Chesterfield school pupils to benefit from free VR roadshow

25th March 2022

Education supplier Seymour & Lerhn, part of Chesterfield’s Oasis Studio group are launching a VR Roadshow, giving primary schools in Chesterfield the chance to take their pupils on two weeks of amazing educational adventures.

Successful schools will receive a bundle of 5 VR headsets complete with recycled smartphones and free access to the Seymour & Lerhn Immersive Learning platform.

With this, teachers can take KS1 and KS2 pupils on a journey of discovery whether it’s wandering through the busy streets of New York, or stepping back in time to trudge through the muddy WW1 Trenches.

The VR kits will be delivered to schools to use for two weeks before being collected and sanitised for the next cohort.

Charlie Power, ‘Head Honcho’ at Seymour & Lerhn says: “At Seymour & Lerhn we challenge ourselves to make learning as interactive as possible without compromising on accessibility. A VR headset is just one of many ways to explore – but often gets the biggest reaction from children!”

Seymour & Lerhn offers immersive educational experiences for primary schools, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and interactive games and activities. The activities are accessible on any device, from laptops to iPads to interactive whiteboards.

Whilst the immersive content can be viewed on any existing school hardware, Seymour & Lerhn have joined forces with sister company, EyeSiteView, to give old technology a new lease of life.

The VR headsets were previously used by housing developers to market new homes and have been kindly gifted by EyeSiteView to make the VR Roadshow possible.

“We’re really pleased to be able to give schools in the local area the chance to explore VR in a sustainable way,” says Tony Buck, Associate Director at EyeSiteView.

“Approximately 45 million tonnes of tech is thrown away each year which is really shocking. We’re excited that the old VR headsets will get a new lease of life and give our region’s children some truly memorable lessons!”

Schools will be able to choose from a wide range of topics and subjects with teachers able to share the VR content with pupils at the click of a button.

“Content is designed to work on almost any device and comes with accessibility tools built in. It couldn’t be easier for schools to get started with immersive learning whether you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a VR kit or not!” Charlie adds.

The roadshow will run from the 1st April to the 22nd July 2022 and is open to any educational establishment within the region.

Slots are extremely limited and are offered on a first come first served basis.

To apply, head to https://forms.office.com/r/7UTS309qTs and fill in the online form.

Oasis Studio supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Development, Home, Love Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield, UncategorisedTagged in chesterfield business news, Chesterfield eduction, chesterfield news, Digital Technology, Eduction, Oasis studio, Seymour & Lerhn, Virtual Reality

County Council announces bumper Autumn of adult education courses

31st August 2021

Learning opportunities are available for people across Chesterfield and Derbyshire, both online and face to face this autumn as part of Derbyshire County Council’s adult community education service.

During the pandemic many of the classes offered by the council’s adult community education service had to be moved online. This worked successfully in lots of subject areas so as the service gears up for the new term starting in September it will be offering a wide range of online courses as well as ones at its 16 centres spread across the county.

The online courses give students the flexibility to join in from their home or business and include ‘student paced’ ones that learners can do at any time in the advertised period.

Courses leading to qualifications and skills start from Monday 6 September with opportunities to join later in the year as well. These will be both online and face to face and include employability skills, maths and English GCSEs, digital skills, setting up your own business and environmental training.

There will be a week of free taster sessions of some of the learning for leisure courses from Monday 13 September. These are ideal for residents who may not be sure if a particular course is for them. There’s a choice of over 20 different subjects including:

boxing
music
foreign languages
creative writing
poetry
murder mystery evening – the Crich Creeper
social media for business
cookery
exercise – both gentle and more challenging

Then the wide range of learning for leisure courses, both online and face to face, get underway from Monday 20 September with day schools and one-off evening sessions later in the term. Languages, arts and crafts, healthy living, care for the environment, personal development and creative cookery are amongst the subjects on offer.

Those wanting to gain essential digital skills, improve their qualifications, change career, set up a business or learn to lip read will find courses to suit them as well. And there are family learning courses and provision for adults with learning disabilities and those wanting to improve their mental health.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Alex Dale said: “I’m delighted that our adult education service can now offer face to face classes as well as continuing with online learning.

“This blend of learning is widening the opportunities for more residents to get involved and means that we can offer even more subjects whether for leisure or to gain qualifications”.

Bookings are now open. Find the full details in the adult education course brochures.

Book a learning for leisure course

Booking details for the qualification and skills courses varies and specifics are given in that brochure. Course fees vary with some courses free of charge and concessions for those on certain benefits and Derbyshire Gold Card holders.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Destination Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield, UncategorisedTagged in Activities in Derbyshire, Adult education, chesterfield news, derbyshire county council, Eduction, learning, things to do in Chesterfield

Tickled Trout provides hundreds of lunches for students at Chesterfield summer school

5th August 2021

North-Derbyshire restaurant, The Tickled Trout has provided 140 lunches for summer school pupils at Outwood Academy in Newbold.

The initiative is the latest in a line of kind community efforts from the Barlow-based gastro-pub, after staff provided doctors, nurses and carers at Chesterfield Royal Hospital with meals during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.

Chris Mapp, who owns and manages the restaurant said: “We just want to do our bit to help people in this really troubling time. I hope that by providing these lunches, it can help the students get a bit more out of the summer School.

“Having been in the academy, I am aware of the culinary talent of the students already there. It really is exceptional. Some of the dishes were brilliant, especially Mia’s dessert which I would quite happily serve in the restaurant. I am excited to work with the students more and see them progress.”

Chris also runs an education programme with the school through his restaurant, to help students improve their skills, and to identify students who could become future apprentices and embark on a career in the sector.

Rob Southern, Head of School at Outwood Academy Newbold, said: “We are delighted and grateful that Chris has stepped up to do this for us. Everyone is aware of how difficult it has been the last 18 months, and it really is a time for people to come together and work together.

“At Outwood, we believe in working with our community to the benefit of our students and this partnership is the perfect example of this. Working closely with someone as talented as Chris will be the opportunity of a lifetime for some of our students.”

The Tickled Trout supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Featured, Home, Leisure, Love Chesterfield, Made in Chesterfield, Uncategorised, VisitingTagged in chesterfield business news, chesterfield news, Chestrfield education, Eduction, Love Chesterfield, Newbold, Restaurant, The Tickled Trout