1. Support for managers

The third free workshop in the Netskills/NIACE ACL managers' programme, "Learning Platforms for Adult and Community Learning", has been arranged for Manchester University on Tuesday 13th September. Further details can be found here:
http://www.netskills.ac.uk/workshops/forthcoming.html
Hurry, places are limited!

NIACE is currently planning further support during 2005-06 for senior and other managers involved with the ILT enhancements in teaching and learning for their LEA. Many of you will have had further feedback from NIACE, on the way in which the individual elements within some LEAs e-Learning strategies that need a little further development will be supported in order for them to meet NLN requirements.

Managers should all have had an invite, from NIACE, to respond to a call for Expression of Interest in Strategic e-Learning Consultancy. The consultancy offered will ensure that any e-learning developments agreed with an organisation are linked to that organisation's Development Plan and its strategic goals.

The first phase of consultancy will be delivered in 2005/06 and NIACE hopes to secure funding to extend the process byond 2006. Therefore, if you are interested in benefiting from the consultancy but are considering engaging with the process after 2006, you are advised to express an interest now as part of this call.

All expressions of interest must have been received by NIACE by the deadline of 12 noon on 23 September 2005. The completed documentation should be submitted to: Emily Bowman, Niace, 4th Floor, Enkalon House, 92 Regent Road, Leicester LE1 7PE.

If Managers have any queries concerning this opportunity, please contact Eta De Cicco by email (eta.decicco@niace.org.uk).

2. Final e-Guide initial training sessions

The final two courses for initial e-Guide training will be taking place this autumn - for the Northwest in October/November with final day in December. Dates and venues are on the aclearn site on the e-Guide section. As e-Guides are mentioned specifically in the ‘Harnessing Technology' strategy as having a key role in staff development for the future, it will be an advantage to each LEA to have as many trained as possible. If your LEA has not yet taken up its full number of places, now is the time to book.

As advance notice, there will be a major e-Guide conference next year, for those of you who are alread trained, on the 1st and 2nd of March.

Further information about the e-Guides event and programme is available by emailing eguidestsu@niace.org.uk

3 Building upon the e-Guide Programme

NIACE is planning to offer two further development opportunities for ACL providers: -

1. grants worth £5000 each for providers to develop methods of mentoring practitioners in e-learning developments, including exploring online peer support as a method of cascading training;
2. grants worth £2000 each to support subject specific events in order to share best practice in the use of e-learning within specific curriculum areas.

If you are interested in any of these, please email Angela Wood.

Also see Funding and Resources above. Connectivity for the ACL Services in the Northwest are moving forward; at the RSC we have equipment ready for instalation in nine of our Local Authorities. If you wish to keep up to date with connectivity issues and JANET then click on the UKERNA logo, on the left, and the ACL section of UKERNA's Website will open. ACL specific updates are available on this page via a menu positioned on the right hand side. For further details please email John Dalziel or Keith Wilson at the RSC-Northwest or Robert Prabucki at UKERNA.

With the new system for recognising and recording progress and achievement in non-accredited learning coming into effect from September 2005, the July edition of Chips with Everything, NIACE's general newsletter about Post-16 e-Learning Project activities, was about the use of technology to aid the implementation of RARPA. I have copies if any of you have not seen this issue.
You can read more about RARPA at: http://www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Partners/PolicyandDevelopment/AdultandCommunity/welcome_rarpa.htm

These multimedia materials are being developed in the following curriculum areas: ESOL; Family Learning; Modern Foreign Languages; and Learning to Learn. A pre-release CD-ROM with example material will be available with the September issue of Chips with Everything. If you are an e-Guide you should have had a copy already and for those who can't wait I have a few copies; requests by email.

The full sets of materials will be subject to a staged release over the next 12 months.

As Managers and e-Guides who like the opportunity to meet and engage with other colleagues across the Northwest, pencil the Christmas Market in your diary. It is a one day event taking place on 12 December 2005 at Woodlands Conference Centre, Chorley. Further information, booking forms and programme will be available on our Website when they become available. In the meantime if you want more information email Benita Wiseman at the RSC.