Taking Control takes off Early results show another increase in responses
December & January's 'Taking Control' Campaign is in its closing stages and the early results suggest another great year, but we still need your help! If you ran an event during Taking Control and you haven't yet contacted us with the results, then please email kate@niacedc.org.uk or telephone 029 2037 0900 and help us evaluate the campaign.
Taking Control may be over but for 2007 we're only just beginning, as the push towards Adult Learners' Week begins in earnest.
Looking forward to Adult Learners' Week What are you planning for 19–26 May? Are you gearing up for Adult Learners' Week? Read on for latest news on special events and promotional support for your activities.
Adult Learners' Week is a great mix of national promotion and local action to celebrate adult learning and offer bite-size taster activities to encourage more people to pick up the learning habit.
Any time, any place, anywhere Just as long as it's in Adult Learners' Week! Adult Learners' Week is your chance to put your business on the map. Organise an activity in your community and you have an opportunity to tell local people all about what you do and how you can help them improve their lives through learning. Don't miss out!
What you do is up to you You might choose to badge existing activities under the Adult Learners' Week banner and make the most of the awareness raised by the festival, but it is better to devise something different and make it easier for your organisation to draw attention to itself.
Get your activity advertised for free Tell us about your activity and we'll promote it for you You could organise some bite-size tasters, you could hold an open day, capture attention with performances and displays, or hold a party. Whatever you decide to do, do join in, and tell us about what you are planning so that we can help to tell everyone else! Our multi-media campaign will cover TV, Radio, Festival Guides and Press supplements, as well as our interactive activities on our website.
Send us the details of your event and we'll include them in our Newspaper supplements, on our website and in our regional guides,free of charge! All you need to do is go to our website and add you details to our calendar of events. Alternatively you can email the details to steve@niacedc.org.uk, or just fill in the form below
Each of the boxes below MUST be filled in
Don't forget your own PR We are working to secure as much media coverage for Adult Learners' Week as possible. If you're intending to run an event then don't forget about your own press relations - there is a very good chance that you will get free editorial coverage in your local press or on your local radio.
Don't miss the deadline The deadline for inclusion in Newspaper Supplements and Regional Guides is 30 March.
Adult Learners' Week campaign update Help us make this year even more successful
Once again, we're going to get behind Adult Learners' week big-time with a pan-Wales advertising promotion. Full details of the activity will be revealed in our next issue. But, as usual, we need you help straight away.
Help us to help learners At NIACE Dysgu Cymru, we’re proud to orchestrate some of the most successful adult learning promotions in Wales. Last year alone, over 23,000 learners responded to our three campaigns – Taking Control in January, Adult Learners’ Week in May and Sign Up Season in August.
We need your help! But without the enormous help and support of our partners in the adult learning sector we couldn’t hope to achieve so much and we’re need your help again to make 2007 even more successful.
Do you know of any learners with ‘famous names’ to appear in our campaigns? We want to show how learning can help people get on famously in their lives. That’s why we’re launching our ‘Getting on famously’ learning campaign. We are scouring Wales for people with famous names and we want them to star in our TV commercials and advertising campaigns.
So do you have a Richard Burton, or a Ryan Giggs, or a Jonathon Davies learning with you?
If so, we want to hear from them. Please ask your ‘famous learner’ to e-mail steve@niacedc.org.uk or ring Steve on 029 2037 0900 for a chat.
We’ll then contact them to see if they would be happy to take part in our promotion. If they do, just think of the great PR opportunities for your organisation!
Search through our list of famous names To help, we have a list of some famous people. Do you know any learners who share the same names? Yes? Then get in touch now! Why not check some of these against your database and see if there are any on your books?
Themes and Focus Days for Adult Learners' Week Tie in your activity with a theme for added impact
This years Adult Learners' Week campaign will be focusing on specific themes and focus days. Each day has been assigned to an aspect of learning and are listed below:
Focus Days:
Saturday 19 May: Cultural Diversity Day
Tuesday 22 May: Day of Action for Learners (see below)
Thursday 24 May: Learning at Work Day
Friday 25 May: Silver Surfers' Day
Saturday 26 May: Family Learning Day
Throughout the week we will also be promoting a range of themes that concern all aspects of Adult Learning:
Themes
Learning and Health (links to Health Promotion Wales)
Learning through art and cultures (link to Museums & Galleries Month, languages)
Learning to Live Differently (links to environment, sustainability, globalisation)
Learning at and for Work (workforce development, economic inactivity, employability, vocational)
Skills for Life (basic skills, media literacy, financial literacy)
Learners' Green Day A community day of action – Tuesday 22 May
NIACE Dysgu Cymru, in conjunction with the Workers' Educational Association, Community Learning Wales and the Open College Network, are planning to coordinate the Day of Action for Learners during Adult Learners' Week.
This is an exciting new opportunity to generate more interest in learning throughout your local community. Global concerns about our environment have been hitting the headlines recently. But what is happening a local level? How is our environment being threatened?
And, more importantly, what can local people do to help improve the areas where they live? Learners' Green Day will give local people the chance to do something really worthwhile for the environment and learn new and interesting things along the way.
It will work like this. We are looking for our partners to team up with us to organise a series of Learners' Green Days. These days of action will focus on green issues that affect local communities.
Here is a list of some of the ideas we have had.
Local clean up:
Working together to clean up an area of green space
How to make a bench (learn woodwork, creative etc)
How to design leaflets to make community aware of the initiative (creative, DTP writing, etc)
Learning about wildlife on your doorstep
Educational wildlife walks and talks
How to make nest boxes
How to make bees boxes
Water conservation:
Clean up stream/river
How to save water
How to make rain collector for gardens
Learning about geology
Energy conservation:
How to saving energy and cut bills
Car sharing ideas/to and fro work
Cycling days out on bikes learning about the environment
Lessons on bike maintenance
Lessons on bike safety
Saving green space:
Links into heritage/history learning
Measuring green space lost over the years
Cartography: Studying Maps and archives
Identify areas of scientific interest in their area
Learning about green space in their area
These are just some of the ideas that we have had. We are sure you will have many more. Why not link up this day to your local Learning Festival if you feel you want to contribute to the development of your community.
Up to £1,000 for your event Learning Promotion Grants
If you have an idea for an event or a taster session during Adult Learners' Week then we'd like to hear from you! NIACE Dysgu Cymru have joined forces with the Arts Council for Wales to provide Learning Promotion Grants of up to £1,000. These are available to organisations for events that will help promote Adult Learning. Each year NIACE gives out in excess of £80,000 towards learning events and yours could be one of these.
Applying for a grant is simple, just go to www.alweek.org, for full details or to download an application form. Forms are also available by emailing kate@niacedc.org.uk or by telephone to 029 2037 0900.
Details can also be found on the Arts Council of Wales web page, www.artswales.org.uk
Don't miss the deadline The deadline for Learning Promotion Grant applications is 2 March.
Nominate your inspiring learner Adult Learner of the Year Award
We are now accepting nominations for the Inspire! Adult Learner of the year award 2007. A prestigious award that helps boosts the confidence of anyone who is entered. All applicants will receive a certificate of achievement with the winners invited to our Award Ceremony where they will presented with their prize.
A night to remember The ceremony for 2007 will once again take place in grand style in Cardiff on Thursday 24 May You can read previous winners stories or download a nomination form from the website www.alweek.org or by contacting Kate Brown on 029 2037 0900 or by email to kate@niacedc.org.uk
Don't miss the deadline The deadline for Learner Award nominations is 16 March 2007
A festival of Fun Learning Festivals bring colour and excitement to the streets
During Adult Learners' Week, NIACE Dysgu Cymru will be coordinating a number of Learning Festivals across Wales. Year on year, the popularity of the festivals has blossomed, but their continued success is dependent on you getting involved.
We rely on our partners to get together with other organisations in the community to make these festivals a success. The power of partnership really does work wonders, so please play your part.
We invite you to our next planning meeting Below is a list of the Learning Festival contacts across Wales. If you are not already engaged with your local learning festival, please e-mail the relevant contact below and/or Essex Havard on 029 2037 0900 (essex@niacedc.org.uk) for further information.
Do you know of a project, tutor or organisation that has helped adult learners or members of the community increase their understanding of global issues?
Nominations and entries are invited from any education/community programme in Wales that introduces a global perspective that addresses world inequalities and sustainability.
If you require any further information please contact Dominic Miles at Cyfanfyd on 029 2066 8999 or dominic@cyfanfyd.org.uk
Closing date: 28th March 2007
The Global Learning Award celebrates innovative learning opportunities for adults in Wales that develop knowledge, attitudes and skills for a global society. We are looking for projects and programmes that offer adults opportunities to explore how global issues affect local lives and how people can work together to achieve a more just and sustainable world.
What is the global dimension? There are several key concepts which help us clarify what the global dimension means:
Citizenship: getting the knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to become an informed, active, responsible global citizen.
Sustainable development: understanding the need to maintain and improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for future generations.
Social justice: understanding the importance of social justice as an element in both sustainable development and the improved welfare of all people.
Diversity: understanding and respecting differences and relating these to our common humanity.
Values and perceptions: developing a critical evaluation of images of the developing world and an appreciation of the effect these have on people's attitudes and values.
Interdependence: understanding how people, places and environments are all inextricably interrelated and that events have repercussions on a global scale.
Conflict resolution: understanding how conflicts are a barrier to development and why there is a need for their resolution and the promotion of harmony.
Human rights: knowing about human rights and understanding their breadth and universality.
Biodiversity: Understanding and respecting the whole variety of life on earth as part of our complex ecosystems and recognizing the need to protect these.
Corporate Social Responsibility: understanding the social, ethical and environmental impact of the activities of a business.
Who can apply? The award is open to tutors, organisations and institutions in Wales that can show evidence of incorporating a global perspective in their programmes. The winning project will be presented with an award and resources in a ceremony on 24th May 2007 during Adult Learners' Week.
If you know of a programme which has incorporated a global dimension effectively, why not encourage the project leaders to enter or nominate them yourself.
For more information and an application form, please download the Global Award flyer
Adult Learners’ Week, Sign Up Season and Taking Control are funded by The European Social Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government, and co-ordinated by NIACE Dysgu Cymru.
NIACE Dysgu Cymru is a membership organisation, run by an elected management group, representing all sectors bonded by a common focus on adult learners. A wide range of work is undertaken; advocacy, research and development, influencing policy, conferences, publications and staff development. For further information, visit our website.
Once again, we're going to get behind Adult Learners' week big-time with a pan-Wales advertising promotion. Full details of the activity will be revealed in our next issue. But, as usual, we need you help straight away.
We need your help!
So do you have a Richard Burton, or a Ryan Giggs, or a Jonathon Davies learning with you?
This years Adult Learners' Week campaign will be focusing on specific themes and focus days. Each day has been assigned to an aspect of learning and are listed below:
A night to remember
