College News

13th March 2001 - The third-year Art and Design students returned tanned and refreshed after spending a fun working week in Mosta, Malta.

The trip was organised in conjunction with Targa Gap School of Arts and Crafts. They toured the island and worked on specific projects – drawing and photographing buildings and street scenes - set by Stephanie Graham, Head of Art and Design. They even tried their hand at stone carving, which they loved, as the stone there is very soft and easy to carve.

In the middle of the quiet pensioner season, the students livened up the island. ‘They were the night life’, said Stephanie, still struck by how little sleep the students managed to survive on.

She explained the link with Targa Gap: ‘In the last two years we’ve trained two of their members of staff on our own degree course. They were already trained, but not to that level.

‘As their school is going to become part of the Polytechnic in Malta they need to be qualified to degree level in order to teach in a Polytechnic. They would have lost their jobs if they hadn’t in some way upped their qualifications.’

The trip brought the third-year’s closer so much so that they felt it would be a better idea for future students to go in the second year of their course. Apart from enabling team building earlier on it would also tie in with their drawing work.

Stephanie would like to see the Malta trip becoming an annual event but there is no guarantee of finance. This year the students were lucky and so with renewed vigour they will no doubt enthusiastically tackle the remaining work to complete their degree.

The Malta project will be displayed at the end of term.

14th February 2001 - A drastic shortage of childcare is stopping parents from studying or taking up training opportunities, according to a shock new report by the Daycare Trust.

‘Learning for Life’ claims there are less than 40,000 childcare places for over five million students in Britain.

This shortfall, combined with the cost of childcare, estimated at around £4,160 per child a year, places a huge burden on student parents.

Falkirk College has two nurseries, accepting children aged between three and five, at the Falkirk and Stirling campuses.

Both nurseries are equipped to manage 16 full-time places but with some parents only requiring part-time places the number of children accepted can rise to 30.  There are no plans to increase provision.

However, the college has approximately 16,000 students of which 2-3,000 are studying full-time.

The nurseries give information on Government funding to assist in paying for childcare.  The cost per session, which is one morning or afternoon, is £2.50 but private nursery costs can be higher.

Student Information and Guidance said students wouldn't normally drop out of studying because of childcare problems as their arrangements are already set up. However, childcare can be a drawback for potential students considering further education.

Iona Jarvie, Student Advisor agreed: "It can be problematic for students when they are considering applying for a college place but once their childcare arrangements are set up they usually don't have any difficulty."

But the Daycare Trust Report claims a lack of childcare can lead to many adults having to abandon their studies and warn that unless affordable childcare is extended, access to learning and training will become a struggle for student parents.