Support For Learning Assistant Matt Franham gives our students a welcome back and lets you know what to expect when returning to campus.
I guess the first thing to say is welcome back to college, although things may appear a little different to start this year hopefully by the end of it we will all be back on campus and resuming our normal lives.
As with everyone else over the past six months, things have had to adapt and here at Learning Support, we’ve had to change the way we deliver support.
We are open and the whole team is available for the same support that you’ve received in previous years, but we will be delivering it a little bit differently. As a team, we have always had an open-door policy but moving forward, we will have an open inbox policy.
That means if you are struggling with work, need to speak with someone or looking to complete a needs assessment, we will still be there to support you, just through a camera for the immediate future.
If you already received support, then please email the person you worked with in previous years and they’ll do their utmost to get back to you and sort a 1-2-1 slot.
If you are new to the college and want to seek out support, then drop us an email at supportlearning@west-lothian.ac.uk and one of the team will catch up with you and discuss what we can do to support your time with us.
On campus, we will have a member of the team available in the library each day so if you are one of the few courses with time in college, then please drop by and speak with us.
As a campus, we aren’t allowing any non-staff up the stairs of the Street Building so as such we will be trying not to do face to face 1-2-1’s unless it’s sunny and we can sit outside (It always seems to be nice weather in September when we are all back).
As for in-class support, we will be present in the classes that we’ve been requested too, only like you we’ll be on Teams. If you want to speak to one of us outside of your class, send us a message and we’ll have a chat there and then.
We usually offer some IT but at the moment resources are very thin. If you need to speak to someone about learning technology, please don’t hesitate to contact the team and we can work with you to get the best equipment we have.
Finally, we now have counsellors to access, so if you are struggling with your Mental Health, there is no reason to worry. Our two counsellors will be continuing to deliver their fantastic service, as before, via Teams.
The key message here is if you need help and support then please ask. We usually would hound you in class, but that will be more difficult this year so don’t be afraid, we don’t bite (most of the time) and we will endeavour to make this year a great one for you at West Lothian College.
Services Supplied:
- 1-2-1 Academic Support
- Proofreading
- Needs Assessments
- Dyslexia Testing
- In-Class Support
- Planning
- Assistive Technology Support
- Counselling
- Assessment Support
- So much more…
West Lothian College Blog 