On Friday 15 December 2023, members of the Adult Learning Wales ESOL Team and Swansea based tutors visited Gower College Swansea, Llwyn Y Bryn Campus for the “Scaling the ALPS” (Adult Learning Partnership Swansea) Sharing Practice Event. They were joined by colleagues from Swansea City Council and Gower College, who are members of the partnership.

The event was opened by Nikki Neale, Director of Quality and Curriculum at Gower College Swansea, who shared the strategic aims and vison of the ALPS partnership. Following on, attendees joined breakout groups that focused on Embedding Digital Tools and Technology, Embedding Welsh language and ethos in the curriculum, and Assessment and Feedback. The breakout groups were hosted by members of both Gower College and Swansea City Council who gave valuable insight across subject areas including how AI is being embedded as a tool to help both with teaching and learner studies, how Welsh Language can be implemented into every day teaching, and showcasing different digital apps that can help with both presenting learners work and applying feedback.

In the afternoon, Adult Learning Wales’ Carpentry Tutor, Rhys Clement, presented to the group in how he is using Welsh in his every day teaching through his presentation: Collaborative and Bilingual Teaching and Learning. The presentation discussed how Adult Learning Wales is implementing Welsh as a language and how it is used across the organisation. Rhys then went into detail about how he uses Welsh in the classroom with his learners both at incidental and more advanced levels depending on the learner groups knowledge of the language. Rhys was followed by Llewelyn Williams, Adult Learning Wales’ Digital Development Officer, who designed and built the newly launched ALPS website. Llewelyn presented the ALPS website and explained the functionalities of how the site works from a user perspective.

Beth John, Regional Manager for South West & Mid for Adult Learning Wales said, “As a key member of ALPS, Adult Learning Wales (ALW) is delighted to have attended the ‘Scaling the Alps’ Sharing of Good Practice event, which has brought together the ACL tutors of each of the three main delivery providers within the Partnership, for a day of networking, learning and professional discussion, to support them as practitioners in their teaching. It has been an honour for Rhys Clement, our Carpentry Tutor, to give a presentation on Bilingualism and the Embedding of Welsh language and culture into teaching, and to share his experience of how he approaches this in his day-to-day delivery. The day has been a huge success, and so useful for tutors from across the Partnership to learn more about the strategic vision and strategy of the Partnership, and to watch a demonstration of the new ALPS website, which launched earlier this month, which has been designed and created by Llewelyn Williams, ALWs Digital Development Officer, who also presented on the day. ALW looks forward to many more joint ALPS events for tutors to attend, and is very grateful to Gower College for hosting the inaugural one.”

ALPS, which is funded by Welsh Government, brings together prominent institutions dedicated to adult learning including Adult Learning Wales, Swansea Council Lifelong Learning, Gower College Swansea, Learn Welsh – Swansea Bay Region, Swansea University, Swansea Council for Voluntary Service, and University of Wales Trinity Saint David. This partnership strives to provide accessible, high-quality education that aligns with the needs and aspirations of the community, including a focus on courses that can be delivered through the medium of Welsh.

If you would like to find out more about ALPS and the partnerships members, visit the website here: https://learningswansea.wales/