The Healthy Schools Project at UCLan

Our second and third year sport studies students have been in the mist of the healthy schools project through March and April. This project has been set up by Sports Lecturer Christoper Neil Gunn and is designed to encourage school children to play sport and be active in line with sporting England strategies. It gives the children opportunity's to take part in sports that are new to them and also traditional ones for example, Frisbee, tag rugby orienteering and hand ball as the whole concept is to give them something new that they can then take with them to their schools.

We use the Sport centre here on campus as well as the arena and visit the schools for this project. It gives our students a chance to plan teaching lessons and the experience of working with lots of young children from year 3 to year 9 from different schools, ethnicity's and ability levels.

Second year students learn teaching and support with planning sessions and the variety of sports and environments that they are teaching in. Third year students gain opportunity to liaise with the schools and give observational feedback to the second year students. They get to manage the day which provides them experience with sport business management for marketing and PR.

One parent of a child from Euxton St Mary's primary school said "It's a good experience for the kids to be involved in with the university and they get one on one coaching with the students here. It also gets the kids out of the classroom and they get to enjoy some of the experiences of UCLan."

These days give students from UCLan experience working with young children and also gives the school children a good day here at UCLan.

After a successful day we received this email from a teacher from Preston Girls Muslim School saying "Thanks for all your hard work setting up the sports day inside at such a short notice and thank your team for their hard work, the year 7's loved it and had a really great day and cant wait to come back next year."

We look forward to carrying on this project and getting students and schools together in a positive way with thanks to all the staff and students who took part.

North Carolina State University visit UCLan

The UCLan and North Carolina State University exchange is now in its second year, students from NC State made a visit here to UCLan to experience our university and allows students and staff from both universities opportunities to experience how sport and education are delivered on both sides of the Atlantic.

On their trip they had a chance to visit some of the North West's landmarks such as our National Football museum in Manchester and the Lake District. They embraced a student social activity here at UCLan and also looked around our sporting facilities to fully experience our UCLan life. 

An in integral part of the trip is for students to present their research at the conference; this year we had a socio-political theme. Once again the students’ presentations were of a high standard and the calibre of discussions were a credit to both universities. 

UCLan extends partnership with Plas y Brenin

UCLan Outdoor students will continue to enjoy practical sessions with the UK's top provider of outdoor adventure activities, following confirmation of an exciting partnership between the University and Plas y Brenin.

After a successful trial period UCLan has teamed up with the National Mountain Sports Centre in North Wales, where they will help deliver selected courses over the next three years.

Outdoor Leadership and Adventure Sports Coaching students will benefit from the expertise of UCLan and Plas y Brenin staff as they tackle a diverse range of modules.

These will develop their practical, coaching and leadership skills via a range of activities including mountaineering, rock climbing, white water kayaking, sea kayaking, mountain biking and canoeing.

UCLan's Institute of Coaching and Performance will also work closely with Plas y Brenin on research projects, including understanding the judgement and decision making processes of experts in adventure sports that will help to influence the future development of the outdoor profession over the next decade.

UCLan Outdoors Senior Lecturer Loel Collins said: "We're very excited be in a position to maintain our relationship with the National Mountain Sports Centre. It's a partnership that reinforces UCLan and Plas y Brenin as leaders in the field of development in this sector.

Dave Cheetham, Marketing Manager for Plas y Brenin, added: "We're over the moon to be working with UCLan's students and their staff, and we hope it will be a relationship that extends long into the future.

"UCLan is committed to helping its students achieve and surpass their goals, and to helping them convert their learning into rewarding careers in the outdoors. We're convinced Plas y Brenin can play a significant part in helping them do that.

"Alongside top-class coaching, world-class facilities and state-of-the-art-equipment, the students will also have the benefit of being immersed in the exciting and inspiring world of a National Sports Centre, surrounded by high performance athletes, coaches and enthusiasts all eager to help.

"They'll share time with many of the country's most successful climbers, paddlers and riders, and have the opportunity to communicate directly with decision makers from the governing bodies of those sports.

"With input from the best in the business at UCLan and Plas y Brenin, these students will enjoy the best foundation for a career in the outdoor industry."

SSTO Graduation 2015

On behalf of everyone in the school I'd like to congratulate you on your Graduation Day.

You've all put in a huge amount of time and effort and today is about celebrating your fantastic achievements. I hope you're all proud of what you've achieved and your families are too.

I feel particularly proud of what many of you have contributed to our local community during your time with us, either through course work or simply volunteering.

Across the whole school this year we've raised huge amounts of money for local and international charities - thank you for helping to make a difference.

Please keep in touch with us and follow our social media feeds. We'd love to hear what you're up to in the future and about your future successes. Good luck with whatever you're doing – enjoy your day, you've earned it.

Dr Adrian Ibbetson, Head of School.

SSTO welcomes college partners

Students continue to make a difference at Green Gecko

Students from the SSTO's Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management programmes have raised around £5,000 for a children's charity in South East Asia.

As part of a final year module the students organised a series of events ahead of a life-changing trip to Cambodia to visit the Green Gecko Project - a school for disadvantaged children.

The trip helps students enhance their learning in a developing country, whilst gaining personal and professional skills by volunteering at Green Gecko.

The group also experienced the rich culture and diversity Cambodia has to offer by visiting various tourist attractions, including the famous Temples of Angkor.

Dr Philip Stone accompanied the students during the trip. He said: "This was my first visit to Cambodia and the Green Gecko Project and I left with an overwhelming sense of the warmth and hospitality of the Khmer people.

"The contribution of the staff at the project to the children and their immediate families was also amazing to see. I was delighted our students had the opportunity to add a very positive contribution during their visit. I know they thoroughly enjoyed the experience which will stay with them as they graduate and beyond.

"The trip was a huge success, largely thanks to Pete McGrath's meticulous planning, leadership and organisation of the module, as well as students' engagement in teaching and learning at Green Gecko."

This year's total takes the overall amount raised by SSTO students to over £43,000 – cementing the school's commitment to making a difference to society. Student James Price said the trip has inspired him to consider a possible career in education.

"My time in Cambodia was an eye-opening experience that I'll never forget," said James. "I saw some amazing sights and made some brilliant friends. Green Gecko was my highlight - being with the children and teaching them new skills was incredible. This experience made me think a career in teaching is the way forward."

Abi Housley added: "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of the trip and meet the Gecko kids - it really has been one of the best experiences of my life to date.

"People keep asking me how it was, but there really are no words to describe my feelings. All I know is I will definitely be going back there one day."

To view a selection of images from the trip please click here.

SSTO develops international programmes

Louisa Jones has been jetting across the globe to promote SSTO courses to international students at a variety of partner institutions.

In her role as Principal Lecturer Quality Assurance & Partnership, Louisa travelled to Cyprus, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore to oversee our provision of a variety of programmes.

These included Tourism, Hospitality & Event (THE) Management courses, along with our newly-introduced Sports Science offering.

Louisa spent time discussing opportunities for new collaborations, conducted interactive sessions with students and worked with staff from other UCLan course areas including Journalism and Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences.

She also attended Graduation ceremonies, networked with numerous external academics and chaired a course approval meeting at Hebei University, China.

During her tour Louisa checked on the progress of Hospitality Management students currently undertaking international internships, whilst the penultimate destination on her itinerary saw her greeted at Westin Xiamen Hotel by THE Alumni Martin Verpoorten, who is the General Manager.

Louisa commented: "Our overseas portfolio of courses is a key part of SSTO's continued commitment to offering a truly international experience to its students. The various partner institutions do an excellent job in delivering these to help create the global citizens of the future.

"It was nice to see how some of our Alumni have progressed in their respective industries and also to witness the progress of our current students undertaking internships. Hopefully they will use this experience as a springboard into successful careers after graduation."