This half day or whole day course is designed to support both novice and experienced trustees in providing effective governance within their organisations. It considers their roles and responsibilities in general before looking at particular areas in more detail. The half day course covers all the essential information; the whole day session includes specific exercises and case studies to develop the participants’ problem-solving skills.
Summary This half day course is designed to help managers and supervisors understand the causes of poor behaviour and look at different strategies for dealing with this. The course can be run as a one-off session or can be incorporated into a series of sessions on managing staff. Alternatively it could be increased to a day-long course with participant’s role playing different scenarios in the afternoon. For voluntary and community organisation participants the course could include dealing with difficult volunteers as well as paid staff.
In some organisations appraisals are seen as an annual chore that has to be undertaken and neither the manager nor the staff gain any real benefit from it. This half day course is designed to help managers appraise their staff effectively so that both parties develop more insight, motivation and a better understanding of each other. It will help participants work with their staff to create work plans that are effective and realistic. This course can be run as a one-off session or as part of a series of sessions on staff management.
This half day course is designed to help participants in the voluntary and community sector to monitor and evaluate the work of their organisation effectively and ensure that their working practices are robust and fit for purpose. It can also be relevant to those staff in statutory agencies who work on community projects.
This half day or whole day course is designed around a project planning workbook that will provide participants with questions and practical advice to ensure that a project is well thought-out and practical, with clear aims and objectives. It will also help to ensure that if you are applying for project funding that you have answers to all the likely questions you will be asked. The half day course will cover the basics and ensure that the most important areas of project planning are addressed. The course could be extended to a whole day, covering all the areas and offering time for participants to complete the majority of the work book. The course would be suitable for anyone who is planning a project or who needs to re-focus a project that is not working effectively.
This half day course is designed for voluntary and community organisations and those involved in community development who need to write funding applications and want to ensure that their bids are clear, focussed and meet the funders’ criteria.
This half day course provides participants with the knowledge and skills to write a simple but effective business plan for their organisation. It considers aspects of why business planning is important, what background research is needed, what subject areas to include and how to monitor progress against the business plan. For in-house courses the session could be extended to a whole day with participants spending the afternoon working on a first draft of a business plan.
A step-by-step guide for Dragon users.
Course Duration: 8 weeks (40 sessions) Course Objectives: By the end of this course, participants will: 1. Communicate effectively and confidently in English in various contexts. 2. Expand vocabulary and improve grammar usage. 3. Develop listening skills to understand a variety of accents and speech patterns. 4. Enhance reading comprehension skills for different types of texts. 5. Write accurately and coherently for different purposes. Course Outline: Week 1: Introduction and Assessment - Introduction to course objectives, expectations, and immersion techniques - Assessing participants' current English proficiency levels - Establishing individual learning goals and expectations Week 2: Speaking and Listening Skills - Developing conversational skills through role-plays, pair work, and group discussions - Listening activities to improve comprehension of different accents and speech speeds - Pronunciation drills and practice for accurate and fluent speech Week 3: Vocabulary Expansion - Building a wide range of vocabulary through contextualised exercises and activities - Strategies for effective vocabulary acquisition and retention - Vocabulary practice in various themes and topics Week 4: Grammar Review and Practice - Reviewing essential grammar structures and rules - Practice exercises and activities for applying grammar rules in context - Error correction and clarification of common grammar mistakes Week 5: Reading Comprehension - Developing reading skills through authentic texts, articles, and short stories - Strategies for improving reading speed and comprehension - Identifying main ideas, supporting details, and inferred meanings Week 6: Writing Skills - Improving writing skills for different purposes: emails, letters, reports, etc. - Practice exercises for organizing ideas, structuring paragraphs, and coherent writing - Peer editing and feedback for enhancing writing proficiency Week 7: Real-Life Simulations - Simulating real-life situations such as job interviews, meetings, and social interactions - Role-plays and interactive activities for practical application of language skills - Building confidence and fluency in using English in authentic contexts Week 8: Review and Final Evaluation - Reviewing course content and addressing individual needs - Comprehensive review exercises for all language skills - Final evaluation and feedback session Note: This syllabus serves as a guideline and can be customised based on the specific needs, interests, and proficiency levels of the participants. The course may also include cultural immersion activities and field trips to enhance the language learning experience. You can opt in and out of different modules.
This course aims to assist adult learners in improving their pronunciation skills and reducing their accents to enhance their overall communication in English. Through a variety of exercises and activities, participants will focus on specific sounds, stress patterns, intonation, and rhythm to develop clearer and more fluent speech. Course Duration: 10 weeks (20 sessions) Course Objectives: By the end of this course, participants will: 1. Identify and produce accurate sounds, stress patterns, and intonation in English. 2. Develop awareness of their own pronunciation challenges and strategies for improvement. 3. Reduce their native accent to improve overall intelligibility. 4. Enhance their listening skills and ability to distinguish between different sounds. 5. Increase their confidence in spoken English communication. Course Outline: Week 1: Introduction to Pronunciation and Accent Reduction - Assessing participants' pronunciation strengths and areas for improvement - Understanding the importance of pronunciation in effective communication - Introduction to key concepts: sounds, stress, intonation, and rhythm Week 2: Vowel Sounds - Identifying and producing English vowel sounds - Practice exercises and drills for accurate vowel pronunciation - Common pronunciation challenges and strategies for improvement Week 3: Consonant Sounds - Identifying and producing English consonant sounds - Focus on challenging consonant sounds and their correct articulation - Practice exercises and drills for accurate consonant pronunciation Week 4: Word Stress and Sentence Stress - Understanding the concept of stress and its role in English pronunciation - Practice exercises for placing stress on the correct syllables in words and sentences - Intonation patterns in different sentence types Week 5: Rhythm and Linking - Developing a sense of rhythm in English speech - Practice exercises for linking words together and maintaining flow - Awareness of connected speech phenomena Week 6: Intonation Patterns - Recognizing and producing different intonation patterns in English - Practice exercises for conveying meaning through intonation - Intonation in questions, statements, and emotions Week 7: Pronunciation of Commonly Mispronounced Words - Identification and correction of commonly mispronounced words - Practice exercises for improving pronunciation of specific words - Strategies for self-correction and continued improvement Week 8: Accent Reduction Techniques - Understanding the impact of native accents on English pronunciation - Techniques for reducing native accents and improving intelligibility - Practice exercises for adopting a more neutral accent Week 9: Listening Skills and Discrimination - Enhancing listening skills to better distinguish between sounds - Practice exercises for recognising and discriminating between similar sounds - Developing an ear for correct pronunciation through listening activities Week 10: Review and Fluency Practice - Reviewing course content and addressing individual needs - Fluency practice exercises and activities - Final evaluation and feedback session Note: This syllabus is a guideline and can be customised based on the specific needs and preferences of the participants. You can opt in and out of different modules.