Gower College visits New Zealand

Constance Henry is an Essential Skills Practitioner at Gower College, Swansea. In February 2023, she undertook a Taith-funded staff visit to the Universal College of Learning in New Zealand, to learn about their provision of digital training, with a specific focus on resources for learners with additional learning needs.

What were your aims and objectives for the visit?

When I was looking for a project, I had three main initiatives in mind:

I wanted to work with an organisation which focused on additional learning needs and an institution which had that high on its agenda. UCOL was one of just three institutions within the Southern hemisphere to have a dyslexia-friendly quality mark, so I wanted to see how that came about, what processes they took, the impact it’s had, and what it’s done for their learners.
My work includes a lot of staff digital training, so I really wanted to see an organisation which looks at doing that and develops their staff from within. I got to work with their digital learning teams to see how they’ve been doing that.
Looking at how they’ve developed after COVID with their blended learning approach and the key skills they’ve learnt for remote learning.

Did you meet these aims?

Yes, I managed do all of that. I learned lots about the dyslexia friendly quarter marks. I’m working with the neurodiversity team, to implement some of these changes along with training using Microsoft educator and Made by Dyslexia to help raise awareness.

Two men and two women standing in front of two banners, smiling at the camera.

Were there any additional impacts as a result of the visit?

Yes, lots actually. Not only did my confidence increase , but I also developed my communication skills. I think sometimes you can have a bit of imposter syndrome and wonder ‘do I really deserve to be here?’ ‘Do I know enough?’ But to find out that I had skills and abilities, so I could share my knowledge with them and not just learn from them, well that really did increase my confidence

A woman smiling and holding up a booklet 'Dyslexia Voice'

Why do you think international experiences are important for education staff in Wales?

I think it’s the sharing of best practice and ideas. Finding other organisations which are doing things extremely well and the learning from them is key, because then we can bring them back and disseminate it, not just within our own organisations and our staff training, but also spread it further afield by doing workshops, seminars and conferences and being able to pass on that learning.

I think it’s fantastic for people working in education. There’s a lot of learning of different viewpoints and ideas, which you don’t really get as much if you’re just looking internally in Wales. Taith opens up the doors to worldwide opportunities and it is so beneficial.

Would you have any advice to organisations or individuals in Wales who are thinking about getting involved with Taith or applying for funding?

Definitely do it. If you’re thinking about it and you’re on the fence, I would go for it because the opportunities are worldwide; there are so many different things out there. There are so many things that you can learn from people and from organisations, so it’s such a good opportunity to learn, share best practice and grow as staff and as a learner.

Make sure that if you’re looking for a project, see what aligns with your areas of interest, what you can bring back, what is going to have the biggest impact on your institution or your learners, and do the research to find out where those gaps are- I spent weeks and weeks deciding on the best place that I could possibly go to and try to hit all the criteria. A lot of research then goes into that and makes it easier because you don’t want to just be having non-specific learnings- I think that’s really key.