Adult Learners’ Week Awards for 2009 are now open
Updates | Monday August 04th, 2008As you will know, The Learning and Skills Council, as part of their campaign ‘Your Life in Your Hands’ advocating learning at work, says to employers……..
‘If your staff don’t have the right skills for the future then neither does your business.
It may not seem an obvious link but Adult Learners’ Week nominations support this statement by celebrating the success of employees (and their employers) from the widest of fields to encourage more learning at work to take place.
In the West Midlands this year almost every winner of an Adult Learners’ Week award did so because of their personal effort and the time taken to improve their employability, or to enhance the skills of their staff. Bob Lawrence, Director of the West Midlands Wildlife Park, having worked in the ‘wildlife industry’ for 35 years, won the national Learning Works award for encouraging his staff to improve their qualifications but also for putting into practice what he was preaching. He studied for his degree after a 12 hour shift in the Park every day. Robert Galloway was celebrated for his efforts on moving from a truck driver to an archaeologist, Clare Harris was a cleaner and is now a classroom assistant heading nicely towards being a teacher and Isiah Williams, having started off as a DJ and street seller, found his niche working for the Youth Justice Board in Coventry and has successfully passed his Professional Certificate in Effective Practice.