Skiing and snowboarding lessons on real snow!

Wrap up warm!

On Monday a group of our students took part in skiing and snowboarding taster sessions at Manchester's Chill Factore, which is an indoor ski slope only 40 minutes drive from UCLan and at 180 metres long it is the UK's longest indoor real snow slope.

Students on the beginners slope

The group split into 4; snowboarders, absolute beginner skiers, some who had skied before and more experienced skiers.  The experienced skiers went off to enjoy the UK's longest indoor real snow slope and the rest stayed on the beginners slope to learn some techniques.

Many of the students had never seen snow before so it was a real experience.  They had a great time and many of the group are now looking forward to taking a level 1 beginners lesson in January. 

The Opportunities Centre

One of the greatest benefits to being a FoundationCampus student at UCLan is that our students have access to all of the University's facilities, like the library, sports centre and Student's Union, just like any other UCLan student.

The Opportunites Centre is a new venture for 2012/13 students and is situated in the Student's Union.  It is student run and offers advice on volunteering, careers and both academic and personal development.

Many of our students are interested in volunteering to enhance their CV and to encourage them to immerse themselves in an English speaking environment.  It is a great way for students to get some hands on experience in their chosen degree field, even before they progress onto the course, putting them at a huge advantage as they enter Year 1 of their degrees.

You can find out more about the Student's Union and see how to get involved at http://www.uclansu.co.uk/.

Harris Museum Trip for ELM students

For students who need extra English language support before joining one of our Undergraduate or Masters Foundation Programmes, or for those just wishing to study English in the UK on a University campus, we offer an English Language only module.  Students study English for 22 hours per week from IELTS level 3.0 and can study for up to 3 terms.

On Friday, English Language Module (ELM) Group 1 students visited a local museum, the Harris Museum, where they enjoyed a cultural experience in the UK in an English language learning environment - here's what they had to say about the trip;

"On Friday, 9th November, we visited the Harris Museum with our teacher Joanne.  The museum has 3 floors and a learning centre, library and small cafe downstairs.  As we went round the museum we had questions to answer and things to look out for.  It was good to practise English outseide of our usual classroom and read the information around us.

We discovered a lot of information about Preston's heritage and the local history and saw many intersting things, such as the beautiful stained glass Henry window, a model of an old factory in Preston, a doll's house, skulls and even a collection of old mobile phones!

One of the best things was the skeleton of 'The Poulton Elk', which was discovered buried under a house in Preston.

We also saw some historical costumes and had a talk in the art gallery with a museum assisstant.  He explained a lot to us about the works of art we saw.

We really enjoyed the trip and we are looking forward to visiting somewhere else to find out more about Preston."

For more information and photos please take a look at this short presentation; The Harris Museum, prepared by one of our ELM students, Hatim Aloqalaa.  Thank you Hatim!

Biscuits in business: learning with food in UFP business!

This week as part of the Undergraduate Foundation Programme (UFP), Business students took part in a focus group to explore how their academic topic – market research – is carried out in the real world.
 

The students applied their learning to a practical problem; they carried out a focus group to decide which biscuits would be best to be sold in their on campus Café.

They worked in small teams with other students from around the world to evaluate different types of biscuits in a blind product test. They decided which brand was best to be sold to customers if they were in charge of the café’s purchasing.

The business students reported that it allowed them to link the academic theory of market research to the real world, using an on campus business example that they were familiar with; as well as being a fun and engaging activity to do!

To see what else students in UFP Business get up to look at their blog http://septuclan.blogspot.com

To find out more about the UFP programme see http://www.foundationcampus.com/en/uclan/degrees/ug/

A visit from the Physiotherapy department

Students meet with Heather Stewart (right)

Today UCLan's Course Leader for BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy came out to meet a group of Undergraduate Foundation Programme students who are due to progress onto Physiotherapy next year. 

Heather Stewart gave a presentation about studying Physiotherapy at UCLan and what the course will involve.  Physiotherapy has a mixture of classroom based theoretical learning and practical placements in local hospitals.  Upon completion of the degree programme, students will be eligible to register as a Physiotherapist with the Health Professions Council.

Students were able to ask questions and discuss their ideas with Heather.  Physiotherapy is a very competitive course and all students applying for a Physiotherapy degree at UCLan must pass an interview before being offered a place.  This interview will take place later in the academic year and we are keen to ensure our students have the best possible chance of success.

You can find out more about studying Physiotherapy at UCLan here; http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/courses/bsc_hons_physiotherapy.php and more about our programmes and the range of opportunities that they can bring on our website; http://www.foundationcampus.com/en/uclan/static/home/.

How to carve a Halloween pumpkin, by Yohei Yasui

I've spent halloween in my home country Japan, the US and now England.  We don't really celebrate Halloween in Japan but in the US it is completely crazy, there are kids everywhere running around shouting 'trick or treat.'  Halloween in England is very quiet.....until the night time when all the parties start.

In the UK it is tradition to carve pumpkins with scary faces for Halloween, here's how you do it;

STEP 1:  First, I looked carefully and decided which side to use.

STEP 2: Secondly I cut up the lid off of the back of the pumpkin. I did this because the face looked better than cutting the top.

STEP 3: Then comes the sticky smelly part which is to scrape out the seeds. People often start throwing seeds to each other in this step.

STEP 4: Next, I draw a face for my lantern. I will recommend not using white board markers  because my hand became all black in the end.

STEP 5: Finally, you start carving the face. However, the pumpkin was very soft and thicker than I have imagined and was very difficult to curve small parts.

STEP 6: At the end you put in a candle inside and here I got my very own scarry Jack-o-lantern.

The finished product! 

There has been a lot of Halloween fun happening in the college including pumpkin carving competitions, pop-up cards, decorations and dressing up.  For pictures and more information on what's been happening at UCLan FoC take a look at our facebook page.