Forth Valley College lecturers flew to Malta recently (25 March) to take part in an educational conference as part of the 3Es Erasmus+ Project.
This project involving Maltese, English, Dutch and German colleges has been running since November 2016. This event focussed on the Pastoral Care and Communication programme, that had been piloted and adapted at Malta College for Art, Science and Technology (MCAST), Friesland College, Havering College and Forth Valley College.
Representing Forth Valley College from the Department of Access and Progression were lecturers Yvonne McKelvie and Stewart Ritchie. The delegates who attended the conference were from across the Maltese educational spectrum, as well as from the Netherlands, England and Germany.
Both Stewart and Yvonne facilitated specialist workshops using some of the activities that had been developed for the Pastoral Care and Communication programme. Stewart was also a part of an expert panel (pictured on stage seated far right) which presented to the conference in a questions and answers format.
Stewart, said: “The event proved to be a great success with excellent feedback from the delegates. The development of the Pastoral Care Programme has been quite a commitment. It has given me the opportunity to grow as a lecturer and has further enhanced my practice. It has also allowed me to share my expertise and learn from practitioners from across Europe.
“The positive relationships and links created through this course and the exposure across Europe has further enhanced the reputation of Forth Valley College, and in particular the Access and Progression Department, for working in a creative and innovative way whilst delivering high quality learning.”
Yvonne said: "This was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with fellow practitioners from different countries on a European project. Furthermore, this collaboration culminated in the production of a final resource for use in many different programmes in all countries."
This is only the completion of the first outcome of three, developed by the 3Es project and there are still two further outcomes, an e-management system and the creation of several disparate courses for facilitation, still to be completed before the project finale, which takes place on the 25 of June.