Hi, I’m Sarah Witherby and I teach CIT on the Foundation Programme, and am also AP (Advanced Practitioner) for Bellerbys Brighton. The next two posts are my take on this year’s Conference – I hope you enjoy them!
Friday 14th January
To kick off the evening the Bellerbys & Embassy APs (Advanced Practitioners) met up with Barbara Gardner for a quick snifter in the Sussex Yeoman pub – a fantastic foodie pub, if you’re ever in search of somewhere close to the station. We never usually have time to meet up, unless we’re training, so it was a lovely breather before the concentration and intensity of the next day!
(Jo Timerick and David Watson were scuppered by our magnificent train service so joined us the next day)
![P14-01-11_19.56[01]](http://wikibloggia.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/p14-01-11_19-5601.jpg "P14-01-11_19.56[01]")
… but alas, the time passed very fast, so we moved on to the Brighton Centre …
![P14-01-11_20.13[01]](http://wikibloggia.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/p14-01-11_20-1301.jpg "P14-01-11_20.13[01]")
… where we were greeted by Brighton Principal Nigel Addison, given our badges and urged to buy tickets for a mystery raffle!
I love the night before conferences start for real – people from the centres and ISCs gather to greet and gossip and there’s an air of anticipation of what’s to come. This, coupled with the tangible tension of those who will present the next day, all adds up to a buzzy atmosphere. And this year, for the first time, I wasn’t presenting, so I just enjoyed that collective buzz.
At 8.30 we were seated for dinner in our exam hall banqueting area, and welcomed by Vic Richardson and Adrian Underhill, the conference organisers.
James Pitman, MD of Study Group’s Higher Education Division, also greeted us warmly, but with the added sting of a cautionary message for us to actively participate in reacting to the UK Border Agency’s proposed changes to the Tier 4 Visa entry requirements.
You can read more about the potentially devastating impact these changes could have on our jobs, students and universities here and here … and you can certainly do your bit by responding directly, online, here at the UKBA website. Deadline is 31st January, so don’t just bookmark it, DO IT!
Then, the serious business of dinner got underway, starting with a touch of game terrine and home made piccalilli … as Mrs Hoover said: (more of her later) “That’s got to be some home for the numbers eating here tonight”…
Dinner was good, the wine flowed (water in my case, New Year’s resolutions and all that!) and conversation filled the usually silent exam-stress ridden hall.
Towards the end of dinner we were entertained by Mrs Hoover, a host mother residing at 179 Davigdor Road (for those of us Brightonians in the know that was funny … It’s the address of Hove Police Station!)
A bit hit and miss, but there were some great one-liners and then the raffle … That’s Paul Lovegrove (Principal, SG ISCs) acting as Mrs Hoover’s glamorous assistant …
I made a D.E. (discreet exit) as everyone peeled off to the bar at Jury’s Inn. Wise move.
Read all about my day at the Conference in the next post …
Sarah Witherby teaches CIT on the Foundation programme and is AP for Bellerbys Brighton.
Tags: Conference 2011
