Two extraordinary days!
Both very different – but interesting none the less.
Monday
Attended two talks. The first was given by the most incredible woman I have ever met – Veronica Bird, OBE. She is an ex prison governor and has the distinction of being the first ever female governor of a male prison. She has dealt with the likes of Charles Bronson and Myra Hindley, and been invited to Russia to advise on prison improvements. Looking at her you would never guess her career choice. She is tiny – only 5ft 3ins – very slim, delicate featured and quite softly spoken – but what a powerful personality! And what a wicked sense of humour! She had us in fits of laughter most of the afternoon.
https://vimeo.com/254714554
The second talk was given by York Police. It was held in the conference room of a local insurance company. I was shown up there by a delightful young man with violently purple hair and trousers so tight you could tell he was left handed. He settled me with a cup of tea and quietly vanished. This talk was on fraud, staying safe on the internet and victim support. Interesting – yes -but nothing I have not already learned from members here on the OFF forum.
Tuesday
Went to York College for an induction meeting. I have embarked on a course – “Understanding Nutrition and Health”. Had no idea when I enrolled that it was part of a professional qualification and was to be so intense. Not at all sure my ancient brain cells are going to cope with it – but will give it my best shot. We all had to sign a ‘Individual Learning Plan’ at the end of the induction – if we ‘drop out’ at any point after that we will be fined £100 to cover administration and resources costs – which is fair enough.
The induction was very thorough – took us through all the resource material, explained how to access the college library, how to apply for ID Badges etc., We were also given advice on research facilities, plagiarism and copyright laws – and warned to stay out of Wikipedia as it is not reliable.
The facilitator then told us - as this is a prestigious college with a reputation to maintain - our spelling, grammar and syntax would be corrected as part of the ‘feed-back’ from our tutors. Two people walked out at this point – said it was too much like being back at school! Weird or what?
My first assignment is due 26th November – so I had better start reading!