BLOG: Alan David Pritchard Blog #2: STUDY SKILLS 6S Course as run to teachers in Wales, 4 July 2008

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Last week, my colleague Lee and I went down to Llanelli to the Botanical Gardens to run the course to a range of secondary and post-16 teachers.
The delegates ranged from Heads of Year to Class Teachers, lecturers and Learning Leaders.
From the moment they arrived, I knew that I was in for a treat.

It was a delight to present to teachers who are still very much passionate about their professions and who showed a keen interest in learning new ways to support their students.
Although the course is essentially the same as the one run to students, I changed certain aspects to appeal more to teachers, and included some of the video footage from our filming day in Cowes to substantiate some points.
It was wonderful watching different teachers mix for a day and to see them sharing their ideas and perspectives with each other. The feedback they provided was positive and constructive, and it appears that all the teachers left with ideas which they found useful and worth trying with their students.
There were many wins for the day, a lot of learns, and quite a few changes that I will make to the course to ensure that it is more fit for purpose. Thanks to all who provided useful and valuable advice on how to make the day even more of a success.
When asked what they most liked about the day, the delegates had the following to say:

What did you like most about the day?

• Methods to improve note taking using pictures
• The range of skills shown, and the enthusiasm of the deliverer
• Summary Posters
• I enjoyed doing rhyming songs
• Entertaining delivery of useful techniques
• The enthusiasm of the provider
• Some of the strategies I had never heard of and found interesting
• The speaker and the way of learning
• The various ways of remembering things
• Finding a pattern to remember
• Well presented
• Planner for pupils
• Learning through doing
• Enthusiasm. Wasn’t death by PowerPoint
• All the activities
• It was varied and fast paced
• The workshops
• New ideas and succeeding at tasks
• New ideas for remembering and ordering information

Teachers were asked to write a short review of the course, and here is a selection of their responses:

“A very good idea for a course by a very enthusiastic presenter.” (Gemma Morgan, Assistant Head of Year 9, Cumraine Comprehensive)
“It was amazing. For years I have wanted this type of learning and I attended it today and it feels great.” (Sabina Islam, Learning Mentor, Bishop Gore)
“The course was very interesting and useful. It will be interesting to see how the children at my school work with some of the methods.”  (Cheryl Thomas, LSA, Ysgol Gyfun Y Strade)
“This course was really useful for teachers who like to do changes and want to get success.” (Shaily Jain, Teacher, Glan-Y-Mor School)
“This course was very interesting and I have learnt many tips about revision.” (Emma Latlam, LSA, Ysgol Y Strode)
“An excellent day. The information delivered was interesting and enthusiastically delivered.” (Christopher Wyn Davies, Head of Year 11, Ammon Valley School)
“I really enjoyed the course and will plan some activities for my learners using these techniques.” (Fiona Neill, Team Leader: ESOL, Swansea College)

Many thanks to all who attended and to Helen Kennedy for arranging the day. As a result of the course, we will now be making it available as a teacher training event for INSET and staff training. Details will be posted on our site in the next few weeks.