TEACHING STAFF CELEBRATE MAKING THE GRADE

Eight members of staff have today been praised by leading training provider Alliance Learning in Lancashire for their commitment to improving teaching standards as they celebrate gaining their Professional Diplomas in Education.

The group of hard working employees, a mixture of Learning & Development Officers and Tutors, have dedicated the last two years to studying part-time for their qualification which is already bringing benefits to students completing their training through Alliance Learning.

Stuart Pilling, Mechanical Tutor at Alliance Learning, said:

"Studying towards the Professional Diploma in Education has been hard work but well worth all the effort. It was great that Alliance Learning allowed me to do the course and they supported me throughout. As a training organisation we are always trying to explain the benefits of training and professional development, so it was good to have the opportunity to practice what we preach.

"I've learnt a lot of new skills while completing my Diploma including finding more interactive and fun ways of delivering training and catering for individual learners' needs. I am certainly a much better teacher as a result of the course and I'm really enjoying putting my new skills into practice in the classroom which seems to be going down well with the students too!"

The Professional Diploma in Education was delivered in-house by a tutor from the University of Bolton who taught Alliance Learning staff for 3 hours every Friday.

The members of staff also completed various assignments in their spare time, along with carrying out over 150 hours of practical teaching which was observed and documented to ensure staff were meeting the high standards required of the qualification.

The newly qualified members of staff have been congratulated by Senior Management at Alliance Learning. Lynda Collison, Head of Work-Based Learning said:

"We're really proud of all eight members of staff who have completed the qualification while still working full-time and fitting in assignments and coursework around family and other commitments. The training they received has helped us make lots of changes to the way we deliver our training to students who pass through Alliance Learning and makes sure that we are up to date with new teaching practices."