims are to increase the amount of people from ‘under – represented’ that attend higher education institutions, the sorts of people this would be aimed at would be people from black or ethnic minority communities, disabilities, low income families and communities First wards. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (2000) focus on income, health, education, employment, housing and access to service, the HEFCW found that because of all their improvements there was a 10% rise in the proportion of Welsh domiciled students studying a higher education course in all further education institutes. There were also a number of HEFCW Widening Access Funding ideas introduced these included the Fee Planning, WA Premium which is an annual teaching grant given to higher education institutes so that they recognise toe extra costs that may occur when recruiting students who may be from under-represented groups. Another idea is the WA Strategy Funding, Higher education Funding Council of Wales (HEFCW) (2012) state:
‘We also encourage higher education (HE) institutions to plan their widening access activities by producing three-year widening access strategies. These include plans for supporting disabled students. We operate a Widening Access Fund to support the strategies and HEIs report on progress to us annually.’
They also came up with the idea of reaching wider, this was established in 2002 by the HEFCW it was introduced so as to break down the barriers that arise when trying to receive an education and tries to widen the access to learning. Their aims were to support the economic up-skilling and to support the idea of social inclusion regardless of class or skills. All four of these would have assist the well-being of students wishing to continue into further education, it would allow them to improve their education further without the worry of money problems if they are from a deprived background, it would also help students with disabilities who may have had difficulty attending university without the HEFCWs backing.
The community’s First wards introduced the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (2000) to look after young people who may be disabled, studying through the medium of Welsh or from black or ethnic minority communities. The communities First Ward was introduced because the Welsh Assembly were concerned at the number of Welsh communities that were suffering from stagnation and lack of investment. After much research they came to understand that there was Child Poverty throughout Wales and they wanted to overcome this. Their aims then became to assist when enhancing achievements, focus on underrepresented communities, work to encourage progression to higher education and finally to improve severe social disadvantages throughout Wales. To improve the amount of children attending school and going onto higher education within schools they introduced a number of changes to improve their learning within schools. Year 9 pupils are now provided with mentoring if needed and can take part within Saturday clubs, techno camps and ACE days all these are introduced to increase educational standards for pupils and also to ensure that they start deciding on what they want to do in the future. The same thing was done for the reaming years, however each year was provided with different activities, such as year 11’s being spoken to about college or finding jobs and year 13’s being spoken to about the idea of university or jobs.
Reference
Higher Education Funding Council of Wales (2011) Funding and Initiatives Retrieved 18th April 2012 from http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/policy_areas/widening_access/funding_initiatives_wa.aspx
Assignment - Mike Day 28/02/12
Today’s lecture was given by Mike Day who is the Cabinet Member for education in Swansea. He was giving us a lecture on the education policy, describing to us how and why it is used. He stated that the education policy is the collection of laws and rules that operate the educational system. The aim of the educational policy is to reflect political options, traditions and values and to make fundamental choices; it also has socio-economic objectives. The education policy is used to create a workforce and to produce ‘rounded’ individuals, it is also important as it provides basic guidelines, however these can sometimes be too strict and sometimes don’t allow you to do what you want. Things that are considered by the education policy are school size, school privatization, class size and teachers pay. I was also told that the people that develop the education policy are the politicians and practitioners; this is developed within the UK levels and the Welsh Government. There are a number of things that the Welsh government cannot control and these include the compulsory school age and teachers pay, however they can control things such as the foundation phase and Welsh Medium.
The education policy is developed within UK level, the Welsh Government and local authorities. The UK Level had an effect great effect on schools one being the compulsory school age being 5-16. It is also responsible for the Local Education authorities and their parents and students. The Welsh Government introduced the idea of no SATs, no academies, and higher education tuition fees, the foundation phase, Welsh medium and the pupil deprivation grant. All of these would have affected learners in some way some for the good and some not. The idea of the compulsory age could be considered negative as children starting school at the age of 5 may not know as much as children who have attended school from the age of three, the same apply for the leaving age being 16, by this age pupils may not be mature enough to make the decision of what to do with themselves after they finish school. However the idea of the pupil deprivation grant would be an advantage for learners as it would assist them with their learning and ensure that they had the necessary funds to buy things needed for school. The idea of no SATs is also a good idea as it ensures that at a young age children aren’t stereotyped as they may not be able to portray their true potential.
The education policy is developed within UK level, the Welsh Government and local authorities. The UK Level had an effect great effect on schools one being the compulsory school age being 5-16. It is also responsible for the Local Education authorities and their parents and students. The Welsh Government introduced the idea of no SATs, no academies, and higher education tuition fees, the foundation phase, Welsh medium and the pupil deprivation grant. All of these would have affected learners in some way some for the good and some not. The idea of the compulsory age could be considered negative as children starting school at the age of 5 may not know as much as children who have attended school from the age of three, the same apply for the leaving age being 16, by this age pupils may not be mature enough to make the decision of what to do with themselves after they finish school. However the idea of the pupil deprivation grant would be an advantage for learners as it would assist them with their learning and ensure that they had the necessary funds to buy things needed for school. The idea of no SATs is also a good idea as it ensures that at a young age children aren’t stereotyped as they may not be able to portray their true potential.
Assignment - Graham Allen 22/02/12
Today’s lecture was given by Graham Allen the Environmental Manager of Swansea Metropolitan University he discussed education for sustainable developed and why it is used. According the Graham there are 300 definitions of sustainable development it is said by many that human development and the protection of the natural environment come as one and therefore it is important to understand sustainable development isn’t just environmental concerns and includes all things to do with the world. It is also important to consider the idea of action as a component of education as part of a sustainable development to allow people to understand that for sustainable development to continue the responsibility would be with themselves. This then means that education for sustainable development is there to encourage learners to take in the information being given to them and that this is more important that only learning particular things that may come up during assignments or exams. There was then a global action plan created for the 21st century by the Rio Summit who believed that the role of promoting the sustainable development should be made explicit by Agenda 21. Their plan was to extend the ability of students and allow them to be able to think for themselves, they also wanted to ensure that when learning the learner would discover a way of learning that would develop due to their life experiences and also to encourage them to be able to reflect and debate on issues that would enable them to create their own opinions and ideas. The Welsh Assembly Government (2011) state:
‘To deliver on the Assembly’s commitment to sustainable development all students need to acquire the necessary skills, knowledge base, values and attitudes to be active global citizens in creating a sustainable society.’ P.8
When considering the idea of re-orientating the UK education policy it is important to embrace the idea of sustainable development. The idea of education for sustainable development could be said to be a holistic approach for things such as the curriculum and requires teaching and the government on how they should teach and also on what should be taught.
So as you can see the goals of sustainable develop is to ensure that all people through the world are able to live a normal quality of life without the future lives of others being compromised. In today’s society there are still a number of places that are not within the band of a good quality of life, these places cannot be assisted because of the lack of funding, the also means that the educational system within these areas are effected due to the lack of funding to allow improvements such as the amount of equipment provided and the quality of teachers. There is now a massive divide between the poor and the rich with the government having to find new ways to ensure that this doesn’t persist. Some of the ways that the Welsh Government has done this is by providing things such as breakfast club and free school meals. There are a number of worries that parent from poor backgrounds will not force their children to work efficiently within schools due to the fact that they may be needed to go out to work to provide for their families or because their parents were previously failed by the Welsh Government and now they believe they will do the same to their child.
Reference
Welsh Assembly Government (2009) Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Retrieved 18th April 2012 from http://www.esd-wales.org.uk/english/ESDreports/pdf/D674_English.pdf
‘To deliver on the Assembly’s commitment to sustainable development all students need to acquire the necessary skills, knowledge base, values and attitudes to be active global citizens in creating a sustainable society.’ P.8
When considering the idea of re-orientating the UK education policy it is important to embrace the idea of sustainable development. The idea of education for sustainable development could be said to be a holistic approach for things such as the curriculum and requires teaching and the government on how they should teach and also on what should be taught.
So as you can see the goals of sustainable develop is to ensure that all people through the world are able to live a normal quality of life without the future lives of others being compromised. In today’s society there are still a number of places that are not within the band of a good quality of life, these places cannot be assisted because of the lack of funding, the also means that the educational system within these areas are effected due to the lack of funding to allow improvements such as the amount of equipment provided and the quality of teachers. There is now a massive divide between the poor and the rich with the government having to find new ways to ensure that this doesn’t persist. Some of the ways that the Welsh Government has done this is by providing things such as breakfast club and free school meals. There are a number of worries that parent from poor backgrounds will not force their children to work efficiently within schools due to the fact that they may be needed to go out to work to provide for their families or because their parents were previously failed by the Welsh Government and now they believe they will do the same to their child.
Reference
Welsh Assembly Government (2009) Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Retrieved 18th April 2012 from http://www.esd-wales.org.uk/english/ESDreports/pdf/D674_English.pdf
Assignment - Steve Gullick 23/01/12
Due to Andy’s illness we are going to be provided with a number of guest speakers to discuss various topics with us concerning education until Andy’s return. Today’s guest speaker is called Steve Gullick, he based his lecture around the roles of the governing body within educational institutions. The governing body is made up of a number of categories of governors; they are unpaid however they can receive money for things such as travel costs. The different types of governors are parent governors, staff governors, community governors and authority governors. The department of Education (2012) states:
‘This helps ensure the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean governors of a particular category represent that group on the governing body. For example, parent governors do not represent the parents at the school and do not report back to them.’
The role of the governors is to manage the schools budgets, promote high standards of educational achievements, make decisions concerning staff pay and school problems, it is also important that they focus on problems concerning the curriculum taught. By managing the school budget they would have to ensure that the money being given to the schools was being spent on necessities and instead of things that were not needed. It is also important that they focus on all problems that may arise within educational settings. All governors have the important role of choosing who would be appropriate to become a new head teacher; they also have a small input into the decision of new staff members. It is important that the governors partake in the decisions concerning new staff and headmasters as this whole process could be biased and affects fairness. The minimum number of governors is nine and the maximum is twenty, it is usual for governors to be appointed only for four years however this can later be renewed. I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture with Steve Gullick as it made me realise the importance of the governors it also showed me who would be in charge of our appointment if I was to apply as a teacher and also how much of an important factor they are to the running of school. The governors have an effect on the children within the schools because without their guidance and their control of finance, the pupils would not have the financial support to achieve and experience the best of their education.
Reference
Department of Education (2012) categories and roles of school governors Retrieved 16th April 2012 from http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/a0056694/categories-and-roles-of-school-governors
‘This helps ensure the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience but does not mean governors of a particular category represent that group on the governing body. For example, parent governors do not represent the parents at the school and do not report back to them.’
The role of the governors is to manage the schools budgets, promote high standards of educational achievements, make decisions concerning staff pay and school problems, it is also important that they focus on problems concerning the curriculum taught. By managing the school budget they would have to ensure that the money being given to the schools was being spent on necessities and instead of things that were not needed. It is also important that they focus on all problems that may arise within educational settings. All governors have the important role of choosing who would be appropriate to become a new head teacher; they also have a small input into the decision of new staff members. It is important that the governors partake in the decisions concerning new staff and headmasters as this whole process could be biased and affects fairness. The minimum number of governors is nine and the maximum is twenty, it is usual for governors to be appointed only for four years however this can later be renewed. I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture with Steve Gullick as it made me realise the importance of the governors it also showed me who would be in charge of our appointment if I was to apply as a teacher and also how much of an important factor they are to the running of school. The governors have an effect on the children within the schools because without their guidance and their control of finance, the pupils would not have the financial support to achieve and experience the best of their education.
Reference
Department of Education (2012) categories and roles of school governors Retrieved 16th April 2012 from http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/a0056694/categories-and-roles-of-school-governors
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Steve Gullick 07/02/12
Todays topic was Health and Safety however I was really ill so wasnt able to attend, however my friends informed me of what I had missed. They told me that they had been given a scenario about pupils going on a school trip and were asked what things would be necessary for the trip to take place. Some of these things consisted of a register, consent form, risk assessment, parent helpers CRB's etc.
They were then also given the scenario where they were the chair of the governing body, after this they discussed the advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning. I was disapointed that I was unable to attend, however I was able to copy up notes.
They were then also given the scenario where they were the chair of the governing body, after this they discussed the advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning. I was disapointed that I was unable to attend, however I was able to copy up notes.
Guest speaker Dr Russell Grigg 16/01/12
Today we were provided with a guest speaker because Andy is ill. Our guest speaker was called Dr Russell Grigg he talked to us about Estyn and what they do. He was very interesting and provided us with a number of facts which we didnt know beforehand. The role of Estyn is to inspect the quality and standards in education in Wales, this includes all education settings. They also provide adivce to the Welsh Assembly Government about the quality of education and their training. I really enjoyed his lecture and wrote down loads of notes on the topic, it gave me an insight into all the other jobs available within the education system.
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