TS14 Guisborough bloggers

Wish is back for 2011!

2011-09-14T07:15:29Z

Wish is back for 2011! We are once again giving not for the profit organisations in Teesside the chance to receive a share of an amazing £50,000. Plus if you register by midnight, this Friday, September 16 you will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a fundraising night at Sporting Lodge. Log on to www.gazettelive.co.uk/wish to register now. Terms & conditions apply.

Milling demonstration at Tocketts Mill

2011-08-23T06:57:04Z

A MILLING demonstration at fully restored Victorian Watermill, will take place, on Sunday, August 28, and Monday, August 29, from 2-4pm, at Tocketts Mill - a mile outside Guisborough on the A173 Skelton road. Guided tours are available and local grain will be ground to produce wholemeal flour. Admission is £1.50 for adults, £1 for OAPs and children 25p.

National research puts Prior Pursglove in the top 10% of Colleges

2011-07-13T06:04:33Z

Prior Pursglove College has been named as the top college in the area for its success rate in getting students to university.

The college rates highly in a national report of independent research by the Sutton Trust, which was released on Friday, putting them in the top ten per cent of all colleges in England.

When compared to the other colleges in this region, Prior Pursglove came out on top for the exam points that their students achieve, the percentage of students accepted into university and the percentage of students accepted into a leading university including: Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Newcastle, York, Leeds and Edinburgh.

Robert Grierson, Vice Principal said: "It is fantastic that Prior Pursglove is performing so well. We are delighted that we have such outstanding progression to universities, particularly as we are an open access college, giving students from all walks of life the same chances to be successful.
We are immensely proud that this independent research validates what we have always known, that Prior Pursglove is the best place in the area for getting students to university."

The research was taken over a period of three years of UK students aged 18 and 19.

Student voice matters at Prior Pursglove

2011-07-06T08:40:39Z

Prior Pursglove College has been recognised as the most improved college in the country for their dedication to listening to their students.

The college beat hundreds of entries to achieve the national Leading the Learner Voice Award in the category of 'Most Improved Provider' for the progress they have made with raising the profile of Student Voice in college during the course of this year. The awards were presented by Dame Ruth Silver DBE at a special ceremony in London last week.

Judy Burton, Principal said: "Winning this LSIS award for being the most improved college is a tremendous accolade, which we are all thrilled about. Having students actively involved in so many aspects of college life makes Prior Pursglove an even better place to be, and enriches students' experience of being at college. I am delighted that the huge progress we have made during the last year has been publically recognised in this way."

Organised by the national Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) in partnership with the National Union of Students, the Leading the Learner Voice Awards attracted more entries this year than they have in previous years, making the competition even tougher.

Andrea Booth, Student Liaison Officer said: "The Students' Union here at Prior Pursglove has been fantastic this year, working tirelessly to improve the college experience for their fellow students and I think the judges were impressed with their efforts. The students continue to talk to the management about college issues, organise fun events, lobby the local council and generally get the Learner Voice heard and the college continues to support them. I enjoyed attending the ceremony in London to collect the award on behalf of the college."

Kirstie Kohling Student Manager said: "As a college we are absolutely delighted to have achieved this national award. Both Andrea and myself are privileged to have worked so closely with students and staff and it shows just what can be achieved when we share our ideas and work together. This just the start of even greater things to come at Prior Pursglove and we are looking forward to another great year next year."

Darlington Building Society Supports Cash for Kids Appeal

2010-12-15T16:11:13Z

Darlington Building Society, the region's only local building society, has become a Partner in the Annual TFM Radio & Magic 1170's Appeal aimed at benefiting children aged between 0 and 17 living in real poverty within Tees Valley, County Durham and North Yorkshire.

The Society is uniquely placed to act as a dropping off point for toys and gifts, which should be new and unwrapped and will be picked up on behalf of the Appeal after 17 December.ÃÂ Darlington Building Society has 13 branches throughout the region and all of them are participating in this event.

The Annual Christmas Appeal is now in its 13th year and last year it raised ÃÂ£380,000 worth of toys and gifts and benefited 10,902 children.ÃÂ This year the target to benefit even more children.

Karen Watson, Customer Service Assistant at the Society's Guisborough branch said, "We encourage our customers, old and new, to come along to our branch and either donate a Christmas gift or make a cash donation.ÃÂ This is an excellent cause and we hope that the generosity of our customers will help the Appeal reach its target of benefiting more than 10,000 local children".

Prior Pursglove College law students set the bar high in regional competition

2010-12-07T08:37:30Z

Law students at Prior Pursglove College, Guisborough, have something to celebrate after returning victorious from the regional heats of the Citizenship Foundation National Mock Trial Competition held in Leeds.

The A level students defeated 11 other schools and colleges in the North to gain their place in the national finals which will be held in Belfast next year.

The competition sees students take on the roles of barristers, witnesses, court staff and jurors and act out cases against other colleges in front of senior members of The Bar and Judges.

Now in its 20th successful year, the competition involves over 2,000 students, 300 barristers/advocates and 90 judges from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

After beating York College and Greenhead College, the contest turned into a close one when the students faced Ripon Grammar in the final before being declared as the winning team, an announcement met by ecstatic cheers causing the judge to call order!

The students are now preparing to head to Belfast for the National Finals in March which will see them compete against the 15 other regional winners.

They will be presenting their cases before senior judges at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, a truly remarkable opportunity.

Student Jemma Lane, 19, from Saltburn, said: "It was an amazing day, I loved the experience and we had a brilliant team to get us to the nationals."

Matthew Cawley, 17, from Skelton, said: "The competition gave me a good insight into how it feels to advocate and has inspired me to work even harder at college so that I can go on and get a Law degree. The whole team are really looking forward to representing the college in a national competition."

This has been the icing on the cake for a great week for Law at Prior Pursglove College.

The Law Society has recently held a Law Conference with guest speakers representing legal education and the work of the legal profession.

The students were able to gain a valuable insight into the training involved in becoming a lawyer and the reality of practising as either a solicitor or barrister.

Law teacher Vicky Howarth said: "I am privileged to work with such a fantastic bunch of students.

They have worked so hard with the little time they have available to meet as a team and what shone on the day was their ability to think on their feet and to work as a team.

I am incredibly proud of all of them and thrilled that I have been able to help them experience this fantastic opportunity.

The Nationals have been won by teams from the North East for the past three years and I see no reason why a team from the North East cannot do it again!"

Prior Pursglove College sports students are Higher Sports Leaders

2010-11-03T08:20:57Z

Sports students at Prior Pursglove College have been learning what it's like to coach people with disabilities in a variety of different disciplines.

15 second year students have been selected to be the first ever students at Prior Pursglove to study the Higher Sports Leader Award, a new qualification at the College. This level three coaching badge involves a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer coaching in the community, with children, older people and people with disabilities.

Tom Burke, Senior Co-ordinator for Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community ran a workshop for the students over a three week period where they looked in depth at disability sports, in particular blind football. They were shown a number of different warm up and main activity games that they could use to help them deliver a session to a group of disabled children or young adults. The students were also shown how to differentiate each lesson to help meet the needs of their group such as coaching for amputees.

PE teacher at Prior Pursglove College, Alison Laws said: "The students will be putting their skills into practise by helping to run a range of events across the area, from Sportability events at Eston to working in some local primary and secondary schools teaching PE lessons. Four students have also completed a Wheelchair Basketball Leaders Award and are now hoping to help at the Change4Life Wheelchair Basketball Club starting at Laurence Jackson School in near future.
"The practical sessions they have done with Tom have been extremely helpful to the group and given them an understanding of coaching people with disabilities."

Tom Burke said: "Considering the students have never seen anything from this category before, their enthusiasm was fantastic and they also had some great ideas on how to create some new games. They definitely showed great qualities of a very good leader and I would certainly recommend anyone to take part on this course in the future."

Prior Pursglove College logo makes its football dÃÂ©but

2010-11-03T08:15:23Z

Following the launch of their new logo, Prior Pursglove College, Guisborough, has sponsored a local football team; their new logo now appearing on the front of the team's training kit.

The college are the proud sponsors of Nunthorpe Athletic FC, who play in the Teesside League Division One and were looking to upgrade their kits but needed some help to do so. Since getting their new kit, the team has only lost once in 11 games.

Dave Johnston, 25, from Marton, has played for Nunthorpe Athletic for the past three years. He said: "We thought this would be a great opportunity for the college to get their new logo noticed, especially given the good link between the team and the college, as we have used the Pursglove Leisure facilities on numerous occasions for training sessions."

Since its official launch last month, the new college logo has been very well received both internally and externally.

Prior Pursglove College encourages the public to take advantage of their excellent Health and Fitness programme offered at the Pursglove Centre. Youngsters can enjoy Soft Play facilities on a Saturday morning while adults have options such as Pilates, Zumba or courts for private use. We also offer an excellent variety of children's parties. For further details please contact the Pursglove Centre on 01287 280260.

Guisborough Photo Group meet weekly

2010-10-07T08:03:44Z

New to Photography, Interested in Photography or just trying to get back into it then Guisborough Photo Group could be the club for you. We Meet at the Methodist Church Hall, Westgate, Guisborough, at 7:15pm Each Thursday Night. For members Thursday, October 7, is results of our first competition

Elite Project leads to apprenticeship success

2010-10-05T14:10:57Z

25 students who successfully completed the Elite Project at Prior Pursglove College, Guisborough have been hired by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council on an apprenticeship scheme.

They have been given the chance to further their training by completing level one and two NVQ courses and in-house training depending on the needs and skills of the individual during their one and two year contracts.

All of them took the opportunity to improve their chances of employment by joining the Elite Project - a programme run by Prior Pursglove College for 16-19 year-olds designed to help them get back into education, training or employment.

Activities on the programme are fun and varied, giving young people the opportunity to develop team building, communication and work related skills in a very flexible environment.

There is also the opportunity to work towards certificates in English and Maths and take part in residential trips and outdoor activities. High street vouchers are given as incentives on achieving realistic goals.

The students were then given an interview with Redcar and Cleveland Council where they stood out to be of a high standard.

After doing a BTEC course in Civil Engineering, Ashley Eddon, 19, from Guisborough had found it extremely difficult to get a job in construction due to the ever decreasing job market.

He said: "I'd never heard about the Elite until I was recommended it by a neighbour but it was a great chance for me to re-train as my career in construction was not working out. If I hadn't done the Elite project I wouldn't have had the opportunity at the council and it has changed my life massively because I've got great prospects ahead of me now." Ashley is now a Health and Safety apprentice.

Clare John, 20, from Grangetown was also looking for a career change after completing an AS level in Health and Social Care and beginning a job that she wasn't enjoying. She is currently doing well in her role as Learning and Development apprentice "The staff at Prior Pursglove were really helpful with preparing me for the interview and it really boosted my confidence. I got some great experience doing the Elite Project and it was a huge benefit that I ended up with a job at the end of it."

Kaylum Hunt, 18, from Redcar was classed as NEET (not in education, employment or training) for a year and a half before he did the Elite Project and was claiming job seekers allowance whilst he was looking for work in the hard times of the recession. He is now a Management Information Technology apprentice. He said: "I'd recommend the Elite Project, it's a great opportunity and helps you to believe in yourself and that you can succeed. Even if you don't get taken on at the end of it you are still walking away with a better chance than you had before."

"The experience you get by doing an interview is well worth taking part in the Elite Project," agreed Nichola Coldbeck, 19, from Southbank, who has an apprenticeship in HR.

All four young people are hoping to stay with the council once they have completed their training contract.

Paul Healy, HR Projects Officer at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said: "We are really pleased with the calibre of this year's group. Unfortunately the word NEET (not in education, employment or training) does not portray a very positive image, however, these four young people's abilities are of a high standard and we are pleased to have them on our apprenticeship scheme."

If you would like to find out more about the Elite Project, contact Anne Donovan at Prior Pursglove College on 01287 280250 or visit www.pursglove.ac.uk

Prior Pursglove College is positive about disabled people

2010-09-24T15:17:27Z

Prior Pursglove College, Guisborough is very pleased to announce they have successfully achieved recognition of their positive policies and practices towards the employment of people with disabilities.

They can now proudly display the two ticks disability symbol which shows the college's commitment to employing disabled people.

The college worked closely with Jobcentre Plus to ensure they adhered to the policies and practices of the disability symbol's commitments. These include guaranteeing an interview for all disabled applicants who meet minimum criteria for a job vacancy, consulting disabled employees regularly to make sure they can develop and use their abilities and to make every effort to retain employees if they become disabled.

Prior Pursglove aims to be a truly inclusive sixth form college which is open to all sections of the local community. They have worked to develop the appropriate level of disability awareness within the workplace needed to make the disability symbol's commitments work.

Principal Judy Burton said: "At Prior Pursglove we have always prided ourselves on our welcoming and inclusive approach to our staff. We believe that all should have the opportunity to flourish, regardless of personal disability, and we take steps to ensure that individuals receive the personal support that they need."

Paul Freeman, Disability Employment Adviser for Jobcentre Plus said: "Achieving the disability symbol will now enable Prior Pursglove College to openly display its commitment towards the recruitment, retention, training and career development of people with disabilities. The application was of a high standard and fulfilled all the criteria required."

Any other employer wanting to find out more about the disability symbol can contact Paul Freeman, Disability Employment Adviser, Jobcentre Plus on 07795801240

From Student to Teacher

2010-09-22T09:14:58Z

For mum of four Paula Bullock, deciding to take up a part time course at Prior Pursglove College may have been the best decision she's ever made.

Her success on the course has led to more than she was ever expecting and she has now been employed by the college to be a tutor.

Paula began the Health and Social Care NVQ level three last September at her local learning venue in Loftus. She had previously worked in the care industry for North Yorkshire Council and Heritage Health Care in Guisborough, whilst also having some time away from work to look after her four children.

Having started work at 18, Paula had not studied for some time, however, from the first week into the course she threw herself into learning and with the help of her tutor Lisa Turnbull she was soon exceeding her expectations. Lisa saw her potential as a teacher and recommended she started teacher training.

"I have always enjoyed working in the care industry and helping people but it wasn't until I took the course with Prior Pursglove that I realised teaching others is actually something I really want to do." says Paula.

"It wasn't something that I'd ever thought about until Lisa suggested it. Now I hope that I can help others by giving them the confidence to go on and further their careers."

"The adult courses at Prior Pursglove are very friendly and there is always plenty of support if you need it. For me, one of the other benefits was that I could study close to home rather than travel into the college. Lisa has been fantastic in giving me the support and confidence I needed to do this."

Lisa Turnbull, Health and Social Care teacher and programme co-ordinator said: "Health and Social Care is such a growing industry that Prior Pursglove has greatly increased its provision within the community. The NVQ is an excellent qualification which can lead to a variety of jobs in the care and support area."

"When Paula joined the course she was working in the care sector but had not recognised her abilities and potential to further her career, which is common when people first take up an adult course. However, like Paula, many people often grow and develop into other areas and many adults go on to higher education after taking the NVQ course."

Paula is now teaching Health and Social Care NVQ level two and three at Loftus, Guisborough and Tees Valley. The course involves a small placement within the care sector which Paula will also be giving her students advice and guidance on.

Lisa adds: "The nature of the NVQ qualifications means that Prior Pursglove has been able to forge excellent working relationships with outreach partners such as Sure Start Centres and other Health and Social Care employers in the area who have been extremely supportive."

The Health and Social care courses run at Prior Pursglove College on Tuesdays at 3-4.30pm level two and 4.30-6pm level three. It is also offered in outreach centres in Loftus, Marske, Saltburn, Redcar, Ormesby and a variety of locations in the Stockton area.

Courses are still enrolling and students don't need any previous experience, if you are interested contact Lisa Turnbull at Prior Pursglove College on 01287 280800.

Milling demonstration at Tocketts Mill

2010-09-20T12:08:22Z

To mark the end of season at the restored Victorian Watermill at Tocketts Mill, Guisborough, there will be a milling demonstration on Sunday September 26 between 2pm-4pm.

There is plenty to interest children and adults alike. Tocketts Mill is 1 mile outside Guisborough on A173 Skelton road. Admission: Adults ÃÂ£1.50; OAP's ÃÂ£1;
children 25p, but must be accompanied by an adult.

The White Rose Singers at St Nicholas Parish Church

2010-09-13T07:54:09Z

THE White Rose Singers offer a Musical Harvest autumnal musical event at St Nicholas Parish Church, Guisborough, on behalf of Save the Children, on Saturday September 18, at 7.30pm. Tickets at ÃÂ£7 include a glass of wine and are available from Nancy Webb on 01287 633850, or Greensleeves Music Shop, on Chaloner Street in Guisborough on 01287 636028.

Sherman Robertson playing at Guisborough RnB Club

2010-09-02T14:27:39Z

Sherman Robertson playing at Guisborough R.N.B.Club, Guisborough Town Football Club, Howlbeck Road, Guisborough on September 11.

Tickets ÃÂ£14, doorsopen 8pm. Contact Kath and Ralph 01287 634365

TS14 Guisborough bloggers

Wish is back for 2011!

Milling demonstration at Tocketts Mill

National research puts Prior Pursglove in the top 10% of Colleges

Student voice matters at Prior Pursglove

Darlington Building Society Supports Cash for Kids Appeal

Prior Pursglove College law students set the bar high in regional competition

Prior Pursglove College sports students are Higher Sports Leaders

Prior Pursglove College logo makes its football dÃÂ©but

Guisborough Photo Group meet weekly

Elite Project leads to apprenticeship success

Prior Pursglove College is positive about disabled people

From Student to Teacher

Milling demonstration at Tocketts Mill

The White Rose Singers at St Nicholas Parish Church

Sherman Robertson playing at Guisborough RnB Club

Prior Pursglove College logo makes its football dÃÂ©but