Reaching out to learn

10:11am Wednesday 8th October 2008

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The University of York is extending its outreach facilities in the local community with a range of free courses for adult learners. Education reporter Haydn Lewis looks at what is being offered here.

AS NEW undergraduates start their courses at the University of York next week, a group of local students, many of whom have no formal qualifications, have already begun their university studies.

The university’s centre for lifelong learning is running a range of free community outreach activities at Tang Hall Library and Poppleton Road Primary School that aim to encourage local people to consider university-level study.

Funded by Aimhigher, and with students recruited by the City of York Council’s Family Learning Service, the project aims to use the students’ knowledge of life in modern Britain as an invaluable tool on a 12-week course on citizenship.

Aimhigher is an organisation which seeks to help people obtain better qualifications, offering information and advice for parents, prospective students and those already in work.

As part of the York course, students are asked to explore how their community operates, who has decision-making powers locally and, ultimately, what they themselves can do to initiate change.

There is also the opportunity to gain university-level credit, making it an ideal way for students to enter higher education.

Many of them have young families to support, so balancing their domestic and study commitments make their achievements even more notable.

Tutor Dr Adrian Lee said: “The course is a great chance for local people to re-engage with education – there is so much untapped potential and enthusiasm among the students, and in the past this course has been a catalyst for further study.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for anyone to return to learning in a familiar venue among supportive students and staff.”

The centre also offers a range of evening and day classes on the university’s Heslington campus exploring history, literature, creative writing, music and social sciences – further details on that programme can be found at www.york.ac.uk/lifelonglearning or by phoning 01904 328473.

The project is just part of a host of outreach initiatives coming from the university.

In July, the University of York began a project after gaining a grant of £11.7million from the lottery to map the Tang Hall area’s environmental history.

The project, created by the university’s environmental department, became known as OPAL, or Open Air Laboratories network, which aims to get communities back in touch with nature through the study of the natural world around them.

The Tang Hall area is the first of four communities in Yorkshire and the Humberside area that will be involved in the project, with the eventual aim of involving more than 8,000 people from across the region using geographical information systems which use residents’ local knowledge and recollections to map their local environment.

Community scientist Sarah West said OPAL also organised a family fun day at Chapman’s Pond, in Dringhouses, in association with the friends of the pond, who are campaigning against the vandalism and litter that is frequently left at the site. The fun day, in August, promoted the use of the site in a positive way as well publicising the work of OPAL and attempting to recruit volunteers for future projects.

For any further information or if you wish to volunteer on OPAL projects across the region, contact opalproject@york.ac.uk or visit the website.