UFP Business Teamwork Fashion Show

As part of the UFP course a number of modules require an element of teamwork.  Group presentations, group experiments and group business plans are all forms of assessment which are used by us which reflect some form of assessments that are used as part of degree programmes.

 

In UFP Business students worked together to put on a fashion show, creating clothes from magazines and bits of newspaper. 

 

First they had to discuss what item of clothing they could make, create a sketch of the item then make it using the materials given such as foil, newspaper and trimmings. 
 

 

One student acted as a model and represented the group at a 'fashion show' in which teams were judged on their creativity, style and performance.
 

 

The activity led into a discussion on Belbin's theory of team roles and students could then look at the role they each played in the team and the contribution they each made.  Belbin's theory is intended to look at group dynamics and the strengths and weaknesses of each role.  Improving the students' understanding of teamwork and also their self-awareness is intended to improve their teamwork skills for the group assessments throughout this course and in the future.

 

This was a very fun-filled and interactive activity, demonstrating the importance of working as a team, what can be achieved when a team works well together and discussing the different roles and jobs the team members carried out.

UCLan Physiotherapy Open Day

Yesterday our budding Physiotherapy students from the Undergraduate Foundation, Life Sciences, Programme went to the Physiotherapy Open Day at UCLan to meet their Course Leader, Heather Stewart, and have a closer look at the course and the department.



Foundation students join other Physio
applicants for the Open Day tour

Firstly, students were taken on a campus tour (many of the other students visiting are not current UCLan students but hopeful to join the degree programme in September) and were shown around the department by third year students. 

Students were given a great Q+A opportunity and Yoshihito, one of Physio applicants, was pleased to hear how much his tour guide was enjoying the programme.

The group was given a short presentation about the course by Heather which explained the different modules since the course was redesigned for September 2012.

She talked about the advantages of studying Physiotherapy at UCLan; the new look programme has a great practical element which prepares graduates for work after the course.  Physio students get the chance to apply theory based learning to real life situations during the work experience placements that they will undertake as part of the course.  There is also a great social programme and an opportunity to study abroad for selected students.

After the presentation there was another opportunity to ask questions to current first and third year students about their time on the course.

Our students had a very positive experience and Jay said the open day was uplifting.  Our students must now prepare for their interviews which will take place in a few weeks before they find out if they have secured a place on the course.  Good luck guys!

Alfred, Jay and Yoshihito at the Open Day

She said yes!

This week we had an extra special treat at UCLan FoC.  Two of our past students who studied on the Undergraduate Foundation Programme in 2010/11 returned to the place they first met and became engaged.

Willam Waters, who is currently studying BA (Hons) Communication Studies at UCLan after passing the UFP, surprised girlfriend Lijing Chen, a Business and Management student, by arranging a small party with some of their friends from the foundation course.  He presented her with a film of photographs of them since their first meeting in Vernon Room 69 on the first day of induction back in September 2010 before getting down on one knee in the same room where they first laid eyes on each other.

Congratulations to the happy couple!  Everybody at FoundationCampus UCLan wishes you a wonderful future together and we are delighted that we could be a part of your special day.

January Enrolment Day 2014

Today our January term began and what a busy day it has been. 

Our returning students from the September cohort have been coming in to collect new timetables, sign back into the college and discover their Module 1 results.  Welcome back everyone!  It is great to see you and we hope you've had a good rest over the last 4 weeks and are now ready to tackle Term 2 head on.

We have also welcomed our January students to the centre.  They will be joining our ongoing English programmes and starting Undergraduate and Master's Foundation Programmes which begin next Monday following this induction week.

After this morning's welcome talk and centre enrolment students have taken their own campus tour, following a map to find their way around and taking pictures and videos of the University campus. 

We are looking foward to getting to know you all over the next 9 months and wish you all the best for your time with us.

European agents visit UCLan and FoC

Last month we were visited by a number of agents from Russia and Kazakstan.

They visited us here and UCLan and had presentations about Sports, Tourism and Events Management, Journalism, Media and Communication (including a visit to a TV studio) and the School of Languages where they had a translation demonstration.

They also had a Christmas-themed buffet complete with crackers and heard fomr our current students and Russian alumni who talked about their experience of FoundationCampus, UCLan and what it is like to be an international student in Preston.

We are very excited to potentially welcome new students from different parts of the world to maintain a good mix of different nationalities at FoC and look forward to working closely with these agents in the future. 

We hope they had a very interesting visit and enjoyed their stay in Preston.



Agents with Mary Wade, Centre Head (back far left)

Festive fun at FoC; Fancy dress, scary films, bonfires and bobbing for apples

We've had a very eventful couple of weeks around the centre with Halloween and Bonfire Night only a few days apart.  Office staff set the tone for a very spooky and fun filled Halloween by dressing up in scary fancy dress.  The centre was decorated with spiders webs rotten legs and ghostly signs, the lights went out and eerie background music filled up the corridors.  A few screams were heard as a ghost ran round the corridors and popped it's head into classroom windows.


After a day of lessons students enjoyed a Halloween party where they carved traditional Halloween pumpkins, got dressed up in face paint and Halloween costumes and ate their fair share of sweet things. 

Some students took part in an apple bobbing competition and Kamil Abubakar took the prize for the most apples rescued from the water.  Afterwards students settled down to watch horror film House on the Hill, a very exciting Thursday!






Only a few days later the UK celebrated Bonfire Night in rememberance of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 in the failed Gunpowder Plot.  Nowadays people light bonfires and fireworks and some make a Guy Fawkes doll to burn on the fire.  A group of our students went to Leyland, a nearby town, to see one of the biggest bonfires in the North West and to watch a firework dispay.  There were also fairground rides and food stalls to keep people warm and busy on a cold November night.



Now that these holidays are done we are officially on the countdown to Christmas and have only 4 weeks till the end of term and break for Christmas holidays. 


Our next stop on the festive theme; tomorrow students will head back to Manchester for the world famous German Christmas Markets which open today.

Liverpool

There have been a few very busy weeks since our foundation students visited the nearby city of Liverpool.  It was an extremely popular trip and the group had a great day out visiting some of the cultural highlights of the European Capital of Culture 2008.  Liverpool is only an hour's drive from Preston and is home to a number of world-class museums, great music (of course The Beatles are always worth a mention), two Premiership football teams and some of the UK's best shopping.

The group were dropped off at the famous Liverpool Docklands, which have a rich history dating back as far as 1839, where they explored the free museums such as the International Slavery Museum, the Titanic Exhibition in the Maritime Museum and the most popular art gallery outside of London; the Tate Liverpool.

The group also spent a few hours shopping in the Liverpool One a large, newly built shopping complex. 

Many of them ate lunch together at the Red Hot World Buffet, one of many restaurants around the Liverpool One which come highly recommended.

It was a long and tiring but enjoyable day with so much to see and do in just a few hours and some students are already talking about visiting Liverpool again to see more of what this cultural city has to offer.