Adult learners have been praised for their commitment and achievements in York this week, at the first Adult Education Awards ceremony to be held in the city for almost 10-years.
The awards ceremony ties in with the national Adult Learners’ Week (12 -18 May) and saw almost 100 people from across the city celebrate their success throughout the year.
The special event was held at York Explore Library Learning Centre last night (16 May) from 6.30pm to 8pm, hosted by Kersten England, Chief Executive of City of York Council.
There were eight winning categories including Higher Education Learner of the Year, Tutor of the year, greatest improvement of the year and volunteer in learning.
There were eight winning categories including Higher Education Learner of the Year, Tutor of the year, greatest improvement of the year and volunteer in learning.
The winners are:
• Apprentice of the Year: Nicola Kilgallon
• Business & Professional Learner: Emily Scott
• Adult Learner – Class Contributor: Mary Richmond
• Adult Learner – Greatest Improvement: Donna Allen; Katy Race; Tony Smith
• Higher York HE Learner: Clive Hardman; Vicki Adam
• Adult Learner in the Heritage Sector: Stephanie Holdsworth
• Adult Tutor of the Year: Amanda Smith; Jayne Dwyer
• Volunteer in Learning: John Shaw; Mark Willis
Alistair Gourlay, head of Adult Learners Education at City of York Council, said: “I felt incredible honoured to be a part of the Adult Education Awards and I congratulate all the adult learners who were short listed or won the award. Their work always impresses me and has done so once again this year. I’m always amazed at the quality of the work and the breath of what we do. It really is inspirational”.
Liviana Ferrari, Head of Programme for Languages at York St John University said: “Amanda is a truly exceptional teacher and colleague. She has inspired hundreds of people to learn to communicate in British Sign Language, thanks to her high level of professionalism, humour and total dedication to her students. She’s a real star and at York St John we are extremely lucky to have her!”
Mike Saunders, Head of Studies for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education at York College comments: “It is important to celebrate the achievements of adult learners in the city and I congratulate all those nominated for Adult Learning Awards, they are truly inspirational people. By engaging in education as adults, their lives have been changed and they have enriched the lives of others.
“At York College we work with adults as they learn new skills and gain qualifications. Some may want to access promotion at work or gain new skills in order to enter a completely new area of employment, maybe after redundancy. For others it may simply be a case of learning for pleasure. Whatever age, whatever stage of life we find ourselves in, it is never to late to learn.”
There is currently a display from the work carried out by Adult Education courses throughout the city at York Explore. The exhibition is a colourful and imaginative collection of art produced by learners on City of York Council adult education programmes, along with some work from the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) and access students at York College
The exhibition is running for four day 17-20 in York Explore, which has been transformed into a gallery to display the work.
For more details about Adult Education please or to see what range of taster programmes are on offer www.yortime.org.uk or follow the hastag #YorkAdultEd on Twitter.