Thought about teaching as a career?

Did you know that encouraging children to play in the classroom increases their attention span?
Are you interested in working with children and young people? There has never been a better
time to join the teaching profession! It’s true...research does show that children’s attention spans increased when learning was based in play. Imagine having a classroom of your own where you could make things significantly better for a large number of children by doing what works for your learners. The average teacher will teach around 1,500 children in their careers - that’s a lot of lives you could be influencing.

Having been in education for 26 years one of the best things is those moments when children really grow as individuals and in their learning because of something you did. Excitingly, it’s also an opportunity to be part of a lively community of creative, caring professionals. There has literally never been a better time to become a teacher. For the first time the Government is taking steps to shift the balance of power within our system away from politicians to the professionals. That means the newest teachers will have the most freedom ever to do what works!

Our region has some of the best training available and has excellent links to leading edge organisations to ensure that your training is at the forefront of educational thinking. Unlike many other regions, the training providers here work together to ensure that every trainee teacher has the best possible training and that they end up in the schools best suited to their skills and personalities. I often look at the offer from courses offered locally and think how much more I could have done had I had the training on offer to all of you. You can find out about your local courses by doing a Google Search for teacher training or following one of the links below.

Jo Palmer-Tweed, Executive Director, Essex and Thames Primary SCITT

www.essexandthamesprimaryscitt.co.uk
www.essexteachertraining.co.uk
www.midessexteachertraining.com
www.colchesterttc.org.uk

 

Starting or returning to college - top tips!

After a summer filled with holidays and exam results term has now started!  Are you feeling rather unprepared for what’s coming next?  This blog will look at some top tips for coping with starting or coming back to a course and new university college.

Top tips

Be prepared!  You will hopefully know what is expected of you.  But there may be some surprises

We're here to set you on the path to
a successful career after leaving WUC

too.  

Be flexible.  Sometimes your expectations of what is going to happen may not match reality.  This can be for any number of reasons, sometimes colleges and unis have to tweak what they are offering, or your assumptions might be slightly out of kilter.  If you have concerns about things, do ask someone -your institutuion will prefer to address your queries than you stress about it!  And of course, the reality might be actually better than your expectations.

Plan! There will be a lot to take in during the first few weeks, friends to make or catch up with, timetables to get used to, names of students and lecturers to try and remember.  And this doesn’t just for 1^st years either!  Although most 2^nd and 3^rd years should remember where their classrooms are.  So, its worth spending a few minutes at the start/end of each day reflecting on what’s happened that day, or what might happen the next day, and jotting any thoughts or notes down.  This way you can make a note of anything you are not sure about to find out about – and reduce any anxieties the uncertainty might cause.  In a few weeks, it will be worth taking a longer term view on this forward planning to see what will be expected of you for assignments/reading etc.



Image sourced from Wikimedia Author Druysts.t

Start planning your exit!  This isn’t about ensuring you are not the last to leave the party.  But about what’s going to happen after your course has finished.  This might sound strange at the start of your course, or only in the early few weeks of year 2/3.  But the time will pass very quickly, and employers are increasingly engaging with students far earlier in their studies than a few years ago.  Want that internship or volunteering opportunity this summer?  Or that graduate scheme?  Now’s the time to start planning it.

Using social media – good, bad, ugly?  There used to be a divide between the online world and real life, but not anymore, as you know.  Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the situation, employers will and do look at your social media profile, photos, likes, comments and activities at some point during the recruitment process.  And not just for jobs like accountancy, MI5, teaching or Defence against the Dark Arts lecturers.  People have been turned down for science labs interviews for ‘liking’ an anti animal testing comment when they were a lot younger.  Seriously!  So, before doing some applications, do some ‘tidying’ up of your social media presence.  Social media can be a very useful way of engaging with employers too.  If you want to talk about how to do this, contact the careers department.

Enjoy it! One of the most important things to do on your course!!  Learning should be enjoyable and interesting.

What now? Practical tips on what next.

Now that the course has finished, and the celebrations are over its time to make sure you build on your time at college in your next move. Many students will have already decided what they want to do next, and will have organised it, whether it’s the next level course or finding work/an apprenticeship. Some students will still be trying to do this. There will be some practical tips for all students to carry on your success!

 

If you have got something lined up, well done! Here are some tips for when you start the next part of your education or career,

Check out the travel arrangements, if you are going to be catching a bus or driving each day, make sure you know the route and how long it will take.

Find out if anyone you know is starting on the same course or at the same university as you. Having a friendly face will help. Using facebook or www.thestudentroom.co.uk may be a good way of doing this – with the usual social media health warnings!

If you are starting a new job, make sure your employer talks through your progress regularly during the first 3 months. This will help you settle in and achieve.

Don’t assume that ‘this is it’! Plan how to make the most of this next step, to help you with whatever happens after it.

If you haven’t got anything sorted out, now would be a good chance to do something about it. You won’t be the only student with nothing concrete sorted out yet!

While there may be a certain amount of pressure or questions about what you are going to do now from friends, parents and family relations, it is important not just to react by taking the first job offer. There is an increasing trend for graduates to accept an offer to then turn it down close to the start date due to being offered something else. This doesn’t do anyone involved any favours! Here are some tips to consider to help you.

Wiki images source Druysts.t

Think through what you actually want to do long term – having a longer term career/education aim is important

In the short term, this might mean taking a job or getting some experience that helps with the longer term goal, which you wouldn't view as a long term position!

Do a skills and experience audit, what are you missing that would make you stand out? What have you done that really motivates and interests you?

Get some help and support! You aren’t expected to do all this on your own. The WUC careers dept can help, as will tutors. You may be surprised how many people working in the area you want to get into will also be willing to offer some advice too.

Stick at it and be persistent. You may need to be adaptable in your thinking and aspirations, but there will be opportunities for you.

Whether you have got your plans all firmly in place or not, it is important to recognise what you have achieved so far. There will be much more to achieve in the next few years, and with some planning and thought there is nothing to stop you achieving really well. And who knows what the future holds.

Careers support during Mental Health Awareness Week

We're here to set you on the path to
a successful career after leaving WUC

This month is one of the busiest ones for students across the country, with assignment deadlines and exams looming. In amongst all the deadlines and revision plans there will be some thoughts and questions about what will happen after the last exam.  Many students will have got something concrete organised, a graduate scheme place, harvest work or possibly even something exciting like working on an equine holiday camp in America! For these students the ‘what next’ thinking may well centre around how the transition from WUC will be, and possibly about the natural nerves about starting something new. For these students, the advice is definitely to ‘jump straight in’, having coped with the transition to WUC all those semesters ago, the next transition should be one that is exciting, challenging and one to look forward to.

Quite a few students will have plans that are still either vague or non existent, or whose plan is still ‘in the application cycle’ for a specific job or post graduate course. 
 

Mental Health Awareness Week runs
from 8th May to 12th May 2017

For these students the National Mental Health Awareness Week could be a good chance to consider some strategies to help balance the demands of finishing studies with the increasingly repetitive question that will be asked of ‘what are you going to do once you’ve finished?’. This much asked question, although asked with every good intention, can sometimes lead to rather unwanted additional concerns/worries about what is going to happen after the year is finished. With this in mind, here are some possible practical steps to take to help the competing demands on you, to keep your mental health as positive as possible at a very busy time:

• Eat and sleep as well as possible
• Plan your studying/revising as well as possible – studying/revising into the early hours doesn’t work long term!
• Give yourself time to ‘think’, write down any study/career option concerns that you know you need to address
• Plan when and how to address these – could an email to your tutor or careers adviser help you feel that the issue is starting to be addressed?
• Make time to relax!

The next month or so will make demands on your mental health, regardless of how emotionally resilient you are, or how concrete your plans are for after the end of the course! An important consideration to remember is that there will be several opportunities for you to consider and apply for after the last deadline. There is often a misconception that the first job after graduating needs to somehow be ‘it’, and for some it will be. But just as often, or more often, for many graduates the first job after graduation will just be a stepping stone at the start of a life long career. 

The skills you've gained at WUC will set you
up for an exciting, continuously-developing career.

The skills and knowledge gained at WUC will stand you in good stead for an evolving career, which needs to start somewhere. And hopefully one of the important lessons to remember from the last few years at WUC, is that you have learnt to ‘survive and thrive’ in a new environment, you can do this again after you have finished.  Regardless of how emotionally or mentally resilient you are feeling at the moment, there will be opportunities for you post Writtle, and don’t forget that as a graduate, you can get help from the careers advisory department for 3 years after you’ve finished! 

Applying for graduate jobs - is it worth just applying for big recruiters?

There is an assumption with undergraduates that most graduate vacancies are with big employers, like accountancy firms and retailers. Another assumption is that these employers are the ‘only’ ones that have graduate opportunities, and that they are the only ones that will offer an interesting, challenging and worthwhile graduate career. 

The recent Highfliers Graduate Market in 2017 report has come up with some interesting national statistics about the biggest graduate employers:

The country's top employers plan to increase their graduate recruitment by a further 4.3% in 2017, the fifth consecutive year that graduate vacancies have grown.

The biggest growth in vacancies is expected at public sector organisations and high street & online retailers which together intend to recruit over 1,200 extra graduates in 2017.

Half the UK’s leading employers said they had received more completed graduate job applications during the early part of the recruitment season than they had last year and two-fifths also believed the quality of applications had improved.

In 2015, the latest figures available, there were 248,000 students who graduated. 76.1% of these went onto full time work, 13% did more study, 5% were working and studying (with the rest doing a range of other things!). But it is not just big national employers where graduates end up. Indeed, 35% of those working were doing so for employers with fewer than 250 staff, and 1 in 20 were with employers who had less than 50 staff. (What do Graduates do? 2016 HESCU)

There are benefits to applying for a graduate scheme with a big employer. These often include:  

• Higher starting salary
• More structured training/CPD
• A structured initial career path
• Numerous new graduates starting at the same time

So what about SMEs (small and medium enterprises)? As mentioned, these organisations tend to have fewer than 250 employees. There are definite advantages to working for a SME, including:

• more responsibilities and varied work early on
• more likely to need you to hit the ground running
• a far better work/life balance – no 12-15 hour days as a trainee solicitor or in finance

SME’s are more likely to create a unique job role, depending on your skills and the company’s needs, rather than being one of 500 trainee accountants doing the exact same job.

There are several skills that employers need regardless of size, e.g. commercial awareness and ability to work as part of a team. But smaller companies are likely to want employees who are ‘work ready’ and able to contribute to as soon as possible. This means that you are likely to feel that you are making a contribution/having an impact sooner rather than later!

So, if you are thinking that working for an SME might be an option, then the next question is how to identify where the opportunities are. They won’t be advertised on the Association of Graduate Recruiters, prospects or graduate milkround websites! This is where LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and google will be very useful tools to identify and research potential SME’s. But its not only online that this research can happen, it is worth joining professional associations, talking to tutors and careers staff about their contacts too. On top of this, actively making use of business organisations like the Essex FSB, Essex IOD and chambers of commerce will be helpful if you can. They will often have members meetings where you can meet employers over breakfast or at certain events. Smaller organisations are more likely to respond to a speculative approach than the big graduate recruiters, and will have vacancies at different points of the year, whereas quite often big employers will often have set times of the year they advertise to recruit graduates.

And finally, most graduates will work for SME’s at some point after they have graduated, regardless of the amount of media ‘time’ the well known employers get in talking about their recruitment issues or shortages. Don’t be put off by the competition for a graduate scheme place with a big employer either. What you will need to do is think through not only what career you would like to do, but the different challenges that the size of company you work for will offer you. Preparation and planning will be essential for getting your application right, regardless of company size.

Its all about Careers and Apprenticehsips this week!

This week its both National Careers Week and National Apprenticeship Week. What are they both about? The aim of both is to raise awareness with students, teachers and parents the range of opportunities available for students to consider for their future employment, education and apprenticeships. 

As you would probably guess, National Careers Week has a wider focus, to encourage schools, colleges and students to be involved in careers activities. The aim of this is to encourage students to actively think about their options, and how what they are currently studying can give them relevant skills, experience and knowledge.  Not only this, but it’s a good chance to actually think about the very wide range of options available in every career area – how about these suggestions for WUC course areas, (some may need further study!)

Art and design - model maker, landscape designer, graphics

Agriculture – agronomist, agricultural finance roles, business development, land surveyor

Horticulture – botanist, field trials coordinator or assistant, retail management, commercial growing

Floristry – retail management, florist for a 5* hotel, supplier, logistics

Animal management – RSPCA officer, veterinary care assistant, dog trainer

Sport – personal trainer, gym manager, physiotherapist or sports therapist

Countryside – park ranger, volunteers manager, warden

There are many other related careers too that previous students have gone onto do after their course. If you want to talk options through, get in contact!

National Apprenticeship Week is more focussed on raising the profile of apprenticeships, as you would guess from its name! Apprenticeships are an excellent way to develop your qualifications while you are getting experience doing the job, and getting paid. What’s not to like about that combination? And the qualifications available are not just low level ones, with degree apprenticeships becoming more available in certain career areas. And even if there is not a degree apprenticeship available in what you want to do yet, you can still get level 3 qualifications, which are equivalent to A levels/Extended Diplomas. And with a level 3, you can look at foundation degrees as one way to develop your qualifications further – these degrees are aimed at developing work skills whilst developing your academic knowledge and skills too.

As you may know already, WUC offers apprenticeships too.  The apprenticeship team would be happy to talk through your options, and tell you what vacancies they know about. You can also access all the apprenticeship vacancies on the national apprenticeship website.

So, having read this far, what can you do this week to develop your career planning more? Here are some suggestions,

Talk to your tutor/careers adviser (me!) about what you could do.

Talk to the college apprenticeship team about this option, even if its just to help decide about doing one or not!

Look at some employers websites to find out more about what they do and what opportunities they might have, now and in the future.

Write or update your CV.

And finally, whatever you do, don’t just ‘ignore’ your future options – there are so many positive ones to consider, its really worth spending time making sure you get the choice right!

Volunteering, what's the point?

Organisations will often be very keen to have volunteers having an input, and not usually because its free labour.  They get valuable input from motivated, enthusiastic people who are committed to the organisation’s aims and objectives. But its not just a one way relationship. Volunteers can really get lots out of spending time volunteering, as will be highlighted later.

Have you ever thought about volunteering?  There are so many good reasons to give it a go, usually falling into one of three categories, giving something back to ‘society’, to improve your employability skills and future career prospects or for the social benefits, e.g. to make new friends.  The chances are that if you are studying a full time course, the main reasons you may want to volunteer will fall into the category of improving your career prospects.  Why? Because as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) identify, volunteering can be a very good way to

Gain new skills, knowledge and experience

 

Develop existing skills and knowledge

Enhance a CV

Improve one's employment prospects

Gain an accreditation for a course

If you are thinking about volunteering, there are several issues to consider. Do you want the experience to help you get a career in the degree you are doing, or to move you in a new direction? Do you need to develop any particular skills or experience to strengthen your paid work applications? For instance, students on a conservation degree will often get relevant experience with organisations like Essex Wildlife Trust or English Heritage to develop conservation or surveying skills. But there will often be students who do not want to use their degree subject.  These students sometimes worry, unnecessarily, that their degree will somehow limit their career options or what they can apply for. The often quoted figure of 80% of employer vacancies not specifying a degree subject should reassure.  But the question then arises of how to ‘move’ from studying a degree to working in a graduate role. Experience of the working world, either through paid internships or volunteering is an important element in this process.



Image sourced from Wikimedia Author Druysts.t

So, in conclusion, the benefits of volunteering are numerous. Not only will you possibly make new friends, but you will gain invaluable experience and skills which you will be able to showcase to potential employers – indeed the organisation you volunteer with may well end up being a future employer.  Why the snakes and ladders? Well, quite often, doing something 'different' can lead to 'unexpected' chances presenting themselves. And also as importantly, you will see how your degree is relevant to your future career plans, regardless of  the content of your degree.

Orlando Magic: A Lecturer’s Viewpoint.

For any lecturer that may be considering nominating their student for the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year; JUST DO ITü.

What an experience it was; now before I go any further I have to say that this was my first time across the ‘pond’ so there is some new experience to be taken into account here. This said, my first day of simply getting to the check-in was something, the Orange County Conference Centre was something to behold in itself.

The rest of the first day was spent acclimatising to the Florida temperature and the generosity of our hosts and staff in the hotels and local restaurants.

Monday was full on, first seminar started at 08:00 a.m. with a three hour lecture on The Benefits of Oxygen – How to Maintain Oxygen Levels in Our Root Zone. Interesting to see Sub-Air systems being employed on golf course as well as leaf-blower back packs connected to existing drainage systems to introduce fresh oxygen to the root zone.

The afternoon re-started at 13:00 with Understanding and Managing Nematodes on Golf Course Turf, I actually felt sorry for our American cousins as the week progressed, they really do seem to have a lot of problems on their greens, sodium and salt contamination (probably from their recycling of water and waste water), nematodes, not to mention the more usual turf grass diseases.

The education of the Greenkeepers is very impressive, this is not to decry or undermine our British Greenkeepers at all, but it seemed as though everyone in the room was operating at a degree level of understanding of soil and plant science. The willingness to embrace new innovative ideas is something that has always impressed me about the Americans.  The interesting thing that I came to realise is that they are educated from high school through to college and university and then they get their jobs. This leaves a big skills gap and need for experience. Our system works the other way around with students going to college and university whilst gaining their experience in gainful employment. This makes our Greenkeepers highly desirable on the American market.

Day two was a special day in my life and career in Sports Turf; I went to Tranquilo Golf Club. The coach (x 3) left at 08:00, sharp (there was even a warning in the pre-trip blurb to say that if you were late don’t expect them to wait), they are so efficient in Orlando.

What an experience! The host Stephen Tucker, Equipment Manager was very impressive and amongst a lot of information (PPE vending machines for one) his take on levelling and adjusting front and rear rollers for parallel was truly interesting stuff. His workshop was testimony to his professionalism and regard for efficiency. Check out the work shop floors.

This one is Steve talking us through the process of aligning the front and rear rollers to ensure level cutting. After this we were taught about electricity systems on turf machinery and the correct use and maintenance of torque wrenches. Lunch was served on the lawn (boy it was hot), and the afternoon resumed with discussions and lectures on the future of turf machinery; their fuel systems and how research is informing its design. The evening was charged with expectation as my student Jimmy Heritage was flying down from Massachusetts after being subjected to five weeks of intensive study, it certainly is no holiday for him or me on this trip, it was full-on all the way. Jim eventually showed up at about 9:30 in need of refreshment.

After introducing Jimmy and his Australian counter-part Bill to the layout of the conference centre and a quick walk around the opening of the Trade Show itself, I resumed lectures listening to a speaker discussion the use of waste water and its treatment, this focused heavily on the different effects of salt and sodium on soil structure and the resultant effects on the grass plant. After a very quick lunch and catch up with the BIGGA stand I was back in for some more information on the benefits and opportunities to employ bees on gold course and how they can add to the beauty and value of a golf course. 

Thursday, my final day of lectures was taken up with the morning discussing, The Do’s and Don’ts of Rebuilding Greens and the afternoon Evaluating Career Options. This latter title may come across as mundane but the American take on how to prepare for job interviews and what can be done to prepare for it was enlightening. The lunch break was spent looking around the show and studying what was on offer. Our hosts Reesink (Toro), gave us all a very generous last night sending off with a lot of networking being done (good to see Michael O’Keefe again).

The only down-side of my whole experience in Orlando was that I didn’t get to see an ex-student of mine (Greg Knight) who is Deputy Superintendent at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. He went over to the States on the Ohio State University programme and settled out there, and is now doing really well for himself.

After a checking out on Friday morning; the usual stooging around was to be had. However, this was a very welcome chance to relax for a while before flying back to the UK. For any one, whether they are students, employers or lecturers, I can only say that the experience and hospitality shown by Reesink was second to none. The insight into the machinery supplier’s life was truly revealing and informative. The networking opportunity with the Big Boys of our industry is something not to be missed. I can honestly say that everyone I met was very supportive to the education and training of our young Greenkeepers, with each member of our party only too willing to talk and share their knowledge and experience with others. I can only say thank you as a token of my gratitude. Also a massive thank you for your hospitality Reesink (Toro Equipment and Irrigation distributors for the UK).

Nigel Beckford 

Lecturer in Horticulture

My Equine and Business Managemeny Journey- Part 4

Back again with part four of my Writtle Journey. As well as a passion for horses, I also have an interest in the business industry. These days most businesses, have a website to communicate with customers. In the Applications to Computer Technology module, our assignment was to design a basic website and analyse it for a chosen equine business. I enjoy a little creativity and found this task quite enjoyable. I also think it will benefit me (or anyone!) when going out into the industry, I will be able to identify potential improvements for my employer’s website for their business. In order for them to have a user friendly website, they can make it easier for customers to gather information about their services.

Similar skills have also been nurtured during this module; I completed a consultancy project for a real business. A consultancy project is when an outside individual collaborates with a business in order to achieve a goal, for instance my project aimed to find out if opening a shop would be feasible for the business I was working with. During this project we looked at strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the business, gathered information on the sector of the industry and made suitable recommendations on how the business could expand. I look forward to the second part of this module, due to start on the 25^th January. We are due to create business plans and look into the markets for products or services, potential competitors, cash flow and management of the business. 

Holly Morley

Third Year Equine Studies and Business Management Student