September 8th 2010 (Wednesday) - CPD talk

For the last four years I have endeavoured to organise a series of weekly lunchtime lectures/seminars. They started off rather successfully, but about a year ago they fizzled out. Management would need the room we used, speakers would let me down at the last minute, the IT was problematical, and it didn’t help that this was done in people’s own time; not works time. I realise that CPD is a personal requirement, not a corporate one, but being given time would have been nice. (that’s a whinge that’s been done to death).

Management have persuaded me to try to run another programme. We’re doing three talks a month, and I started off the talks today with one on what (legally) is expected of us for CPD purposes. With attendance of about sixteen people (in two sittings) I was impressed, and am rather more confident about the success of the scheme than I was before the talk. Let’s just keep the momentum going….

September 7th 2010 (Tuesday) - An Inspection

Today I got to assess a student in his workplace. I quite like this part of my job as I get to go and be nosey where other people work. Being the inspector, people call me “sir” (!) and give me coffee and biscuits, and I remind myself that much as I might grumble about my job, it’s really not as black as I (sometimes) paint it, and that everyone else is in the same boat as me (to coin a phrase).

The assessment I had to conduct took a couple of hours and then I made my way home for a spot of lunch and spent the afternoon making my official report. Perhaps I was too lenient this time? The portfolio was good, in that all the work was there, but the indexing left much to be desired. Good indexing is something I try to drum into my students.

And the workplace… let’s just say that when any kind of inspector visits my place I put on a show….

September 6th 2010 (Monday) - At The University

Today was a day out. I had a day in the wicked city. Periodically I have cause to visit the University for various reasons. Today I was there to meet two students whose work I am to inspect over the next couple of years. The idea is that in order to achieve State Registration their work will be assessed by someone at the University and by someone in their workplace. And then I go along occasionally (as an impartial assessor) just to check that all is above board and that there is no shenanigans. So often students are both dull and dreary, or they so clearly feel the need to suck up to me as an assessor. It came as a breath of fresh air to meet my two students who are a lively pair. Once they told me that they were dreading being assigned to “someone normal” we got on like a house on fire.

In the past I’ve assessed completed portfolios in their entirety. As part of the co-terminus degree I assess completed standards, and so revisit the thing several times. This is new to me. I suspect that this is (for the students) a much easier way to complete the requirements of the portfolio. However by doing it in bits, I doubt they will ever have the satisfaction of creating an actual completed portfolio. I may be wrong. We shall see…